As I write this article, I'm watching some of the rerun coverage of last year's WPT championship. Whenever watch large televised poker tournaments, I always cringe when I see some of the plays they make. Not so much because of their actual play - they're (mostly) professionals who've studied the game and their opponents at the table. Even the amateurs have played a great tourney to make the final table. I cringe because I know how many wannabe poker players who've watched a half-dozen televised events will finally walk from the couch to their computer, and make a deposit with the online poker room who's aired the most commercials during the tournament. Televised poker has contributed an enormous amount of new fish to the online scene. While you'll often be paid off at your online table or tournament from these largely clueless players, they can cause you great frustration when they hit that miracle river card.

     As a beginning or intermediate poker player, you can't learn the fundamentals from watching televised poker tournaments. First of all, you have to understand the difference between your $5 multi-table online tournament and an event like the WPT championship. Unless you win an online satellite, the typical buy-in for a WPT event is going to be between $5,000-$10,000. With that sort of upfront investment, most players aren't willing to put their whole stack on the line preflop with 9-3 offsuit. For $5, plenty of bored and/or bad players will put it all-in preflop with a worse starting hand than that.

     Next, you have to realize that you're only watching the final table when you watch a tournament on TV. They're down to the last 6 or 9 players. The Travel Channel, or any other television network, doesn't have the time or resources to show every hand played out over the entire tournament. As is the case with any television show, they're after ratings. They show the most exciting hands that put lots of money on the line. They, correctly, assume that showing the most pivotal moments of a tournament will draw the most viewers to tune in. You don't see the blind-stealing or hands where everyone folds to the big blind. You don't see the hands played during commercials. You don't see the dealer shuffling cards or counting stacks of chips. It's edited for TV. You didn't think they could play out the final table in 2 hours, did you?

   The poker players on TV are playing at the final table of a multi-day event. You might pick up a few tips for your next online final table, but you certainly shouldn't use what you see at the beginning of your next online Sit 'n Go tourney. The plays you see on television are sophisticated and calculated based on their playing experience with their particular opponents. The other players at your online tournament table won't care or pay too much attention to your advanced poker play. They're probably playing another table in the background or checking their e-mail. You should usually just play a straightforward game online. TV tourney players are also sitting at a real poker table, and also have the advantage of picking up on possible physical tells given off by their opponents.

     The point is that you're going to get crushed if you try to emulate much of what you see on televised poker tournaments. Most online players are too loose to dominate and will call you down with any two cards. If you're looking for practical poker strategy that will help you beat online poker, pick up your favorite poker author's latest book on hold 'em, or read some poker strategy articles on our website. If you want to watch something on TV to learn poker, pick up a Mike Caro strategy DVD. These sources will teach you to play in real-life games. If you're due up in the morning at the next WPT final table, please feel free to study reruns of TV events. In the meantime, just watch them for entertainment.

 

 

StillShadow 

"Don't Give Your Money Away To Bad Players!"