Chronicles of an Online Poker Player - Part Ten

Author: J. Scott Miller

'Island hopping; Good or Bad?'

As I write this article, I am again playing online right now on Intertops, and will tell you I see a lot of 'Island Hoppers' everywhere. Now you are asking yourself, 'What in the hell is he talking about?' With me, you will do that a lot. Island hopping is what I like to refer to as people who skip from room to room, while playing online poker.

I can go into a 6-seat room, sit down, play for about 20-30 minutes, and see up to 5 different people come in and out. Now some of these people may come in with a 'short stack,' and in several minutes lose it and subsequently disappear into cyberspace. These are not the people I am referring to as 'Island Hoppers.'

I am talking about people who purposely go into a room, sit down for about 15 to 30 minutes, and then make a small amount of money, and move on to the next room. This can be a good way to play if you are trying to disguise your style of play. Too many amateur players will sit in a room for an extended period of time and whether they win or lose, others can pick up on how they play. You can lose a lot of money playing against a skilled player who knows exactly how you play. He can literally 'nickel and dime' you to death.

To avoid being found out, as far as how you play your cards, you can sit down in a room for a short period of time, and then move on. Look at it like this; how many times have you been to a casino'.10, 20, or 30 times? How often do you play table games like Black Jack or Craps? (Or even these days they have Texas Hold 'Em Poker?) Well how often do you sit at any of these tables for an extended period of time? If you are a decent gambler, then the answer should be 'for a short period of time.' Once you lose 3 hands of Black Jack in a row, you better know it's time to move on. In a casino, you have that luxury to do that. Well, my friends, playing online poker is no different.

Many players make mistakes by staying in one room for hours, and like I said in a previous article, there are those skilled players out there writing down notes on you and how you play your cards.

So the next time you go online to play poker, try out this method and see how it goes. Drop in on a room, win or lose, and leave for another room. Do this for a while, and you will keep many of your opponents confused. The other good thing is that you will see a lot of faces (really I mean names) of people in these rooms. Start doing your own homework now. Start your own journal and see if you can detect flaws in certain players in your poker community. Then you can begin to filter your way up to the top where the big money is!

Hey, good luck, and I'll see you at the tables.

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Author: Magyck0ne