Titan Poker Walkthrough Tutorial 5

Titan Poker Walkthrough Tutorial 5

At long last, we are ready to play some (play money) online poker using the Titan Poker software. Simply decide what type of poker you want to play and then find a ‘Play Money’ table with an open seat. Click ‘JOIN TABLE’ and you will be taken to the table window. You will not be seated right away. You can use this to your advantage by hanging back and ‘hovering’ around the table for a hand or two –just to see how the players play. There is a risk, however, that you will lose the open seat. If somebody does ‘Bogart’ your seat you will be given the option to ‘join the waiting list’, though you are more than welcome to remain at the table to watch. If you have found a particularly juicy table it is probably a good idea to sit yourself right away and either read the other players as you go or use the “sit out” option until you are ready. We will use this hovering time to familiarize ourselves with the Titan Poker interface.

You enter the room and see the other avatars busily betting away. Each player’s nickname is displayed in a small bubble along with their number of chips and their current or last action taken, and (if it is a new hand) if the person is the small blind, big blind, or ante (in the case of 7 Card Stud). When it is a particular player’s turn to act, their name tag will start blinking and a small red arrow will flash just next to their right hand. If the player takes too long a small clock shaped timer will begin counting down just above their avatar’s head.

The community cards are displayed in the middle of the table with large, clear graphics. A small red chip with a white letter ‘D’ denotes the ‘dealer’. The chip moves clockwise one player position at the start of every hand.

A source of confusion for some first-time online poker players is how the pot and bets are displayed on the table. As each player posts the blind, bets, checks, or raises, all the chips they are throwing into the pot for that betting round are displayed directly in front of the player in question –this is to give you time to take note of who is betting what. At the end of that betting round all the chips are aggregated in the center of the table into the pot proper. This is just below where the community cards are displayed. Just in front of the avatar representing the poker room employee is displayed the “total pot”. Unlike the number displayed in the middle of the table, this figure gives a running total of everything in the pot including all the bets still sitting in front of the players as ‘new’. It really sounds and looks more confusing than it actually is. If you hover at a table long enough you will quickly grow familiar with how the chip display works.

Looking now to the lower left hand corner, we see a small text log. This is the chat box, and it will keep a record not only of all table conversation, but also of the cards turned over at the flop, turn, and river, as well as all hands called at the showdown and the winner of the hand. This is excellent for when you want to go back and review certain plays. If you are a real poker geek you can even cut and paste the text into your favorite word software for notes and analysis.

If you left click on an avatar’s name tag you can ‘ignore’ their chat, which is useful if a player is feeling a bit spammy, abusive, or rude. Alternately, you can add the player to your buddy list, which is helpful if you want to be able to find them again for a rematch.

Note the three check boxes: ‘sit out’, ‘auto muck’, and ‘auto post’. “Sit out” will automatically deal you out of any hands until you uncheck it. This is good for trips to the bathroom or taking quick meals, especially if you don’t want to lose your seat. ‘Auto muck’ will cause your hand to be revealed after the showdown only if it is the winning hand, or if it is called by another player. “Auto post” will automatically cause you to post the small or big blind when it is your turn to do so.

Finally, the options to ‘get more chips’, return to the ‘lobby’, or ‘leave table’ are all at the bottom of the screen.