If you have spent a substantial number of hours playing online poker, and especially if you played multiple tables at once, you have probably made a missclick in poker a time or two in your day.
Even if you don’t know what the poker term “missclick” means and how exactly it manifests, you have likely made at least a few so far.
In the simplest of terms, the word missclick refers to clicking the wrong button on the screen while playing poker, thus making an action you did not want to make.
If you don’t think something like that could ever happen to you, you probably haven’t played enough online poker just yet, so we are going to teach you what missclicks are and how you can best avoid them.
We will also discuss the meaning of the term missclick in live poker games, as silly as it may sound, and how you can make a missclick even without a computer mouse or screen in sight.
When Does a Missclick Happen in Online Poker?
Many recreational poker players talk about misslicks like something that could never happen to them and something that only happens to really bad players.
Well, the truth is that even the best online poker players in the world missclick from time to time, and you see quite a few such situations in the various online poker live streams out there.
Whether you are a novice poker player or a seasoned professional, it is always possible to make a mistake and click the wrong button, especially when multi-tabling.
The more tables you play and the faster the action runs in front of your eyes, the more likely you are to click that wrong button and potentially cost yourself a big pot one way or the other.
A single misslick once in a while is not a big deal, and most players will occasionally make one, but if you get in the habit of not being laser-focused when playing, you could end up making more missclicks than you would like to.
On the other hand, if you make sure you always focus on the games while playing, you will end up benefiting from all the other players who end up making a missclick and taking the line they never wanted to against you.
At the end of the day, you want to be sure that you don’t missclick often, as this will allow you to benefit more from the missclicks of others than your own will cost you.
When Does a Missclick Happen in Live Poker?
The origin of the word “missclick” comes from the action of clicking your mouse button at the wrong time and hitting the wrong button on the screen.
However, the term has also been used to describe some live poker actions that are similar to an online misslick and mostly have to do with mistaking the color chips and denominations in a live poker game.
A common example of this is when a player puts in a bet with the wrong chip denomination, thus making the bet extremely small or extremely large for the stage of the tournament.
For instance, imagine you are playing in a live poker tournament with 20,000 chip stacks and blinds at 100/200. The player on the button announces raise and tosses in a blue 5,000 chip.
The player likely meant to make a raise to 500 with a single purple chip, but having announced the raise and put in the 5k chip, their raise now stands.
In situations like these, the player who makes the live missclick will often react once they realize what they’ve done with a poker tell, revealing additional information about their poker hands.
Live poker missclicks can also happen when a player puts in chips with the intention to raise but ends up putting in too few chips and is forced to just call the bet.
When playing live poker games, it is smart to always verbalize your intention and the size of the bet or raise you are trying to make or be extremely focused on double check what chips you are putting into the pot.
Once the chips are in play, the dealer will count them as a bet or a raise regardless of your intention, and avoiding such live poker missclicks is a small part of being a good live poker player.
How to Avoid Missclicks in Poker
Missclicks happen every now and then in online poker and can hardly be avoided altogether. Even if you do everything perfectly, faulty equipment or a glitch in the software you are using can cause a missclick.
Yet, for the most part, missclicks happen due to lack of focus or playing too many tables, and both of these things can be avoided.
If you play online poker, you should make sure you know your limit when it comes to the number of tables you are comfortable playing.
Playing with tiled tables instead of stacked ones will also help you avoid missclicks, as tables will not be on top of each other and won’t be popping up in your face.
Regardless of the way you line up your tables, you should make sure you only play the number of games you feel fully comfortable with.
On the other hand, if you are not focused on the game, you may make missclicks even when playing just one table if your thoughts drift to something else.
It is advisable to take short breaks during longer online poker sessions and to quit your session when you feel tired and unfocused.
Since tournament players sometimes can’t quit the game at the time of their choosing, doing everything in your power to remain focused is the best you can do and something you should always keep in the back of your head.
Minimize Missclicks in Your Poker Games
A missclick in either online or live poker games can be quite costly and end up decimating your tournament stack or costing you lots of money at the cash game tables.
Making sure you are rested and focused on the game when playing is key to avoiding missclicks, as poker truly requires a lot of mental energy.
The next time you sit at your computer to play online poker, shut down all your social apps, set up your tables so they are easy to view, and avoid all distractions for the duration of your session.
Playing shorter sessions without any missclicks and unnecessary mistakes is much better than spending the whole day mindlessly grinding and putting in one missclick after another at a serious cost.
