Are you an online poker player playing live poker for the first time? Or maybe it’s the other way around? Sure, the poker itself of the game is the same wherever you play it, but there are still a number of variations of the game to be played live and online, that you should keep in mind.
1. Pace – Online poker is much more than a live game. Online, there is no shuffling, counting chips, etc, as the software takes care of this in a moment. Plus there are shorter limits when playing online. If you are playing a live player for the first time, the pace is a welcome change. If you are an online player, however, playing live can lead to boredom, distraction, and often loose play situs casino.
2. Games of Variety – Want to Play a $ 0.10- $ 0.25 Omaha Hi-Lo Game at the Casino? Fat chance of that. Online poker is a huge number of players available to take advantage of, and offers all kinds of stakes and all kinds of games. Of course, it depends on the poker room, and the network it belongs to, but more often there is a wider variety of games and stakes online.
3. Exact chip counts – Exact chip counts online means it is much easier to get a handle on how much pot you have, how much you have, how much more your opponents have, etc. If you use pot odds and other calculations in your decision-making, this will be much more difficult than an online game.
4. Promotions – Online, you can find various bonuses, promotions, and / or rakeback deals. This is more and more difficult for live card rooms as offer promotions as it is more difficult to measure the exact fees and rake players have contributed to the poker room.
5. Rake + fees – Live card rooms have a lot of overhead, need to pay dealers etc, so the rake and fees in a casino or poker club are much higher.
6. Convenience – It’s Not Always Easy To Make Your Way To A Card Room Or Pub Poker Game. You can play online poker at the comfort of your own home, and since you play with people from all over the world, you can pretty much find games any day of the day.
7. Analyzing your game – In online poker, there are different types of software that record all your hand histories, and you can analyze your game as well as your opponents. Analyzing your game in live poker is limited in what you can, and much more complicated to do.
8. Social interaction – Live poker is a great social activity, and at the end of the day, even if you have lost money, hopefully you’ve had a bit of a chat at the table, and had a good time anyway. How much money depends on how much money you have lost or won. The social interaction in a live game can also be a source of learning, as players often chat with each other and have hands-on experience.
9. Tells – The Human Interaction in a live game mean “telling” a large part of your decision-making. For an experienced player there are many subtle signs that can reveal revealing information, from body language to verbal information, even to the clothes people are wearing.
10. Anonymity – The anonymity of online poker can be comforting. Generally you don’t have to worry too much about how you behave and what others may think of you, and if you have a terrible poker face, you don’t have to worry about opponents!
As you can see, there are a lot of arguments playing poker online. However, playing with the excitement and fun of real people at a casino or club is something that just can’t be matched online. Ultimately, it depends on the individual and what they are looking for.
For more information about online poker rooms and strategy, I recommend My Hold’em Tips. If you play live poker in and around London, UK, you can find out about all London card rooms at London Poker Guide.