The explosion in popularity of internet poker over recent years has produced
many players who have adapted well to the live game. The most notable example
being Chris Moneymaker’s win in the world series of poker main event after
qualification on Poker Stars. This article looks at the significant differences
between live poker and the online game by assessing the advantages of each.
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Advantages of Live Poker
* Live poker allows you to get clues as to your opponent’s holdings from
physical ‘tells’, observing and acting upon information inadvertently given by
an opponent that betrays the strength of their hand can give an observant player
a huge advantage.
* One table at a time can be played in live poker games. This restricts the
expert players from taking a seat at a large number of tables as they may do
online. The ratio of professional poker players to recreational players is thus
likely to be more favorable in the live setting, particularly at the lower
betting limits.
* Live poker is a social experience. Whether in a home-game or at your local
casino you are playing against other people in a (mostly) friendly environment.
Food and drinks may be ordered from the table and the exciting atmosphere of the
casino can create a cordial yet competitive ambiance in which to play.
* Tilting may be less dangerous. Many players are prone to playing less than
optimally after a bad beat. In a live poker game the slower speed of the game
may protect those players who experience tilt from losing too much money. The
time between deals give them a chance to ‘cool off’ and the temptation to load
higher limit tables to ‘win it back’ is not there as it may be online.
2. Advantages of Online Poker
* When playing online your only restriction on the number of tables is the
amount you can profitably handle. Whether you play 1, 2, 4 or even more tables
the amount of poker hands you can play is far greater. This can make a winning
poker player more profit over time. It can also reduce variance – playing 4
lower limit tables rather than a single high-limit game can reduce the potential
swings in your bankroll.
* Online poker can be played at a time and place of your choosing. If you have a
spare hour of leisure time then it is possible to play poker in the comfort of
your own home. By the time you have traveled to a casino and waited for a
suitable table that hour would already be gone.
* There are a greater choice of tables and tournaments at all betting levels
online. It would not be possible to play a game for pennies in a live setting,
and the high-stakes table might be full of sharks. Online you can look through a
number of tables until you find one with weakest opposition. If the game
suddenly becomes tough then you are only a couple of mouse clicks away from a
new table.
* Online you have tools including hand history and note making functions that
are not available in the live setting. Using this information can help you read
your opponents betting patterns and make notes on these that can be used on
later hands. The notes remain with the players and are available for future
sessions too.
* There is not only a greater selection of tables available online but more
poker variations too. If you feel like a change from your regular game then most
online poker rooms offer a wide selection of game types at the click of a mouse.
