Online poker has undoubtedly taken the online world by storm.
It has provided a unique opportunity for top poker players to enjoy poker action against other opponents without having to leave home.
Read on to find out the reasons why poker is the best game to play online.
Why Poker is the Best Game to Play Online: Online Poker vs. Live Poker
The rules of poker are the same whether you play in person at a live poker game or against a random opponent online. The only downside is that when you’re playing online poker, you won’t be able to look anyone in the face to see their expression or to second-guess what they’re thinking.
One of the main reasons that online poker is popular is that it not only is a fun game but it’s also an intellectual game requiring actual skills whilst winning real money, no matter how small the stakes are.
1. Convenience
While the waiting around time is one downside to live poker as compared with online, players can sometimes overlook the fact that playing live requires you to commit a couple of hours at least to being in one place. A major benefit of online poker is that you can play for as long or as short a time as you want.
On top of this, the growth of mobile and tablet technology, and even the increase in more compact laptops, means you can play online poker anywhere with an internet connection. No longer will you need to miss out on a hand to step outside for a cigarette or move within range of television to catch the last over of the cricket. With online and mobile poker, you can take the game with you rather than leaving it behind.
2. Sharpen Your Skills
Another benefit of online poker is that there are games for players of all skill levels. In case you have been playing a game at your local casino and feel like you need some challenge, you can join poker online sites. In online poker, games are running 24/7. This gives you an endless supply of chances to practice and improve your game.
3. Speed of Play
A typical live poker game will deal around 25-30 hands per hour. Short-term variance takes a lot longer to overcome. Cash game players will have to play many more hours of live poker, compared to its online counterpart, in order to realize their true win rate. Live tournament players might not ever be able to play enough tournaments to outrun the high-variance nature of multi-table tournaments.
Online poker gets to the long run far more quickly. A typical full-ring online poker game will yield 60-80 hands per hour, and for a six-max game, some sites can deal upwards of 90 hands per hour. Those numbers are just for a single table. Online poker allows for multi-tabling, and an adept multi-tabling player can reach hundreds of hands per hour and thousands per day.
4. Save You Money
Think back to the last time you played poker at a casino. How much was the minimum buy-in? How much were people tipping the dealer when they won a big pot? How much was one big blind at the lowest stakes cash game?
Chances are, even the lowest of these figures is far higher than some of the buy-ins available for online cash games and tournaments. When you’re starting out playing poker you will want to practice bankroll management, and if you’re starting small then a cheap online game is surely preferable to a casino game where you have to put down a huge chunk of your bankroll just to play.
And that’s not even factoring in the cost of fuel, or the hours spent driving to the casino which could be spent playing and making money online. These things might seem small, but they will add up.
5. No Waiting Around
A casino makes some money from poker, but often not as much as it does from the games with a house edge, such as blackjack and slots. Hence, there may be a limit to the number of poker tables available, and by extension a limit to the number of seats available.
Rather than whiling away your time on a waiting list until there is a seat open, good online poker sites allow you to find a vacant seat right away, at whatever stakes you want to play. And of course, without the stress of waiting around, you will be calmer and more focused on your game.
Conclusion
Online poker is a platform that tests your game and your skills like mathematics, psychology, patience, instinct, etc. What makes online poker so popular is that there are games available for all the players at all skill levels. If you have been playing poker at the casino and feel your game is getting boring, you might need to sharpen your skills in ways that a live game isn’t offering.
