In recent years on-line poker and particularly the Hold em variant of the game has come to dominate our tv sets. I’m often asked to comment on the differences in play involving net poker and traditional rooms which I look to set out in this article.
1. Speed of web-based poker wager on is roughly twice that of brick and mortar poker play. The number of fingers per hour in a land poker room would be circa 30 per hour at very best, perhaps as low as 20. Typical on-line poker casino game would see fifty to sixty hands per hour, and anything up to a hundred and twenty per hour for short handed "Turbo" play.
2. Rake collected by an on-line poker room will be five per-cent or less of each pot whereas brick and mortar rooms will probably be 10 per-cent or even higher. In this regard web-based bet on may be the better worth option. A few countries, such as the United Kingdom have laws against the taking of rake. Instead they either charge by the hour or by the tournament. This may be the reason that Caribbean Poker is favoured over Texas hold em in real world gambling houses in the UK.
Three. The quality of gambler located in a web based poker room will generally be lower than that in land based rooms. There are numerous reasons for this but to really go to a traditional smoky space sitting down at a table of ten takes an element of confidence that you don’t require in a web poker environment. Real world players are frequently better in that they usually understand the game prior to wagering it. By way of contrast your average web based poker newbie has just watched the WPT on the Travel Channel or ESPN. The only exceptions to this that I’ve identified occur in Sin City where you have the full array of extremes from holiday makers trying their hand with the most effective in the world.
4. Internet poker players can pick and pick the time of day they bet on as they can bet on 24 hrs a day, seven days a week and do so from the comfort of their own home. Land based gamblers must plan ahead and get to the venue at the due starting time.
Five. On-line poker players have more choice, in the quantity and variety of games to select from, ranging from free of cost wager on to cash games to tournaments of all sizes. If you want to win a seat at the upcoming 2006 WSOP, then you have to be looking towards online poker tournaments exactly where a far greater range of choices await such as satellite entries from as little as five dollars.
6. Poker Tells in between web and land based poker bet on are really different. Real world gamblers spend much more time observing body language and voice tells by way of opponent questioning than they do observing time delays between wagers and wager size relative to the potential odds of larger hands. On line Poker Tells have much more to complete with timing, bet size, and table position instead of the judgement of facial expression.
7. Poker etiquette is extra disciplined in traditional poker rooms. The on-line poker understanding can frequently be spoiled by drunken fools who believe they have Phil Ivey’s level of skill even though they clearly do not. Catch a lucky card in an on-line poker site and you may well uncover yourself on the end of a few verbal abuse (via the typed chat system). Phrases such as "you are an idiot" and worse wouldn’t be tolerated in a real world room but go largely unchecked internet. You usually have the possibility to turn off player chat except my preferred betting style is always to goad the offending player into playing on tilt (usually a easy thing to complete). One recourse you do have against abuse is always to report the gambler to the pit boss and they might be either banned from chat or thrown out of the space altogether.
8. Online poker gives you the distinctive ability to wager on far more than one place at a time. Clearly this is not an possibility open to land based players. I know of men and women who wager on up to six tables simultaneously.
As it is possible to see both environments have the potential for a truly great casino game of poker. Various experiences to suit various player needs. Personally I do not have a preference between the two. I value the convenience of net play, except still enjoy the interaction of a live room.