In latest years web based poker and particularly the Hold em variant of the game has come to dominate our television sets. I am generally asked to comment on the differences in play involving web based poker and real world 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 best, maybe as low as twenty. Typical web poker game would see 50-60 fingers per hour, and anything up to one hundred twenty per hour for short handed "Turbo" play.
2. Rake collected by an online poker room might be five % or less of each pot whereas real world rooms is going to be 10 % or even higher. In this regard web based bet on may be the greater value option. Several countries, such as the Great Britain have laws against the taking of rake. Instead they either charge by the hour or by the tournament. This could be the reason that Caribbean Poker is favoured over Holdem in brick and mortar gambling establishments in the UK.
Three. The quality of gambler identified in an internet poker site will normally be lower than that in traditional rooms. There are lots of reasons for this but to really go to a brick and mortar smoky home sitting down at a table of 10 takes an element of confidence that you don’t have to have in an on-line poker environment. Real world players are often better in that they usually understand the game before wagering it. By way of contrast your average internet based poker newbie has just watched the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel or ESPN. The only exceptions to this that I have discovered occur in Las Vegas exactly where you obtain the full array of extremes from holiday makers attempting their hand with the most effective in the world.
Four. Web poker players can pick and pick the time of day they bet on as they can bet on twenty four hrs a day, seven days a week and do so from the comfort of their own home. Brick and mortar players must plan ahead and have to the venue at the due starting time.
Five. On line poker players have far more option, in the range and variety of games to select from, ranging from free of cost bet on to cash games to tournaments of all sizes. If you would like to win a seat at the upcoming 2006 WSOP, then you need to be looking towards internet based poker tournaments exactly where a far greater array of choices await such as satellite entries from as little as 5 dollars.
Six. Poker Tells among web and land based poker bet on are quite different. Land based gamblers spend more time observing body language and voice tells via opponent questioning than they do observing time delays involving bets and wager size relative to the possible odds of increased hands. Online Poker Tells have far more to complete with timing, wager size, and table position instead of the judgement of facial expression.
Seven. Poker etiquette is far more disciplined in land based poker rooms. The online poker encounter can usually be spoiled by drunken fools who believe they have Phil Ivey’s ability even though they clearly don’t. Catch a lucky card in an online poker room and you may perhaps locate yourself on the end of a number of verbal abuse (via the typed chat system). Phrases such as "you are an idiot" and worse wouldn’t be tolerated in a brick and mortar space but go largely unchecked internet based. You often have the choice to turn off gambler chat but my preferred betting style is always to goad the offending gambler 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 will probably be either banned from chat or thrown out of the space altogether.
Eight. Web based poker gives you the unique ability to play more than one home at a time. Clearly this isn’t an selection open to brick and mortar players. I know of folks who wager on up to six tables simultaneously.
As you are able to see both environments have the potential for a genuinely very good game of poker. Unique experiences to suit various player needs. Personally I don’t have a preference between the two. I value the convenience of on-line bet on, except still enjoy the interaction of a live room.