In recent years internet poker and particularly the Texas holdem variant of the game has come to dominate our tv sets. I’m often asked to comment on the differences in play involving web based poker and land based rooms which I look to set out in this article.
1. Speed of internet based poker wager on is roughly twice that of traditional poker play. The variety of hands per hour in a land poker room would be circa 30 per hour at greatest, maybe as low as 20. Typical web poker casino game would see fifty to sixty fingers per hour, and anything up to a hundred and twenty per hour for short handed "Turbo" play.
Two. Rake collected by an on-line poker room will be 5 percent or less of each pot whereas land based rooms will be ten per-cent or even higher. In this regard internet based wager on could be the much better worth option. Some countries, such as the UK have laws against the taking of rake. Instead they either charge by the hour or by the tournament. This will be the reason that Caribbean Poker is favoured over Hold em in brick and mortar gambling establishments in the UK.
3. The high quality of player located in a web poker site will typically be lower than that in land based rooms. There are many reasons for this except to truly go to a traditional smoky space sitting down at a table of 10 takes an element of confidence that you don’t will need in an online poker environment. Land based players are generally superior in that they usually understand the casino game before wagering it. By way of contrast your average on-line poker newbie has just watched the WPT on the Travel Channel or ESPN. The only exceptions to this that I have found occur in Las Vegas where you have the full range of extremes from holiday makers trying their hand with the best in the world.
Four. On-line poker gamblers can pick and pick the time of day they play as they can play twenty-four hrs a day, 7 days a week and do so from the comfort of their own home. Land based gamblers must plan ahead and obtain to the venue at the due starting time.
Five. On line poker gamblers have extra option, in the variety and selection of games to opt for from, ranging from no cost bet on to cash games to tournaments of all sizes. If you want to win a seat at the upcoming 2006 World Series of Poker, then you have to be looking towards web-based poker tournaments where a far greater array of choices await such as satellite entries from as little as 5 dollars.
6. Poker Tells between online and land based poker wager on are very different. Traditional players spend much more time observing body language and voice tells through opponent questioning than they do observing time delays among wagers and wager size relative to the potential odds of larger hands. Net Poker Tells have extra to complete with timing, wager size, and table position rather than the judgement of facial expression.
Seven. Poker etiquette is a lot more disciplined in brick and mortar poker rooms. The net poker experience can generally be spoiled by drunken fools who believe they have Phil Ivey’s ability even though they clearly do not. Catch a lucky card in a web poker site and you may find your self on the end of a number of verbal abuse (by means of the typed chat system). Phrases such as "you’re an idiot" and worse wouldn’t be tolerated in a real world area but go largely unchecked on-line. You often have the option to turn off gambler chat but my preferred betting style is always to goad the offending gambler into playing on tilt (usually a straightforward thing to complete). One recourse you do have against abuse would be to report the gambler to the pit boss and they might be either banned from chat or thrown out of the area altogether.
Eight. Internet poker gives you the distinctive ability to play much more than one space at a time. Clearly this isn’t an selection open to traditional players. I know of folks who bet on up to six tables simultaneously.
As you’ll be able to see both environments have the possible for a really great casino game of poker. Different experiences to suit various gambler needs. Personally I do not have a preference amongst the two. I worth the convenience of web based bet on, but still enjoy the interaction of a live room.