Differences Between Live Poker and Internet Poker

With the growth of poker over the last five years, there have been, and continues to be, a great influx of players to the Internet-based poker rooms. Many of these players have experience with live play, either in a casino or online poker room or in home games. There are a great many differences between playing poker live and on the Internet, some good and some not. Here is a quick look at both the good and the bad.

The best differences when you play online are:

• You don’t have to travel anywhere to play, so you save the expense of fuel, vehicle and time. Also, if you are like me, there aren’t any poker rooms close enough for a convenient trip. This allows me to play poker any time without wasting half a day driving.
• You don’t give any tips, so you save this expense.
• You don’t have to remember to place the blinds or ante’s as they are taken care of automatically.
• The selection of games and limits available is very broad, so you can always find a full game at the limits you are comfortable with.
• Almost every Internet-based poker room has play money tables available so you can learn a new game or practice without risking any real money.
• You can hide behind a screen name so no one you are playing with knows who you are.
• The cards are shuffles quickly by the computer so you can play two to three times more hands per table per hour than in live play.
• You can play at more than one table at the same time. Most rooms allow you to play at two or four, while some will allow you to play at up to twelve. (As a side note, I don’t recommend playing at more than one or to tables at a time until you are a very good player.)

Here are a few of the drawbacks to playing poker on the Internet:

• You can’t see your opponents, so the chance to pick up tells is diminished.
• If you enjoy the social interaction of live play, you will probably not find the chat feature as interesting as actually speaking to the other players.
• You don’t have much time to act on your hand. Most rooms allow you between twenty and thirty seconds to decide what to do. While this is often plenty of time, there are situations where it is nice to have a few extra minutes to think like you have in live play.
• You don’t know who your opponents are. At the lower levels, this doesn’t matter much, but as you move up in levels, you never know when you may be sitting at the table with a professional.

Overall, playing on the Internet has many advantages, but I still like to play in live games occasionally. Try both to see what works best for you. Good luck at the tables!