Playing Online Poker

Bill Burton 09:24 Sep 16th, 2006 Poker

Online poker has grown and there are actually many advantages to playing poker online. Whether you are a brand new player trying the game for the first time, a seasoned pro or a player somewhere in between you can find a game to your liking online. I would like to go over some of the advantages to playing poker online.

No Traveling You can play online poker from your home without having to travel to the cardroom. Many players live in States with no cardrooms and can only play when they go away on vacation or they must drive log distances to the card room. Online poker sites are open 24/7 and the games are only a mouse click away. You are not bound by any time constraints. If you only have a half hour to play, you can still jump into a game.

Wider Game Selection Online cardrooms can offer a wider game selection because they are not limited by space required to accommodate the poker tables. They also don't have to staff them with live dealers. Game selection is an important factor and often makes the difference between winning and losing. There is an old saying that you don't have to be the best player in the world, just be better than the other players at the table. Because online rooms offer many games at the same limits, you can pick one that you can beat. Online you can change tables very easily or even play in two games at the same time.

Lower Limits You can play games for lower limits online. Since there are no dealers, rent or utilities to pay, the online sites can offer games and tournaments at very low limits. In a brick and mortar room, spreading a poker game with limits of a dollar or less would not be practical or profitable but it can be done online. Most poker sites also offer free games for players who want to learn the mechanics of the game before they risk real money. Playing low limit tournaments online can be a great way to gain experience and many sites offer Freeroll tournaments where you can play for free and win real money.

Lower Rakes and No tipping. In poker, you are playing against the other players not the house. Most cardrooms make their money by taking a percentage of the each pot. This is known as the rake. One of the reasons it is difficult to beat the low limit games is because you have to win enough to cover the rake. In a low limit $2/4 Texas Hold'em game the cardrooms may have a maximum rake of $4 it will take out of the pot. This same game online may have a maximum rake of $1. This reduction of the rake adds three dollars to your profit. It is also customary to tip the dealer when you win a pot in the cardrooms. Many players will throw the dealer 50 cents or a dollar. This also cuts into your profits when you play in a cardroom but there is no tipping online so you keep more of you win play online.

No Intimidation Sitting down at a table with nine strangers can be very intimidating to the newer player. Playing online is like sitting down at a video game because you are looking at a monitor instead of into the face of your opponents. You can interact with the other players via the chat box or choose to just play your own game without having to talk or socialize. Nobody can see you and if your hands are shaking because of nerves, nobody can tell.

Keeping Notes In a live game, you may not know another player's name, but online each player's user name is displayed on the screen. It's easy to keep accurate notes about the players you meet online. In fact, most winning players keep a notebook by their computer and make notations about the types of hands played by their opponents and whether the player is passive, aggressive, tight or loose. Nobody can see you writing so you can be as detailed as you want to be. If you meet a player a week or even months later you can just look them up in your book. Some sites even offer a way for you to take notes online while you play.

Pot Odds Displayed Making your decision to continue with a hand based on the pot odds you are getting is very important concept of poker. In a cardroom, you will have to keep tack of the bets and figure out the amount of money in the pot to use in making your decision. When you play online, the amount of money in the pot is displayed on the screen. You can even have a chart showing the percentages for making a hand sitting next to you so you can easily figure if you are getting the correct pot odds to call a hand.

Free Money One of the best reasons to play online is the fact that most Poker sites offer you free money in the way of a sign up bonus. This can be somewhere between ten and fifty percent, depending on the site you choose. This sign up bonus can cover your rake for quite awhile allowing the skilled player to make more money.

Bad Players There are probably more bad players playing online because of the lower limits sheer volume of players trying online poker for the first time. This presents a good opportunity for the skilled player who takes the time to study and learns to play the game correctly. For the skilled players online poker can be fun and profitable.