In recent years web based poker and particularly the Hold’em variant of the casino game has come to dominate our tv sets. I am generally asked to comment on the differences in play amongst web poker and real world rooms which I look to set out in this article.
1. Speed of on line poker play is roughly twice that of real world poker play. The variety of hands per hour in a land poker site would be circa thirty per hour at greatest, perhaps as low as twenty. Typical on line poker game would see 50-60 hands per hour, and anything up to one-hundred-twenty per hour for short handed "Turbo" play.
2. Rake collected by a web poker site will probably be 5 percent or less of each pot whereas brick and mortar rooms is going to be 10 % or even higher. In this regard web-based bet on could be the better value option. Some 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 could be the reason that Caribbean Poker is favoured over Holdem in land based casinos in the UK.
3. The quality of player located in an internet based poker site will normally be lower than that in land based rooms. There are many reasons for this except to actually go to a traditional smoky place sitting down at a table of ten takes an element of confidence that you don’t need to have in an on-line poker environment. Traditional players are typically better in that they usually understand the casino game prior to wagering it. By way of contrast your average internet poker newbie has just watched the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel or ESPN. The only exceptions to this that I have identified occur in Vegas where you get the full array of extremes from holiday makers trying their hand with the very best in the world.
4. On-line poker players can pick and decide on the time of day they wager on as they can play 24 hrs a day, 5 days a week and do so from the comfort of their own home. Traditional gamblers must plan ahead and have to the venue at the due starting time.
5. Web based poker players have more option, in the quantity and variety of games to decide on from, ranging from free of charge 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 net poker tournaments exactly where a far greater array of choices await such as satellite entries from as little as $5.
6. Poker Tells involving internet and brick and mortar poker wager on are very different. Real world gamblers spend more time observing body language and voice tells via opponent questioning than they do observing time delays amongst wagers and bet size relative to the potential odds of greater hands. Internet based Poker Tells have a lot more to do with timing, bet size, and table position instead of the judgement of facial expression.
7. Poker etiquette is more disciplined in land based poker rooms. The on-line poker encounter can often be spoiled by drunken fools who believe they have Phil Ivey’s skill level even though they clearly do not. Catch a lucky card in an on-line poker room and you may well come across your self on the end of a number of verbal abuse (by means of the typed chat system). Phrases such as "you are an idiot" and worse would not be tolerated in a real world room except go largely unchecked web. You often have the option to turn off gambler chat except my preferred betting style would be to goad the offending gambler into wagering on tilt (usually a simple thing to complete). One recourse you do have against abuse is to report the gambler to the pit boss and they will probably be either banned from chat or thrown out of the home altogether.
8. Web poker gives you the unique ability to bet on a lot more than one space at a time. Clearly this is not an alternative open to brick and mortar players. I know of men and women who bet on as much as six tables simultaneously.
As it is possible to see both environments have the possible for a seriously 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, but still like the interaction of a live room.