Online Poker Vs Brick and Mortar Games – What Type of Poker is Best For You
- Filed under: Betting
- Date: Oct 31,2009
Since the dawn of the online poker age there has always been the question of which is better, online poker or live games in a casino or card room? The answer is the same as most poker questions…. It depends. While the two generally have the same rules and structure, you are dealing with two very different games.
The main advantage of online poker boils down to speed. The games are so much faster than live poker that if its volume that you want, there is no substitute. All of the dealers responsibilities are done automatically. There is no time wasted on shuffling, counting chips, dealing, or gathering the cards. These time consuming actions are all done instantaneously by the poker room’s software. This means that there is less time wasted and more time spent playing poker. This equates to 60, 70, or more hands every hour. This is if you only play one table at a time. Most online poker players take advantage of ability to play multiple tables at once. Some players even use several monitors and play 6-8 tables or more at a time. This will allow you to play 600 or more hands an hour. This equates to 20 or more times the number of hands you would be able to play in a live game. So for the winning poker player, more hands per hours should equal more winnings per hour right? Unfortunately its not that simple. Read On.
Playing live poker has its advantages too. Poker is not all about the quantity of hands that you play. Live poker generally has much weaker opponents than similar levels online. You get a lot of casual players who just happen to give poker a try since they’re already in the casino. You will also get players who are unaware of what hand beats what. These players are just asking you to take their money. Soft players lead to soft games. Ive played in 20/40 limit holdem games in the casino that were much softer than 1/2 games online. These stakes are 20 times that of the 1/2 online game that I mentioned, and you should be able to make a lot of money per hand in these games. So for the winning poker player we would assume that higher stakes means more money to win right? Maybe and maybe not.
Since each game has its advantages and disadvantages financially, there must be something else to separate these two forms of poker. There is. Live poker offers a much more social environment. If you’re looking to have some fun and shoot the breeze with the other players, than live poker in an actual brick and mortar casino or card room would probably suit you better. On the other hand, internet poker offers its own conveniences. If you’re only looking to play for a half hour or so, you may not want to drive to the casino, park, get on the waiting list, ect. If you play online all you have to do is fire up your computer and find a game. You can even play in your under ware, your old sweat pants that your wife won’t let you leave the house in, or nothing at all. The other advantages that online poker has are all the software available, rakeback, bonuses, and multitabling. If you’re all business, than online poker may be the better route for you.
So what did we learn from this little discussion? Neither online poker or live poker games are definitively better. It all depends on what you aim to achieve at the poker tables.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker and receives Rakeback at Cake Poker from Rakeback Solution.