Comparison of Live vs. Online Poker
November 12, 2008
Poker has been around for hundreds of years, but only now that we are in the 21st century is playing online an option. Some players only play in live games, or they only play in online games, but the majority of poker players like to engage in both types of games. Before you can decide which way to play you need to understand the differences between these two types of play and how these differences directly impact your poker experience. Before I go on I encourage all of you, if you haven’t already, to try playing both types of poker so you can see these differences in person.
Speed of Play
If there is one thing that should immediately strike a player new to online poker, it is the speed of the game. A typical live poker game rolls along at an average rate hovering somewhere around 40 hands played per hour. Online poker is absolutely blazing past this at an average of approximately 110 hands played per hour, almost a 200 percent increase. Clearly online poker is faster than a live game, but whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends entirely upon why you are playing. If you are primarily playing for a profit you are quite likely to want to take advantage of the speed of online play so you can get more hands (and therefore a higher earning potential) in any given day. If however you see poker as a very social game, the speed with which an online game progresses can make a simple game of poker seem far too mechanized.
Flexibility
For poker players who frequent some of the popular online poker rooms, there will never be a shortage of players looking for a game. Day or night, fellow poker players from all over the world want to play just as much as you do. If you limit your play to live games you must live very close to a casino to even come close to finding such a rich supply of games as can be found over the internet. Even if you factor in back room games, it is impossible for live players to have access to the flexibility and convenience offered by online play. Nobody wants to get together just to satisfy your need to play a few hands, and you probably do not feel like going to a casino every evening after work.
The Poker Experience
Unlike so many of the games offered in casinos (live and online) poker is far more than simply gambling. When you have a seat at a poker table your mentality is much different from that of a slots or craps player. You know you are not simply gambling, but engaging in an elegant game of skill, where your ability to read the man across from you is worth more than the cards in your hand and your fate can be reversed at any moment through daring maneuvering. Go to an online poker site and some of that magic seems lost. The game you know and love seems too broken down into mathematical strategies and odds. It can start to feel eerily like you are facing off against lady luck rather than pitting yourself against another human.
In the end of the day most poker players could use a healthy balance of online and live poker games. If you enjoy playing in casinos on vacation, you can keep sharp year round anywhere you have an internet connection. If your focus is making a regular profit in online games you still can’t deny the appeal of a live casino game, even if you only indulge yourself occasionally. Your best bet is to take advantage of both types of games and get the best of both worlds.
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