Many players stick to their regular poker habits, such as playing weekly at a friend’s place or in a casino that’s just a few blocks away. If this sounds like you and you want to change this, playing online is an interesting option.
With so many online casinos available and generous bonuses to take advantage of, the transition shouldn’t be difficult.
Still, you may wonder — is playing poker online as good as the real thing? That’s exactly what we’re going to explore in this article.
Is Playing Poker Online the Same as Playing Live?
Put simply, playing poker online is the same as playing live. The rules of the game are, of course, the same and the key concepts such as bluffing, pot odds, value betting, and hand ranges are just as applicable.
So, if you find a good place to play online, the experience will be just the same as in a brick-and-mortar casino. To do so, you can check out the list of the best poker apps at https://www.techopedia.com/gambling/best-poker-apps.
Still, while the game is the same online and live, there are small nuances you’ll notice the first time you join an online poker table. To better prepare yourself for this, let’s discuss each of them in more detail.
Online Poker is Faster
While many aspects of online and live poker are the same, one difference is the pace of the game.
When playing live, you can expect to see between 30 and 40 hands played in an hour. This is because the dealer needs time to shuffle the cards, collect chips, and distribute pots. On top of this, the players usually aren’t there only to play. They also like to have casual conversations, share laughs, and just have fun between hands, especially when playing at lower stakes.
On the other hand, when playing online, you can do several tables at once. Even if you play at a single table, you’ll see the game move at a faster pace with shuffling and other actions being automatically.
If playing live is too slow for you, making a switch to online poker is a great idea. You can also experiment by playing at multiple tables at once.
There are No Physical Tells
Another big difference between playing online and live is the absence of physical tells. While some think they’re overrated, tells can make a real difference.
Recreational players are generally not good at keeping the strength of their hand a secret. Some tend to talk more when they have a strong hand or slam their chips when bluffing. And if you know how to read these cues, it can impact your game significantly.
However, with no physical tells in online play, you can’t count on this part of your strategy. You can still observe their game and create player images for each of your opponents.
More Options are Available Online
At the beginning of this article, we mentioned how playing online is a great way to break the habit of always playing at the same places. But there’s more. Online casinos are also more flexible and offer more options to players.
You can log in whenever you want knowing there will be ongoing games you can join. There are still peak times with evenings and weekends seeing a significant increase in players.
There are also more options available in terms of tables and stakes. You can test any of them and easily move between different tables.
Extra flexibility also makes online casinos a great option for beginners looking to learn more about the game.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, playing online and live is pretty much the same with only some nuances between them. If you only played live so far, now may be the right time to give online poker a try.