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The Advantages of Playing Internet Poker
by Keith Ecker
What is more thrilling than claiming a chair at a poker room at a major casino and plunking a stack of chips down with the big boys to play a few hands? The dings and whistles of the slot machines, the neon flashing lights, the smell of smoke and alcohol all combine to create an ambiance unparalleled by the Internet poker playing experience. But what you may not realize is, that despite being able to purchase drinks from a scantily clad cocktail waitress, playing in a casino in many ways offers more disadvantages than to its at-home, online counterpart.
With the advent of Internet poker gambling has arisen a new venue to test your stress levels and poker skills – your own home. This ability to be playing in a familiar, controlled environment provides overlooked perks that the casinos just cannot offer. On top of this, Internet poker gaming offers the player a wider variety of options and even some betting advantages that just are not possible when playing in person.
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First, the most obvious advantage is the ability to avoid the busyness of a casino. Casinos are known to be loud, bright, distracting places. Some players may thrive in such environments where the very air that you breath seems electrically charged with the energy of a slot machine. However, most players would probably find the ability to adjust one’s own environment to one’s own personal tastes more appealing.
By sitting at home, whether in the quiet of your bedroom or listening to your favorite poker-themed tunes, a player can create the most optimal and personalized gambling environment for himself. If you don’t like cigarette smoke, then you don’t have to be subjected to the pervading wafts of smoke that most casinos seem to have drifting through their poker rooms. Many casinos have televisions throughout their poker rooms. If such visuals are distracting, you can make sure that all attention is focused on the game by playing at your computer. This ability to control your environment can dramatically improve your focus and thus your game.
Another benefit of computer playing is that you don’t have to fear intimidation from other players. Sure, sometimes there may be a big bet that puts the pressure on you to make an educated decision. But overall, you won’t have some old-time poker pro staring you down as you decide whether or not to call or raise his bet.
Along with this comes the ability to conceal your tells. You can bet that when you are playing at a table in a casino, at least one of the players at the table has read a thing or two on poker tells. Knowing that someone may be able to detect your intentions through a subtle, unconscious movement can be nerve-wracking and interfere with decision-making. By playing on the Internet, you don’t have to worry about being watched. Your gestures and reactions are conveniently hidden so that all your attention can be put on the game rather than on yourself. By not having to face real people, you can put your energy toward your cards and the plays of your opponents.
Another bonus of playing at an Internet poker venue is that you don’t have to play with as much money. Most casinos that offer structured Texas Hold’em only go as low as $3/$6 and occasionally $2/$4. Online casinos many times will offer $.50/$1 games, which can be much more affordable for the player just looking to learn the ropes without spending too much money. As for tournament play, many casinos demand costly buy-ins. It is not unusual to see a $50 minimum buy-in for a major poker tournament at a casino. Internet poker venues offer tournament games that cost as low as $5 to enter. Of course the return for winning a game with such a low buy-in will be dramatically less than that of a $50 game, but for those who just want to gain experience or merely enjoy tournament play, online is the way to go.
Most casinos only have anywhere between five and eight poker tables. The bigger casinos may have a little over ten. This can cause for long waits on busy nights, and these waits can cause frustration and fatigue. No one wants to play poker after waiting two hours to get a seat. That’s why online gaming is such an advantage. As soon as one table fills up, three others are created. Because you are not dealing with physical space, there can be an infinite number of tables at once. This means little wait for you. The ability to have countless tables offers the player a greater choice of which table to sit at. In a casino, you mostly get put wherever there is a seat open. But online, the player has much more personal freedom to choose a seat at a particular table.
Last, Internet poker gambling actually offers an advantage that directly affects game play. Because numbers are displayed when bets are made, such as the amount of a raise, the amount one has in his own stack and the pot total, calculations such as pot odds are a lot easier to make. When playing at a casino, a player would have to have a keen eye to slyly count how many chips are in the pot in order to determine how much he should bet so that his opponents are put in a tough position. However when playing online, the pot total is displayed numerically so there is little calculation or counting that needs to be done to determine just what percentage of the pot to bet so that you can ensure you’ll have your opponents questioning their next moves.
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