Online poker you may play anytime you want — 24/7 365. You may play it in total comfort, right through your own home, wearing what ever you like (or nothing at all), sitting, reclining, or jogging on a treadmill (however we don’t recommend it). You can set the lighting, temperature, and ambience to be just while you like it. In many ways, with online poker you simply have more control.
You’ve got no others to contend with (at least not in-person) — nobody hovering over you, talking at you, pushing you, crowding around you, giving you unsought advice, or shooting you nasty looks. You don’t have to smell smoke should you not want to. You have no sexy waitresses tempting you with mind-altering drinks and otherwise distracting your attention away from the game at hand (pun completely intended). You should not have to drive anywhere (and with gas-prices what they can be, that alone preserves your bankroll tremendously), nor do have to get dressed up or tip your dealer — all of which save you money and time.
Another advantage of online poker is that you may play against people from on the other side of the globe. Think about it next time you sit down at an online poker table — not everyone there even speaks the same language. And globetrotting over the internet provides you with access to more casinos and poker rooms than you can ever find in one single place, even when that one place is actually Vegas!
Online poker players get to pick from an inordinate variety of cardrooms, game types, and table stakes. Moments ago, we mentioned the ambience of the environment where you’ll be sitting down with your computer to play online poker (most likely your house), but online poker gives you almost just as much control in determining the ambience of the cardroom itself.
Whether you enjoy an Old West setting, a Hollywood setting, an Egyptian setting, a jungle setting, a resort setting, and on and on…you can certainly find an online poker room designed around whatever theme suits your tastes. Likewise, you may find rooms more more likely to have more (or less) experienced players, faster (or slower) action, higher (or lower) stakes, etc.
Through the same token, in contrast, when playing online poker additionally, it helps to be aware of its perceived disadvantages as in comparison with playing traditional “offline” poker. A simple awareness of the real difference alone may make you a far better player.
For one, you don’t get that intimate, face-to-face contact with other human beings. But do not rule online poker out as a social outlet altogether. An increasing number of online poker rooms are fostering a real feeling of community amongst their players with attractive and appealing member’s clubs, player forums, and sponsored land-based events.
For some poker players, the game just isn’t the exact same without the feel of the cards in your hands as well as the weight of the chips as you place them within the center of the table (or perhaps the sound of them clinking when you pull the pile towards you after a big win). And you cannot substitute a number, however large or small, for the visual impact of the chip stacks — red, blue, and white — increasing or receding in front of you and expect the same effect.
But probably the biggest deal that makes some offline poker players leery of playing online poker is the inability to read the other players. Most expert poker players depend on inadvertent visual cues given by their opponents — tells — as to the actual strength or weakness of their hands. There is a thing to be said for the total amount of information you can glean by just looking your opponent within the eyes (thus the prevalence of sunglasses at the poker table) and watching their hands, their posture, their facial expressions, etc. Fortunately, however, there are a number of tells you may look for in online poker as well, you need to simply know where (and the way) to look. But that’s a subject for another Jamesgosling blog article.
As due to this article, we leave you having an analogy. If you like going to the theatre for your shows, the arena for your concerts, and also the stadium for your games, get thee to a brick-and-mortar casino for your poker playing enjoyment. If you like Tivo however (or maybe if you just ain’t got the dough for the theatre, arena, and stadium tickets), then online poker is your ticket.
