There are pros and cons of playing online poker. First, what are the advantages of playing online poker? How about not having to travel to a casino or someone's house for starters? The benefit of being able to sit down at your computer and jump into an online game within minutes when you feel like playing is hard to beat! Naturally, for every benefit there is a disadvantage, but this ranks high on the list.
How about not having to tip when playing online? Of course, no one says you have to tip when playing in a brick-and-mortar facility, but most of us do. Assume for every pot won, you tip a dollar. If you are at least an average poker player, you should win a couple of big bets per hour, but when playing online the games are faster. So let's calculate 3 dollars per hour, that is 3 bucks saved! If you play 4 hours per day, we are talking 12 dollars per day. Even 5 days a week, that's 60 dollars going into your pocket and not the dealers! It's tough enough to win, and this money saved can enhance your bottom line quite nicely.
A big plus is being able to play almost any game at any time of the day or night with no waiting. How many times have you gone into a card club like the clubs in California and have had to put your name on the waiting list? Especially during the busy times such as the weekends or holidays, you end up waiting and waiting, then getting impatient and jumping into a game you really didn't want to get into. Either the stakes of the game are too small or too large, and that can be costly. All because you had to wait. One doesn't run into this problem too much when playing online. There are literally thousands of games to choose from from hundreds of different online sites.
The option of playing more than one game at a time is another benefit. Some people play four or more games at one time! Of course, one should be above average in their earning skills to accomplish this, otherwise it could be very expensive, but it is done all the time.
Do you love to play tournaments? Online tournament play happens virtually around the clock! Big buy-in tournaments as well as small buy-ins, now when you want to play anytime you can. Also, everything is automatic when playing tournaments such as table changes, viewing chip counts, time to break etc. Fast, efficient tournament play is a huge advantage for the knowledgeable player.
What about playing poker for micro-limits such as one or two pennies a hand? These games exist for the novice as well as playing for no money at all for practice. Try doing that at your local casino. Of course, games exist in the thousands per hand as well for the people with deep pockets.
Need more? Okay, do you want to play heads-up? You can do that online as well. How about short-handed games with no more than four players for instance? That exists on many sites.
As you can see, there are many, many advantages with online play. But there are some disadvantages as well. Not being able to see your opponent is a huge disadvantage. When playing no-limit holdem, reading other players is almost more important than the cards one is holding. It is all about the bluff in no-limit play, and the top players in the world can win with inferior cards. They have developed an almost sixth-sense in reading other people, and that is impossible to do online. Sure, some people say the speed of player's bets have some significance, but that is small potatoes when looking for an actual tell.
Some people play poker for the social aspect as well as the gaming aspect. Any social aspect is severely limited when playing online, as the only communication allowed is in the chat box option that exists. So for the people who are looking for the "coffee clutch" aspect of poker, they might want to go to their local VFW hall instead of playing online.
In summary, there seem to be more advantages than the opposite when playing online. Game security rates very high, as online companies have too much at stake to allow for crooked games. They are making billions of dollars annually, in fact the online gaming business in close to 14 billion per year! Playing online is a tremendous boon for the poker industry, and one with a very bright future!
