* You get to play poker without having to interact with people in real life. For those of you who have played poker live, doesn’t it suck when you have to sit next to that homeless looking guy who smells like he hasn’t showered in days?
* No physical tells. People aren’t going to get any physical tells from you like seeing you sweat, seeing your eyes dilate, or seeing your hands shake as you put the chips in the pot. The counter to that of course, is that you don’t get to see any physical tells from your online opponents, either. In a future column I’ll write about some of the online tells that are available to you.
* No waiting for tables. In live poker, there are a limited number of tables at the stakes you want to play and you usually have to put your name on a list and wait for a seat. In online poker you can usually sit down and play right away and the times where you have to get on a waiting list, you don’t have to wait long for a seat. Additionally, you have a lot more flexibility to table select online vs. live poker where you have to play at the table they put you on.
* There are a larger variety of stakes you can play online. You can play with blinds as small as 1c/2c all the way up to high stakes games. With live play, the smallest no limit Texas Hold ‘em stakes you are likely to see is $1/$2 blinds and there may not be many high-stakes tables running. It is a great advantage to be able to start learning the game playing for pennies rather than playing for dollars.
* Hand histories/note taking. In live poker, you only have your memory of how a hand went down unless you are that nerdy guy who brings a pencil and pad of paper with you and writes down hands. Most online poker rooms write hand histories to your hard drive or keep them available for you to access online. Additionally, most online poker rooms have a note taking function so you can quickly jot down notes on how your opponent played a hand.
* Not having to do that pesky simple math. Math is a big part of poker. As simple as it sounds, when playing live it is sometimes difficult to remember the size of the pot, who raised what amount, etc, while at the same time trying to figure out what you are going to do when the action gets to you. With online poker, it is right there on your screen.
* Rakeback/bonuses. Rakeback is money you get back from the rake from certain online poker rooms. Additionally, poker rooms offer potentially lucrative bonuses for playing on their site. While a live poker room may give free drinks or comps for playing, the rakeback/bonuses online poker rooms provide greatly outweigh those.
* You don't have to tip the dealer when you win a pot. If you are winning your fair share of the pots, this can have a significant impact on your hourly rate.
* There are a larger variety of stakes you can play online. You can play with blinds as small as 1c/2c all the way up to high stakes games. With live play, the smallest no limit Texas Hold ‘em stakes you are likely to see is $1/$2 blinds and there may not be many high-stakes tables running. It is a great advantage to be able to start learning the game playing for pennies rather than playing for dollars.
* Multi-tabling. You can only play one table at a time in live poker. In online poker, you can play up to 24 tables at once. I will write a future column about how to multi-table effectively in the future, but the main advantages to multi-tabling are that it increases your hourly rate and reduces variance.
* Hand histories/note taking. In live poker, you only have your memory of how a hand went down unless you are that nerdy guy who brings a pencil and pad of paper with you and writes down hands. Most online poker rooms write hand histories to your hard drive or keep them available for you to access online. Additionally, most online poker rooms have a note taking function so you can quickly jot down notes on how your opponent played a hand.
* Not having to do that pesky simple math. Math is a big part of poker. As simple as it sounds, when playing live it is sometimes difficult to remember the size of the pot, who raised what amount, etc, while at the same time trying to figure out what you are going to do when the action gets to you. With online poker, it is right there on your screen.
* Rakeback/bonuses. Rakeback is money you get back from the rake from certain online poker rooms. Additionally, poker rooms offer potentially lucrative bonuses for playing on their site. While a live poker room may give free drinks or comps for playing, the rakeback/bonuses online poker rooms provide greatly outweigh those.
* You don't have to tip the dealer when you win a pot. If you are winning your fair share of the pots, this can have a significant impact on your hourly rate.
If you already play online poker and were bored with the first installment of this column, I’ve accompanied this column with a little eye candy – Tiffany Michelle. She’s a poker professional who also happens to be fairly hot.
Until next time, good luck at the tables!
