The Differences Between Live Poker And Online Poker

Despite being essentially the same game, online poker and live poker play quite differently in a number of ways.

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The overall experience you get from playing live is simply not the same as the experience you get from playing online casinos, but many of the skills developed in one format translate readily to the other.

To be clear, we we say live poker, we mean playing at a real casino, with real people who you can touch and smell and be in contact with – not live casino table games where you get access to a live dealer.

To help you understand the main differences between live poker and online poker, we’ve put together some of the main differences you can expect between the two.

1. Speed of Play

One of the obvious differences between live and online poker is the pace of the game. Compared to online poker, live poker is played in what can appear in a very slow fashion – being limited to one table and approximately 20–30 hands every hour.

However, with online poker, players are used to seeing 50+ hands an hour across multiple tables, so those who are used to playing online often find the live game too tedious to tolerate.

The slow pace in the live environment can get very frustrating, particularly if you’re not getting good cards, with your time being wasted just waiting for something to happen.

On the other hand, if you are used to playing at real casino poker tables, the online version can feel like you lose an element of fun as you don’t have the build-up of tension.

So it depends if you are looking to play as much as you can, or play to get that human thrill of watching your opponent sweat.

2. Convenience

Online poker games are most definitely a lot more convenient than playing live, as well as a more comfortable experience.

You can choose to play the casino game when and wherever you want, with some online casinos even providing the ability for you to play from your mobile device.

At a real brick and mortar casino, you must follow the strict dress codes, you are in a crowd of people, it is noisy, and you have to consider arrival and departure times.

Many live poker rooms around the world are also only open during certain hours, but you don’t run into problems like this when you are playing online. Poker sites rarely close and you’ll always find games running around the clock, no matter what time it is.

3. Varying stakes

When you have a much smaller bankroll, the ability to play at very low stakes can be a huge advantage when playing online poker.

Let’s be honest, most poker games tend to be played for higher stakes and if you’re a beginner you can find yourself playing a couple of hands and walk away poorer but none the wiser.

By playing at these lower stakes, you can minimise the tangible amount of money you could lose, all whilst building your bankroll and enjoying the overall experience of playing poker.

There are many more opportunities to do well and cash out big in these casino tournaments, simply because you play a higher volume, at a lower stake, giving you practice at a game that requires as much skills as it does luck.

4. Variety

Online poker rooms are often part of much larger online casinos, and as they are not limited by physical space, they can host a much wider variety of games and tournament types.

It is completely up to you and your personal preferences what game you would like to play, as your options are not limited like they are in live environments.

Most poker sites offer several different variations of the game, with a number of different betting structures with limits, no limit, and pot-limit all widely available.

If you don’t want to play against others, try your hand at some Video Poker games, which don’t teach you the rules of poker but they do teach you the value and importance of the different hands.

If you are interested, have a read on our Video Poker machine rules.

Summary

Online poker, in general, has many more advantages compared to live poker – mostly due to its convenience and availability.

However, which game variant you choose ultimately comes down to a matter of personal preference and it still being very much possible to enjoy playing both. You may want to hone your skills online and then move to the more difficult real casino environment.

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