Pros and Cons of Online Poker

The idea of playing poker online may seem like the most natural thing in the world to you, or it may seem counterintuitive.  In some ways, it is.  We have all heard the saying that when you play poker, you do not play your hand, you play the person sitting across from you.  So how can you play poker on the internet where you are not even face-to-face with your opponent?  Believe it or not, it can be done to great success if you have the right strategies.  Is it the right move for you?  Check out the pros and cons of playing poker online.

Pros:

• Less expensive.  The buy-in for online poker is often less expensive than it is at a brick-and-mortar casino.  Why?  Lower overhead costs for the casino site.  You also get to save money on gas and cut out travel time.

• Play anywhere, anytime you have an internet connection.  You can play day or night, at home in your pyjamas, or while you are riding on the metro or sitting in an internet café. 

• You get a larger pick of tables.  Any one site may have dozens of options for you.

• You can multitable if you think that is something you are going to be able to handle.  This is a great way to make money a lot faster than you ever could if you were playing in person!

• You can take advantage of online poker bonuses as well as rakeback.

• There is less pressure when you are playing online.  This can make poker less intimidating for newbies.

Cons:

• Since you aren’t sitting across from the other players, you can’t see their tells.  If tells are an important part of how you play, you may find it more difficult online.

• The action can move along more quickly online.  For some players, this may actually be a good thing.  For others, it can make the game harder to follow.  Your losses can also stack up faster than you may expect.

• Online poker can be addictive, since you can play literally anytime you want, and even play more than one game at a time.

• Loss of interaction.  For some players, table chat and the opportunity to meet new people is a big part of the game.  That is not something you can do online.  So if you are looking to meet new people, an offline casino or bar poker league is a better option.

Reading those pros and cons, you can hopefully make an educated guess about whether you will excel at online poker and enjoy it or not.  The experience is very different from playing poker in a brick-and-mortar setting.  Many players need to try it out for themselves to really see what it is like.  You may even discover that you enjoy poker in both online and offline environments.  What you learn in each setting may help you to hone your game in the other in unexpected ways.