Online poker you may play anytime you want — 24/7 365. You can play it altogether comfort, right through your own home, wearing whatever you like (or nothing at all), sitting, reclining, or jogging on a treadmill (though we do not recommend it). You may set the lighting, temperature, and ambience to be just while you like it. In lots of ways, with online poker you simply have more control.

You’ve got no other people 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 should not have to smell smoke should you not want to. You’ve got no sexy waitresses tempting you with mind-altering drinks and otherwise distracting your attention away from the game at hand (pun completely intended). You do not have to drive anywhere (and with gas-prices what they are, that alone preserves your bankroll tremendously), nor do have to get dressed up or tip your dealer — all of which save you time and money.

Another benefit of online poker is that you may play against people from world wide. Consider it next time you sit down at an online poker table — not everyone there even speaks the same language. And globetrotting online provides you with access to more casinos and poker rooms than you may ever find in one single place, even when that one place happens to be Vegas!

Online poker players get to pick from an inordinate number of cardrooms, game types, and table stakes. Moments ago, we mentioned the ambience of the environment where you are going to be sitting down with your computer to play online poker (probably 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, as well as on and also 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.

By the same token, in contrast, when playing online poker it also helps to be aware of its perceived disadvantages as in comparison with playing traditional “offline” poker. A simple awareness of the difference alone might make you a far better player.

For one, you do not get that intimate, face to face contact with other human beings. But don’t rule online poker out as a social outlet altogether. A growing number of online poker rooms are fostering a real experience 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 is not the exact same without the feel of the cards within your hands and the weight of the chips as you place them within the center of the table (or perhaps the sound of them clinking while you pull the pile towards you after a big win). And you can not 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 additional players. Most expert poker players rely 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 may glean simply by 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, on the contrary, there are many of tells you may look for in online poker also, you just need to know where (and the way) to look. But that is a subject for another article.

As due to this article, we leave you with an analogy. If you like going to the theatre for your shows, the arena for your concerts, as well as the stadium for your games, learn gambling get thee to a brick-and-mortar casino for your poker playing enjoyment. If you like Tivo however (or if perhaps you just ain’t got the dough for the theatre, arena, and stadium tickets), then online poker is your ticket.