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

You’ve got no other people to contend with (at least not in-person) — no one hovering over you, talking at you, pushing you, crowding around you, giving you unsought advice, or shooting you nasty looks. You do not have to smell smoke in the event that you don’t want to. You have 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 may be, that alone preserves your bankroll tremendously), nor do have to get dressed up or tip your dealer — all of which save you money and time.

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

Online poker players get to pick from an inordinate variety of cardrooms, game types, and table stakes. Moments ago, we mentioned the ambience of the environment where you will 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 on…you may certainly find an online poker room designed around what ever theme suits your tastes. Likewise, you can find rooms more prone 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 additionally, it helps to be aware of its perceived disadvantages as compared to playing traditional “offline” poker. A simple awareness of the real difference alone will make you a more suitable 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 in your hands and the weight of the chips as you place them in the center of the table (or the sound of them clinking as you pull the pile towards you after a big win). And also you cannot 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 exact same effect.

But probably the biggest deal that makes some offline poker players leery of playing online poker will be 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 one thing to be said for the total amount of information you can glean by simply 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 other hand, there are a variety of tells you can look for in online poker also, you just have to know where (and just how) to look. But that is a subject for another article.

As for this article, we leave you by having 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, get thee to a brick-and-mortar casino for your poker playing enjoyment. If you like Tivo though (or maybe if you just ain’t got the dough for the theatre, arena, and stadium tickets), then online poker is your ticket.