Online poker you can play anytime you want — 24/7 365. You may play it altogether comfort, right from your own home, wearing what ever you like (or nothing at all), sitting, reclining, or jogging on a treadmill (even though we do not recommend it). You can set the lighting, temperature, and ambience to be just when you like it. In many ways, with online poker 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 should not have head to Aula 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 fuel 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 the fact that you may play against people from around the world. Think about it next time you sit down at an online poker table — not everyone there even speaks the same language. And globetrotting on the web gives you access to more casinos and poker rooms than you may ever find in one single place, even when that one place is actually Vegas!

Online poker players get available an inordinate variety of cardrooms, game types, and table stakes. Moments ago, we mentioned the ambience of the environment where you definitely will be sitting down with your computer to play online poker (probably your home), 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 may more than likely 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.

Through the same token, conversely, 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 real difference alone could 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. Increasingly more online poker rooms are fostering a real sense 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 when you place them in the center of the table (or even the sound of them clinking while you pull the pile towards you after a big win). And also 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 exact same effect.

But probably the largest deal that makes some offline poker players leery of playing online poker is the inability to read the other players. Most expert poker players depend on inadvertent visual cues given by their opponents — tells — as to the specific strength or weakness of their hands. There is one area to be said for the amount of information you can glean simply by looking your opponent in the eyes (thus the prevalence of sunglasses at the poker table) and watching their hands, their posture, their facial expressions, etc. Fortunately, however, there are a variety of tells you can look for in online poker as well, you simply need to know where (and just how) to look. But that’s a subject for another article.

As because of 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 however (or maybe if you just ain’t got the dough for the theatre, arena, and stadium tickets), then online poker is your ticket.