Online vs Live Poker: 5 Key Gameplay Differences

The online gaming and gambling niche has experienced a dramatic boom in recent years. And it is not difficult to see why.

What could be better than playing a hand of poker without having to leave your couch? It’s so much easier to play when all you have to do is grab your phone and log into your favorite site. Live poker may be fun, but online is the place to be right now.

If you’ve recently got excited by online poker, or you’ve yet to try it, you can get a head start by finding out how gameplay differs between online and live poker.

Here are five crucial points to consider, whether you are playing online for the first time or the thousandth.

 

  1. Online Poker is Shorter Handed

Live poker tables tend to be around 10-handed. Online tables are typically shorter handed, with the majority of tables being only six people. This obviously affects your play. Try loosening up starting hands. And, conversely, tighten up when you want to make the leap back into the world of live poker.

 

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  1. Watch Out For Tougher Opponents Online

Online poker at legitimate sites like GGPoker doesn’t necessarily attract better players. It’s just that online poker aficionados play more hands than live players. And, in poker, more hands makes a better player. So, you are likely to encounter a plethora of players who have really honed their skills. To win – and to win big – you need to do your homework, get up to speed with play and with technology to help you work out your opponents, and get ready to enjoy a steep learning curve. Because, at the end of the day, if they can get more skillful, fast, then so can you.

 

  1. Enjoy Faster Gameplay in Online Poker

When you want to succeed at online poker you have to be fast. When you play poker at a casino or any live venue, you can realistically play around 35 hands in an hour. But that is always with an expert dealer and with all the other players on the ball and paying attention. This obviously isn’t always how the table goes, so you can typically expect to play much less. In the online world you can play double that, easily. And you can even choose to play multiple tables (providing you can keep up.)

This means you have almost unlimited potential. But it creates issues if you don’t pace yourself. You need a strong grip on your game and excellent concentration skills to play fast and well. On the other hand, going from online to live poker means you’ll really notice the drop in speed and while you’ll have to prepare yourself for a drag in play, this at least will allow you more time to read the other players.

 

  1. Stakes are Lower in Online Poker?

Online poker plays a lot quicker, and you can multi-table in games, so online stakes tend to be lower than in the live game. Online poker is therefore the ideal place to cut your teeth. Learn the rules and experience the action, without paying the earth to get buy in. Of course, the money is still there in online poker and the big players still want to attract the biggest names to their sites.

 

  1. Tells are Different in the Online Game

Physical tells may be more of a myth than a daily reality in live poker, but you can sometimes still take advantage of that guy at the table with a nervous cough. You have no such chance in online poker. The only way to get ahead is by timing calls and going on bet sizing tells. It takes practice, but once you have mastered this different skill you’ll probably find it more profitable than trying to watch opponents at a table in real life.

 

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