At the very core of it, poker may just seem to be poker, but that is not true because poker that is played online is not the same as poker that is played in a brick and mortar establishment. Playing poker online and playing in a land-based casino presents different experiences. If you ever had the chance to play both forms of poker, then you understand exactly what I am talking about here.
If you have been playing most of your poker online and are looking to transition to a brick and mortar casino, it is important that you understand what differences the two have. The same also goes for people who want to try online poker after playing poker in land-based establishments for the rest of their lives.
In this article, I will present three of the most important differences between online poker and live poker that is played in brick and mortar casinos.
How the games play
The rules that apply to online poker still apply to live poker and vice versa. The setup also remains unchanged, but what changes is the flow of the game. In fact, the flow of the game changes so drastically that you may find it very surprising. If you are used to the speed at which online games proceed, then you are in for quite a culture shock when you play live games for the first times. When playing online poker, you can clear 50 to 100 hands in an hour comfortably while live poker can only allow you to play 25 or so games in an hour. The pace at which live games proceed is quite low. The reduced speed is due to the fact that players need time to think, which makes a hand to take somewhere between five and seven minutes to complete. On the contrary, in online poker, within a minute, you can have 2 to 3 hands dealt.
Volume of tables
Another difference between live and online poker lies in the volume of hands. In a land-based casino, the manners in which the games proceed and the setup of the floor area allows you to only play at one table at a time. You will need to complete one game at one table and if you choose, you can move to a different table and play another game. However, you cannot play at multiple tables at the same time. You are only welcome to sit at a single table and there is a floor manager who ensures that there is order in the room. You can ask them if they can allow you to play at more than one table, but I bet they won’t let you because that will only cause chaos, which they can’t allow.
This same restriction does not exist in online poker because you can play at as many tables as you can. You are only limited by your reflexes and attention. The ability to play at multiple tables in online poker allows players to clear very many games in an hour, which can be useful if you have targets to meet.
Lower stakes can be tougher online
Online poker attracts very good players who are very mean with their money. These guys won’t let you take even a single penny off of their bankroll. They have a lot of skills and always play with very low stakes to conserve their bankrolls. This is not the same with live poker where the stakes can sometimes be very huge.
