In early 2020, the casino industry experienced a boom in online poker unlike in 2006. During the pandemic time, more and more people were stuck at home and trying to entertain themselves. If you’re one among the people who fused with online poker you must think about switching to live poker. Before commencing you should learn the difference between online and live poker. Here we have mentioned six key differences you need to know about online and live poker.
The Six Differences Of Online Poker vs Live Poker
1. Level of competence
Playing high-stakes online poker can be found tough. The dedicated players at these tables know the strategy and they rarely make mistakes. Usually, it takes a lot of exertion to win in these online cash games. Nevertheless, live games of a similar magnitude are much easier. An average NL10 online poker can be a favorite in nearly all NL200 live games since almost all casinos don’t spread anything below NL200. Consequently, punters are forced to play these stakes or higher. Conversely, online gamblers offer the option to play as low as NL5 for recreational fun. Plenty of players prefer this option.
2. Multiple tables
Online poker is familiar for its breakneck. This poker employs rapid card dealing, faster bet placement, and automatic chip counting. Those who prefer online poker can play multiple tables simultaneously. Furthermore, if you install the free VPN extension, punters can play on one site from several accounts. This multi-table feature significantly increases the number of hands per hour.
3. Speed
Online players are experienced in playing multiple tables simultaneously. In live casinos you will not have that liberty, you will get glued to one table thus making it a slow-paced one. Roughly, live games can only expect to see 30-40 hands per hour. Live casinos take time for a live dealer to shuffle, collect chips, deal cards, and distribute pots.
4. Convenience and Access
Online poker can be accessed by anyone at any time. The only thing you need to have is a good internet connection, but in live poker physical presence of a player is a must. Besides, online gaming can be performed 24/7 whereas live poker might not deliver this feature.
5. Safety
Safety is ensured in online poker, personal and financial data are encrypted. Additionally, they are protected from emotional players. However, punters have to be careful about hackers, this can be solved by using a VPN. That is quite a reliable combination. Usage of a powerful VPN for online poker can protect against scamming, cookie or cache leaks or tampering, data interception, DDoS attacks, account hacking, and identity theft.
6. Bet Size
While comparing the bet size of online and live poker, live games have much larger bets than online ones. In online games, an open-raise size might be around 3-4x, a few min-raises, or 2.5x raises from later positions. Nonetheless, in live games, it is not rare to experience an open-raise that is 5x-7x, and even a 10x open-raise in splashy games.
Another aspect is the bet sizes utilized by opponents post-flop. Usually, online games implicate post-flop bet sizes in the ⅔ pot range, while live games involve bigger bet sizes. This might be because live players grapple with simple math to calculate ⅔ of the pot, or might not have a clear understanding of what constitutes a proper bet size. It’s important to note that in live poker, ¼ pot-sized bets are more usual and don’t always mean weakness. In contrast to online poker, where players might think small bets show a weak hand, this might not be true always in live games.
Also Read: A Beginner’s Guide To Slot Machine Symbols!
Conclusion
While taking a comparison between online poker and live poker, both of them have their own positives and negatives. Players might be choosing online poker because of several factors such as fast-paced, more aggressive styles and pre-flop play, the possibility of multi-tabling and more variants, tougher competition, and higher variance/swings. On the other hand, people preferring live pokers may experience comparatively slow-faced games, softer games, physical tells & table images, loose-passive players, more multiway pots, short-term variance, and more. One important aspect of live poker is that you can play with friends and engage socially which is not available in online poker. Also, if you are a beginner it is better to choose a live session, as they feel less judged and improve gradually. It’s upon you to play either online or live.
Play smart and WIN BIG!
