Online Poker – Pros & Cons

Online poker has become a very widespread way of having fun, a way of earning some extra money as well. Of course, the rules are pretty much the same as that of the regular, traditional poker with the only difference being the place where it is played. As you already know, the online poker is played via the Internet which has its advantages, but some disadvantages as well. However, these will probably depend on an individual player and their needs. However, it is a fact that online poker has resulted in a large increase of players worldwide.

Online Poker

As it has already been mentioned, the primary difference between the traditional and the online poker is where it is played. Actually, players who are beginners may not be comfortable with the regular poker venues like casinos r poker rooms and they may even find them intimidating. Also, casinos do not really profit from poker and thus it is not promoted there and they would rather replace it with, for instance, slot machines that will certainly bring them a lot of profit. This is exactly the reason why poker in casinos is more expensive than the online version. As a matter of fact, online players get to play for a lot lower stakes and they are also often offered free-roll tournaments where the entry is actually free which is very suitable for beginners.

Nevertheless, online poker is definitely more susceptible to various frauds. A fraud that is most popular is the so-called collusion and it entails an agreement between two players or among more of them. However, most websites have very good systems which can detect collusion whereas casinos and other places where traditional poker is played lack these systems thus making the Internet even a safer place to play. One of the system’s methods is checking the IP address of a player. Thus, players that are in the same house for instance, cannot play at the same table.

There is another difference between the two types of poker and this is the pace of game. In a casino, a lot of time is spent on collecting, shuffling and dealing cards, while all of that is done automatically with online poker. So, during one hour, the number of hands in casinos can go up to thirty whereas in an online game it can go up to a hundred.

If anyone is concerned with the legality of online gambling, don’t worry – it is absolutely legal and it is also law regulated in many countries worldwide. These regulations do differ from country to country so you might want to check the how it is regulated in yours.

To sum up, there are many advantages and disadvantages of online poker, but is up to you to decide whether you want to play the online version or the traditional one. Online poker is in many ways better for the beginners, but if you are an experienced player you can also find a lot of benefits of it.