Traditionally, if you wanted to play poker, you would have to go out either to a casino hall or round to the local pub if they were hosting a poker league night. Or, of course, you could play amongst your friends either at your house or at theirs. However, thanks to advancements in both the internet and technology as a whole, a lot of people now prefer to play poker online.
This is because they can play from the comfort of their own home or if they’re on the move on their smartphone. It also means that they can play with people they sometimes know or, on the whole, don’t know from around the world. This means that they don’t have to commute down to a casino if they don’t have the time or means. However, there are some key differences you’ll find as a player if you go down to an actual casino against playing online at sites such as Comeon Casino, for example, and that’s what we’re going to look at today.
The pace of gameplay
The first difference is game frequency. If you’re quite into your online poker playing, you will no doubt have experience in playing multiple tables at the same time, with the technology allowing you to. However, if you go down to a casino, unlike other table games such as blackjack, you are restricted to one seat or one hand.
Whereas in blackjack, for example, you can back multiple seats or places at the same time, therefore increasing the number of games that you can play per hour. Whereas if you’re playing poker in real life, you can expect, depending upon the pace and type of game, to enjoy between 30 and 40 hands per hour. And so this is something you anticipate.
Safety and security
Cybercriminals are now more cunning than ever before when it comes to their methods of trying to gain an unfair advantage when gambling online, and of course this does extend to the realm of online poker. It is heavily recommended if you’re playing online to use a VPN in order to mask your digital address. As many criminals online will use attack methods such as a DDoS attack in order to ensure that you disconnect at a time where they may feel they have a better hand, therefore meaning that you can’t call or match their bet, meaning that they win.
People reading
The last obvious difference when you’re playing in person is that you will always have people trying to read your reactions and trying to figure out whether you’re bluffing or not. Whereas of course you’re playing behind a screen, whether that’s on a smartphone, tablet, or computer/laptop, so you don’t have that added complexity. This is where the term ‘poker face’ comes from, and so you best be prepared to put on your best poker face if you’re going to play poker in person.
In Summary
There are plenty of other differences between both online and real-life poker; however, these are just some of the major ones. Some people prefer playing in person for the social aspect, and that’s more immersive, whereas some people prefer to play online because it’s quick, easy, and convenient. It all depends on your personal preference. You also have the option at a lot of online casinos of being able to deposit using methods such as PayPal and many other digital payment methods.