Online Poker Versus Offline Poker.

What are the differences between playing online poker and playing poker in a ‘real' casino? Many online players believe that the same strategies are employable in both types of poker. However they do differ to some degree. For online poker a player effectively always has two ‘down cards', five ‘community cards' and plays against a maximum of nine other opponents. There are some essential differences that should be understood before a person moves from playing poker in a casino to playing internet poker; a player needs to adjust their game a bit before making the change.

A big difference is the length of time it takes to play a game, with internet poker tending to last a shorter time. Online you can select a table, play a few hands, then change tables and continue playing there, if you so desired, allowing a player to play at different websites and with different businesses. When you play offline, you do not have this option, since you are often playing against the same players for, sometimes, hours on end; 8-10 hours in a row when the game is really intense, playing for such lengths of time is very rare in online poker.

Online it is difficult for a player's opponent to figure out any game plans, because time is too short to go into any depths or for them to work out what kind of player they are and what signs tell them when they are bluffing. In ‘real' casinos, a player is much more likely to have the opportunity to deceive their opponents, by for example, employing tricks of body-language, playing ‘loose' when they are bluffing. This is not often how it goes for online poker though.

When playing online, it is important to vary your gaming techniques, but this strategy is not often very useful in offline poker. For online poker it is often best to just take each game as it comes and to not question too much what the other players are thinking of your game plan. Online, there is often too little time to establish yourself a reputation as having a particular poker profile, or to detect strengths and weaknesses in other players.

People often wonder whether it is possible to create the same ambiance for online poker as offline poker. When you play internet poker you play against names rather than faces, you cannot therefore eyeball opponents to intimidate them or to try and figure out if they are bluffing. The psychological aspects of poker are largely diminished when playing online, and this can serve as a great advantage.

In reality though, it is possible that there is actually more scope for bluffing when playing online instead of offline. This is due to the fact that when playing online people do not have to be aware, or care, about their facial expressions giving away a bluff or a badly played hand. They can hide behind their computer screen, and quietly sweat it out in private. In real life people bluff less than they do online, because you have to look opponents in the eye and blatantly lie and not many people are capable of accomplishing that, we are not all blessed with a poker face!

Also, it is often the case that online players have a tendency to be more calculating than offline players. This will influence player's strategies. Firstly, you cannot suppose that your opponents are always bluffing as you cannot read them visually, you will often be forced to 'call' and 'raise' more aggressively, to allow you to gain an idea of the type of play your opponent is going for. These subtleties are such that they can only really be spotted when they are made obvious, through aggressive play. Secondly, for online poker there are also often more ‘calls' and this happens even when a player has a weak hand.

You may think that offline poker is a much more intense affair than online poker, but this is not necessarily the case. When you consider the fact that online poker still allows a player to read emails, watch TV or speak on the phone, so in that sense, there is more scope for entertainment when playing online than offline. However, such distractions mean that you can miss noticing opponent's strengths and weaknesses; on the other hand it also means that others might be missing your strengths and weaknesses too. Therefore, even online, it can still be down to a person's ability to concentrate whether they will do well or not. In summary then, when playing online remember that opponents may not be noticing your game-play because they are busy doing other things at the same time, they do not have the ability to pick up on your motives the same way they do offline. You should bluff less often, be wary of opponents who try to win every hand and you will be better prepared for online poker.

Which is best online or offline poker? They are both slightly different and will offer you different types of entertainment depending on what you are looking for, how much time you have and which techniques you want to employ.

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