Online Poker

The Internet has enabled many poker players to play in the comfort of their home. This innovation has helped to bring poker to many who do not have access to a traditional casino or card room. Since card rooms don't exist in many states, online poker is the only option for many players. Disabled persons may find traveling to a card room to be too onerous, so online is the easiest option. And even players who live near a card room may simply prefer to play from a computer and avoid the annoyances of live poker (if you've ever played next to an obese drunk with body odor, you know what I mean).

As of 2010, the laws regarding online poker are murky at best. In 2006, the United States passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which forbids financial institutions such as banks and credit card companies from participating in transactions related to online gambling. There have been several legal challenges to the law over the past few years. Some sites have chosen to exclude U.S. customers until the laws are clarified, but many still accept U.S. players. The bottom line is that it is not illegal to play online poker, however the banks that participate in transferring deposits and withdrawals may be subject to penalties.

Differences

Besides the obvious, online poker has some major differences from live poker:

  • Multi-tabling: You can sit at and play as many tables as you want, simultaneously. Some online poker professional play as many as 20 tables at once!
  • Speed of play: Because everything is virtual, it moves much faster than live poker. Shuffling and dealing is instantaneous. Players can click a fold button before the action reaches them, so play moves quickly through them. If a pot is split, the dealer doesn't have to count out the chips, it just happens.
  • No mistakes: Online, there is no such thing as a misdeal (i.e. the dealer gives someone three down cards instead of two). Dealers never misread the winning hand and award the pot to the wrong player. Players cannot act out of turn. No one ever spills their drink on the table.
  • Tells: Since you can't see your opponents, you can't rely on physical or vocal tells to determine if they are bluffing.

Choosing a site should be based on the following factors:

  • User Interface
  • Reputation
  • Promotions
  • Game Availability
  • Quality of Players

User Interface

Above all, the site should be easy to use and intuitive. You should feel comfortable with the size and placement of the buttons and other controls. The last thing you want while playing online is to not know how to do what you want. For example, the buttons might change if an opponent raises. If the button for folding suddenly turns into a re-raising button, you might inadvertently raise. A site should keep similar buttons in the same location to minimize mistakes.

Reputation

The site should be well-known and respected in the industry, with a proven track record of integrity. Most major sites are reputable, otherwise they would not be able to stay in business. However, there have been incidents of cheating with some sites, and their responses to the allegations have varied from admirable to abhorrent. One well-publicized incident of cheating happened with UltimateBet, where someone had the ability to see his opponents hole cards.

A reputable site should have all of the following:

  • Withdrawals should take no more than a couple weeks to process.
  • A customer service department that responds to inquiries in a timely manner.
  • Software that uses the latest technology to ensure fairness and eliminate cheating.
  • A strong hardware and network infrastructure that minimizes glitches (i.e. no crashes, no delays in action due to network latency)

Promotions

Online poker sites offer bonuses and other incentives to new customers to lure them to their site. This can come in several forms:

  • First-time deposit bonus: When you make your first deposit, the site might match your deposit if you play enough in the first few months.
  • Rake-back: Players get a partial refund of any rake they might pay while playing at the site. For example, if a player paid $100 in rake during a given month, a 20% rake-back promotion would deposit $20 into the player's account at the end of the month.
  • Rewards: Players earn points toward branded merchandise such as hats, shirts, chip sets, playing cards. The most active players may even earn enough points for jewelry, electronics or even cars.

Game Availability

A good site should always have a variety of games running at the stakes you want to play. This is one of the advantages to playing online. In a traditional card room, there may only be one or two tables playing the game you want to be in. If those tables are full, you might have to wait a while to get in the game. But with a popular online site, there are often dozens of tables running, and whenever the last table fills up, another one can be opened immediately.

Quality of Players

Ideally, you want to play at a site where the opponents you will face are not as good as you are. After all, the object of the game is to win money. If you play at a site where the games are tough and the players are experienced, you will have a hard time making money.

Before making a deposit on a site, you might want to download the software and observe the games at the stakes you are comfortable playing. If you like playing $4/$8 limit hold'em, check out a few sites and see if the players are better at one site vs. another. If all other factors are equal, choose the site that has the weaker players at the stakes you will play at.

For more information, refer to Quick Overview's main Texas Hold'em Poker article.

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