We are lucky that we are able to play live poker if we wish to travel to the casino or if we prefer to stay at home we can fire up our favourite online poker room and play in our own home against players from all over the world. There are growing reports that online poker in the UK is about to move into decline with the global recession making us a lot more careful with our money, but is it possibly because players are simply reducing their online poker playing time and trying out live poker instead?
There are so many people playing Texas Hold ‘em poker that most trends happen in bulk and are therefore more obvious to the poker community. Since 2004 there has been steady stream of players starting the game, many of those started playing online. Profitable online poker players will notice that a lot of additional opportunities can be made by having a public profile. Whilst you can grind good profits online you are subject to swings that will be painful to you as a full time professional poker player. Many players look for steady income streams like poker room affiliation deals, book deals and other ways of supplementing their income as a means of personal security. Larger poker rooms have started to back the well-known online players into the live scene so the trend is starting to move from online to live.
I believe it is a natural progression for many online poker players to look at the live scene as a way of diversifying their time playing poker. The large prize pools make it a worthwhile investment if they believe they can win. The added bonus of getting to socialise with a colony of poker players, getting to travel and visit the beautiful cities and casinos and to potentially gain new opportunities if you play well makes live poker very attractive for the online player trapped in their bedroom. There are many other reasons besides simply getting out of the house however.
Live poker offers the quality player much more information in the form of live poker tells at the table. Players make subtle but instant reaction to their hole cards, they say things that reveal information and their body language in general can make a great deal of difference to your poker success if you are good enough to read people. Play is usually slightly tighter which is to a patient and skilled player’s advantage.
The advantage of online poker is that it offers much more choice in terms of game selection. What you miss out in live information you make up for in online poker with the sheer choice you have in when, where and who to play. You can choose exactly what stakes you wish to play and then narrow down the game even further by choosing opponents you believe you hold an advantage over. At a live tournament you will have one shot at the big event and then perhaps a couple of side events. If you are so inclined to continue playing when losing online, there is usually another tournament starting within twenty minutes most of the time, and of course you can multi-table.
Most online poker tournaments are filled with young players and you will find that a different style is required live. Many of these live players remember poker long before the poker boom and play differently, so sampling a different style of poker is certainly advantageous for you from a theory perspective.
Competition between poker rooms is as fierce as ever and it is normal for rooms to offer satellite tournaments for live poker packages to large events. This can be a great way to get a free holiday if nothing else, but also the chance to gain some vital live experience. Check poker blogs like the bwin poker blog which shows what satellites are ongoing on their site offering package prizes to larger live tournaments and reports how the recent winners of these packages got on. This should inspire you to give the satellites a try and qualify for the big live events and not only get some great experience, but possibly even that big win we all dream about.
By Malcolm Clarke
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