Live Poker and its Advantages over Online Poker
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 3:19 PMHere is a surface look at what we would consider some of the principal advantages and benefits of playing live poker versus online poker. BTW: This editorial is not meant to say that live poker is better than online poker, however we do consider that live poker has significant advantages, that you just won't find playing online poker.
There are a multitude of online poker rooms, such as the biggest ones including: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, Party Poker, Bodog, among many others. They all offer poker players an abundance of poker styles to play from, including NL Hold'em, Limit Hold'em, PLO, etc. You can play cash games or ring games as some call them, to tournaments from as low as $1.00 Buy-In to hundreds of dollars to Buy-In. Regarless, of the games to choose from online one of the biggest advantages that live poker brings over online poker, is the option or ability to read your opponents at the table by ways of facial expressions, body language, movement, subtle cues and clear betting or habit patters.In live poker, you can normally get subtle signs from your opponents in what most players call "reads" into what a player may have in their hand, (whether) they are strong or weak, by simply picking up on body language. Key signs here to observe are if the player is nervous, does the player fidget or stay calm, are they quick to act or take their time / relaxed in betting
....and not so obvious to amateurs is if the player has breathing patterns. (ie: breathing heavily where you notice the chest getting bigger and smaller, rapidly) Some of these signs can definitely give away if a player has a monster hand and/or displays nervousness in a bluff or large bet.Another physical advantage that online poker cannot offer players is the ability to watch other players as they view their hole cards and see their expression ....to when a flop comes and look at the player while the flop is being layed out by the dealer. A lot of good players will do this and watch a player to see if they caught their hand or missed the flop completely. In this situation, you want to pay attention to the eyes as they are a sure giveaway, as eyes can express a lot of sentiment. (this is one reason why players opt to wear dark glasses, while playing) The eyes can give a player away in many situations, plus you are most likely to look at a player in the eyes when you have a strong hand and not likely to do a stare down with a player when you have a weak hand. Remember this one. Most players who look at you when playing, is because they want to "challenge" you to put money into the pot, versus a player that looks away may often be wanting you to fold your hand. (this is not always the case) A good player can fix a spot or look pre-occupied as a deception move to imply they are weak. Your gut call, can help you in these situations.
These are just a couple of ways that can greatly improve and affect your overall play in poker and improve your odds/skills in making good earnings in poker and none of these options would be available to you if playing in online game or format.
There are of course many more advantages to consider in playing live poker, so remember that you may be able to greatly increase your poker earnings by simply changing your format to suit more live poker, than online poker in your game.