The Poker Craze Series: Online Poker. Not to be Overlooked
When online poker first came on the scenes, many real poker players looked at it as “poker lite”. Not having to contend with “tells”, personality conflicts, etiquette, or actual human interactions, online poker players were viewed as amateurs or hobbyists with only a fleeting interest in the true blood, sweat, and tears of poker.
Yet, as more and more people began to play online in big tournaments and “heads up” matches, the popularity and power of online poker forced traditionalists to notice and respect it. Today the millions who play online poker generate revenues of more than $408 million a year. Players, many of whom are generation X’ers who grew up surfing the internet, see online poker as a natural extension of the face-to-face table games. Adding to its credit, the three recent WSOP champs — Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem — confess to regularly playing online poker.
Today, poker players have numerous online sites to choose from, and choosing the right ones can be a task. Reputation and name are key ingredients to selecting an online poker site. Players should research the site and read web reviews to see what others say about it. By watching poker TV shows and reading magazines such All In and Card Player, players can get a good idea of legitimate poker sites.
When searching for a site, players should look for player volume, variety of games and frequency of tournaments to see if the site offers what they are looking for. Web sites become popular due to a variety of reasons, but tournaments are probably the main one. A site that offers tournament winners a seat at the WSOP, for instance, will be more popular than one that does not.
Another worthy consideration is interface and ease of use. Does the site offer players a free software download or is there a fee? Does the interface make sense and flow logically or is it intrusive and confusing? These factors all come into consideration when choosing an online poker site. Online sites have become less clunky in recent years offering players as much of a realistic experience as can be expected. Yet some sites remain better than others in this regard and the easiest to use sites are likely to be the most used ones.
In fact, online poker has become so easy to set up and play, that many sites offer their own features to draw in and keep online poker players. Many sites allow players to customize their online character and even have them “talk”. Avatars and chat functionalities enable players to become acquainted with one another, as they might in a “real” game. Other sites rely on pro or WSOP-winner sponsors to attract players to their sites.
Despite its ever growing popularity, online poker is not without its drawbacks. It’s illegal to host online gambling sites in the U.S. so businesses have to cope with lawful workarounds to keep themselves operating. Because online gambling sites are loosely regulated if regulated at all, players have to be weary of scams or fraudulent web sites. Players should always do their research before putting down their money to play poker online. The fraud sites notwithstanding, with so many people playing online, players can feel secure betting their money online.
Apart from these drawbacks, online poker is likely to continue to grow in popularity. The word “poker” ranked as one of the top five searches by major search engines such as Yahoo! and Lycos this year. Some players argue that online playing may some day overtake major tournaments such as the WSOP, yet most feel this is unlikely to happen any time soon. Online poker likely won’t replace the real thing, but it is a challenging way to practice your strategies and possibly win some real money before sitting down to play at the bigger tournaments.
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