Disadvantages to Playing Online Poker

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There are many advantages to playing online poker. At the same time, there are some pitfalls to playing online. If you are a live player looking to switch to online, you may want to take these into consideration before making the switch to online poker.

Distractions at Home

When playing online poker from your home, there are distractions are going to take away your concentration from the tables. Most people try to play poker from the same player they do most of their internet surfing. This is fine if you do this from you man cave or personal office, but otherwise, you are setting yourself up for distractions.

These distractions can include TV, other people at home (especially if you’re a parent), your pets, telephone, visitors to your home, etc. Depending on the time of day you choose to play, these distractions can be magnified.

Cannot Pick Up on Other Player Tells As Easy

One big disadvantage to playing online is that you cannot pick up on player tells as well as you can in the live arena. If a player has a shake when their adrenaline spikes due to a big hand, you cannot see this. You also cannot pick up on various other physical tells that give away their hand, including speech play.

Instead, you’ll have to rely more on things such as betting patterns, the time they take to act, and other non-verbal factors. Of course, these aren’t always reliable because they could be multi-tabling, distracted, or having connection issues.

No social interaction

If you like the social aspect of poker, then you’re not going to enjoy online poker as much. You get nowhere near the same amount of social interaction as you do in the live game, and the interaction you get is on a computer screen.

You can interact with people to a degree in a chat window, but that is not the same as interacting with people live. Also, you never know if you are interacting with the person that they are claiming, or if it is an act.

Collusion and Cheating is Harder to Spot

The fact that you’re at a computer rather than a live poker table also makes it more likely that you will run into players that are either colluding or receiving assistance while they are playing. It’s not uncommon for players to have a coach or someone else in their house watching their play and giving them advice. This type of collusion would not be tolerated in the live game, but it is much harder to spot.

Many Opponents Will Be Using HUDs

One of the biggest disadvantages of playing online is that you will be playing against other players using HUDs or Heads-Up Displays. These programs help players to track play at the table and can even give them advice on how to play.

Again, this is something you don’t see in the live arena. Some online poker sites are taking steps to outlaw and ban these programs, but they are still out there and you have to be aware that your opponents will be getting assistance on their play.

Now that you are aware of some of the disadvantages of online poker, you’ll be better prepared if you do choose to play online regularly. Online poker offers much more action than the live arena and gives many advantages over live play. For example, you can multi-table as opposed to being stuck on one table. You also get to play other poker variants you don’t see in many live poker rooms.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. If you choose to play online, keep the above warnings in your mind and take the necessary step to counterbalance them.