Reasons to Play Poker at an Online Poker Room
Alan Bloomfield
Have you had second thoughts about beginning your career at an online poker room? Hopefully after reading this article you’ll feel more at ease and be ready to dive in.
Reason 1: Playing in the comfort of your own home.
You don’t have to waste gas getting to and from the Casino. You don’t have to be in a building full of thousands of other people with glaring lights and annoying sounds. You can play in clothes that are comfortable to you; heck if you want to play in the nude, who’s going to know? You can set the temperature in your house exactly where you want to make yourself as comfortable as possible. When you are comfortable is when you play your best poker. If you would like to have a drink or two while playing poker you don’t have to worry about getting a DUI while driving home from the Casino.
Reason 2: Cheaper to play at an Online Poker Room.
Casinos have to pay dealers and have a lot more expenses than online poker rooms do. To make up for the expenses, and in order to make a profit, they are forced to charge more rake than online poker rooms do. At the casino it is also common courtesy to tip the dealers and waitresses. All these expenses add up and mean less profit for you.
Reason 3: You can choose your limits and your game.
The sheer number of Poker fans that play online allow online casinos to offer pretty much any limit. With 60,000 to 70,000 players playing each night at the top sites, they can offer lower limits that a casino just can’t offer. Online poker rooms can offer limits as low as 1 cent 2 cent for those of you who are just learning and wanting to get your feet wet in the poker world. It’s a great place to choose YOUR game. There’s no way possible a casino could offer limits this low and not go out of business.
Reason 4: More games to choose from
If you like playing a game that isn’t as popular as Hold ‘Em, chances are you will have a much better chance of finding your game at an online poker room than you would at a casino. There are sites that offer 5-card draw, Crazy Pineapple, Razz, 7-card stud H/L, and more. These games are nearly impossible to find at some casinos.
Reason 5: Play Money
If you don’t want to risk your own money, most online poker rooms offer play money tables. Playing on these tables is a very inexpensive way to learn how to play poker. Online poker rooms offer this service in hopes that you will eventually play for real money. Once again, this is an option that casinos just can’t afford to give.
Reason 6: Bonuses
The competition amongst online poker rooms is intense. Anybody with a modem can access every online poker room that is available, so each and every online poker room competes for your business. They cater to you! This competition between online poker rooms opens the doors for very generous bonuses. If you look around, you’ll find that online poker rooms offer a ton of first time deposit bonuses and re-load bonuses. Also, a lot of rooms will give away free stuff just for playing there…and who doesn’t like getting free stuff?
Conclusion:
If you’ve been thinking about opening an account at an online poker room, but have had second thoughts, hopefully the reasons above will convince you to go ahead and do so. I personally enjoy playing both online and at casinos, but because of my location it is more convenient for me to play online. Playing online has improved my game immensely and has given me the confidence to go to a casino and play live if I so desire.
Without playing online I might not have ever made that first step to play live. Playing online gave me confidence and also taught me the structure of the game. Before I began playing online I didn’t even know how to place a bet or even how to raise. I learned all of that by playing online and it made playing live less intimidating.
I hope to meet you at the online tables and maybe someday at the head table of the World Series of Poker. Good luck!
By Alan Bloomfield
Alan Bloomfiled is a winning poker player and he writes for and manages http://www.pokerall-in.com