Should Experienced Players Play Poker Online?
Posted by Harry Kane on Monday, August 21, 2017
The gambling industry is increasingly dominated by online casinos, with an estimated 33% of all revenue generated by virtual gameplay in 2016. This number is likely to increase incrementally too, as concepts such virtual reality continue to influence the mainstream and more accurately replicate offline gaming.
With so many iterations of classic casino games now available online, however, the transition between offline and virtual platforms can be difficult to achieve. This is particularly true in the case of poker, as the nature of the game varies considerably between the two formats and experienced players can lose their competitive advantage.
In this article, we will look at this in closer detail, and ask whether experienced players should prioritise online poker in the modern age?
Why Does Online Poker Level the Playing Field?
If you have ever played poker in a physical environment or bricks-and-mortar casino, you will know that successful players tend to place a great stock in their ability to read the body language and physical tells of their rivals. When done well, this makes it possible to interpret individual players behaviour and potentially gauge the quality of their hand, enabling you to choose when to fold, raise the stakes or bluff an opponent with an inferior set of cards. Judgement is key here, so experienced players tend to have an advantage when deploying these tactics.
The simple truth is that such strategies cannot be replicated online, however, as players have no visibility of their opponents and cannot leverage any physical tells. This instantly levels the playing field on which novice and experienced players operate, while it is also fair to suggest that anyone who is new to online poker will have to adjust to the platform. So while those with knowledge and experience of the game will retain some form of advantage, this will be greatly diminished in comparison with the offline iterations of the game.
Should This Deter Experienced Players?
With this in mind, it makes sense that online and video poker should be particularly among novice players. After all, seasoned gamblers are successful because of their knowledge of a particular game and willingness to take calculated risks, but accessing a platform that greatly diminishes their competitive advantage seems reckless at best. So there is no doubt that some experienced poker players are deterred from playing online versions of the game, while others refrain from operating competitively until they have mastered the platform.
While the latter represents a sensible practice, there are reasons for experienced poker players to make the transition online. Firstly, online players can access swathes of data on their opponents, and studying this offers an insight into their playing style, appetite for risk and treatment of specific hands. This can, in turn, be used to judge their likely reaction in various game situations, helping individuals to make informed decisions in real-time.
The Inevitable Domination of Online Poker
Although it is fair to say that this information is accessible to all players, the typical mindset of experienced poker players and their fundamental understanding of the game should enable them to this more effectively than novices. This will enable them to seek out a new and potentially decisive advantage, and one that will prove crucial as gambling continues to become an increasingly online discipline.
After all, it is hard to imagine bricks-and-mortar gambling becoming largely obsolete in future decades, meaning that a growing number of poker players will be forced to transition online. With this in mind, we reckon that poker veterans who have made the proactive decision to play online will ultimately enjoy more sustained success.