One phenomenon which has emerged with the dawn of the computer age is “online poker,” in which poker enthusiasts can play poker games over the web for fun or real money. Online poker is becoming so big that according to Christiansen Capital Advisor, worldwide online poker revenue jumped from $365 million in 2003, to more than $1 billion in 2004. In December 2003, revenues were estimated at $34 million a month. And by March 2005, approximately 100,000 people were playing for real money at the many pokers rooms at peak times.
There are plenty of factors that contribute to this extraordinary upsurge in the online poker industry. For one, online poker rooms tend to be cheaper than casinos since they have very little overhead cost in comparison with conventional casinos, and they will be more player friendly. By way of example, the introduction of freerolls (where there isn’t any entry fee) attracts a great deal of novice players.
Many large online poker sites also offer certain attractions, including admission to real life poker tournaments for good online poker casino (this post) winners. Other features for example “collusion detection” abilities also enable sites to detect certain frauds, which are not obtainable in conventional casinos. This better security attracts more players.
Another factor will be the capability to easily track detailed statistics of your play in online poker, made available by “”Hand Histories”” text files, which track every action both you and also your opponents made during each hand. This is not possible in conventional casinos where you could have to take time-consuming notes after each hand. Combined with these factors, many online poker software programs are user friendly and also are often automated in accordance with specific needs and actions, for example prompting when it’s a player’s turn.