One phenomenon which has emerged with the dawn of the computer age is “online poker,” by which poker enthusiasts can play poker games over the internet for fun or real money. Online poker is now so big that as outlined by 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 monthly. And by March 2005, approximately 100,000 people were playing online poker gambling site (Related Homepag) for real money at the many pokers rooms at peak times.
There are lots of factors that contribute to this extraordinary upsurge within the online poker industry. For one, online poker rooms are a lot easier cheaper than casinos because they have very little overhead cost with regards to conventional casinos, and they tend to be more player friendly. As an example, the introduction of freerolls (where there is absolutely no 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 online winners. Other features for example “collusion detection” abilities also enable web pages to detect certain frauds, that are not obtainable in conventional casinos. This better security attracts more players.
Another factor is the ability to conveniently track detailed statistics of your play in online poker, made available by “”Hand Histories”” text files, which track every action both you as well as your opponents made during each hand. This is not possible in conventional casinos in which you might 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 based on specific needs and actions, for example prompting when it is a player’s turn.