Online poker, as the name suggests, is the game of poker played online. Online poker has been answerable for a dramatic rise in the number of poker players worldwide. Thanks in part, to the proliferation of online casinos, the craze for poker is spreading beyond the mega-rich, business-suited elite, allowing everybody a fair chance to place modest bets from the comfort of their own homes.

Statistics confirm the aforementioned. In January 2003, the total global daily cash game turnover for online poker was just $10 million (Ł5.3m) as well as in 2004 it rose to $60m (Ł32m). Essentially, $180m (Ł95m) is wagered in cash game pots in online poker every day! Not surprisingly, this number is expected to grow steadily on a yearly basis.

You can find hundreds of portals offering online poker; most of them are, approximately, similar. The real difference, if any, may be within the gaming environment as well as the quality of interaction with other players. This could depend a lot on the popularity of the site, as popular gaming sites try to have certain in- built checks and attract serious gamblers that will sequentially, enhance your overall gaming experience. Furthermore, while some portals have a responsible, informative approach and offer quite a bit of content (news, tournament results, strategy articles, reviews of online card rooms, etc.), others try to behave as mere conduits to other sites, normally where actual gambling games are offered.

However individuals have numerous views, as far as differences between and local poker is concerned, most agree on at least few of the next:

Online poker rooms are more player-friendly, because they offer suggestions, permit the players to play for low stakes and are very much well suited for beginners.

Online poker playing is a lot faster, as there’s no banter around the table. Even though local casino players consider this interplay a central element of the game, for some playing online, the stress is laid on mathematical calculations and actual moves. Fixed place or offline poker game is time consuming where the typical rate of play is about thirty hands each hour while in online poker these delays, dealing and shuffling, are instant thereby the normal play is faster as a result of ‘auto action’ buttons.

One disadvantage of playing online poker is that it’s more vulnerable to certain kinds of fraud despite the fact that most poker sites have safety checks.

Unlike a bricks and mortar casino, you can play at more than one table at a time when you play online. Because of this, you could log into more than one poker site simultaneously, which means that you don’t have to be as good a player to make the same amount of cash online (since you enhance your probability of winning by playing on multiple tables simultaneously)!

Some experienced players also feel that men and women who mostly play online poker could be at a disadvantage in a brick and mortar casino, as they don’t have opportunities to learn to study and influence body language.

Another differentiating feature of great online casino poker is that it provides free money play, so that new players may practice without the risk of losing real money.

From the legal viewpoint, some legal issues are common. Online game poker can be very legitimate and regulated in many advanced countries in Europe. Many online poker web sites are certified by legal Game Commission bodies and major auditing firms like PWC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) to review the fairness of the shuffle and payouts.

Whether you are a professional or possibly a novice online poker offers you a comfortable and interesting gaming environment as well as a safer (compared to brick and mortar casinos) means of learning how you can play using smaller bets. There are numerous sites which provide guidelines and tips on learning the way to play well. Here are several interesting poker- related terms to get you started:

Royal flush: high cards (ace, king, queen, jack) of the exact same suit in number sequence.

Straight flush: cards of the exact same suit in number sequence.

Four of a kind: cards of the exact same value (e.g. four queens).

Full house: three cards of one value, 2 of another.

Flush: all cards are of the exact same suit.

Straight: cards are within number sequence, although not of the exact same suit.

Three of a kind: three cards of the exact same value.

Two pair: two pairs of cards with the same value (e.g. queen, queen and king, king)

Pair: two cards with the exact same value.