The world is slowly tiptoeing out of hibernation. More businesses are re-opening, and countries are starting to reboot their national economies. The first five months of 2020 can be described as a global period of hibernation. Many companies pivoted their core operations online, including casinos and sports betting agencies.
One of the fundamental differences between a brick-and-mortar casino and an online casino is the lack of live dealers at the virtual casino. While it is possible to succeed at virtual poker games, there are several challenges that a poker player who is used to playing poker at a brick-and-mortar casino has to overcome. These differences (or challenges) include:
The speed at which online poker is played
Virtual poker is twice as fast as real poker because the tasks of shuffling cards, dealing, and determining the winner of a hand is computer driven. A virtual dealer can deal up between 40 and 60 hands per hour, while a live dealer can only deal between 20 – 30 hands per hour.
As an aside, it is interesting to note that experienced virtual poker players thrive at playing poker at this speed. And, several even go onto playing in more than one virtual poker room simultaneously. However, it is essential to play virtual poker with a professional online casino. Thus, it is a good idea to study the 1xSlots Casino review should you be considering signing up with a professional virtual poker outfit.
Reading “poker tells”
A good poker player can read what is known as “poker tells” in a live environment. However, this is impossible in the virtual space. As an explanation of why it is impossible to read poker tells in a virtual environment, let’s first consider a concise definition of a poker tell as proffered by Wikipedia.com:
“A tell in poker is a change in a player’s behaviour or demeanour that is claimed by some to give clues to that player’s assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand the meaning of another player’s tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable.”
Even though the players at a virtual poker table might be real people, they hide behind avatars or graphical representations of their personas. Consequently, their real bodies are hidden behind this avatar.
The value of the virtual poker pot
Because the number of hands played in a virtual poker game are double that of a brick-and-mortar game, the initial buy-in to a table can be substantially higher than the buy-in to a physical game.
What does the buy-in value have to do with the pot or winnings?
Succinctly stated, the buy-in amount that all the players pay to join a poker table is added to the winner’s pot. And the overall winner is awarded the monies in the pot at the game’s conclusion.
It’s also essential to note that you can leave the table at any time during the game. You do not have to wait for the game to end before cashing out and leaving.
