Comparing Online Poker to Live Poker

The 42nd Annual World Series of Poker begins on May 31st and, for many budding pokerplayers, it will represent the first time they have played live poker. In an age where playing poker online is the most popular way to do so, players do not need to play live poker, especially if they usually play on Ladbrokes Poker, where the liquidity of the cash games and some of the blind structures in their tournaments are so great that they have everything they need from a poker site in their living room.

However, some lucky individuals may have won a seat to the WSOP Main Event through Ladbrokes Poker and be stepping foot into the live poker arena for the first time in their careers, and if they are to be successful on their first trip, they need to be aware of some subtle differences that separate live poker from its online cousin.

Are live or online players better?

There is an age-old debate about which format of the game boasts the best players, those who play live or those who specialise in online poker. To someone who only plays poker online, it seems as if it is not real as it is simply a few numbers and card symbols on a computer monitor, but the online poker generation are from the school of thought that live poker players are dinosaurs and much weaker in their approach to the game. As a general rule, those who play live are tighter and less bluff-happy than online poker players, who play to a much faster pace and often 10-15 tables at the same time, so players should try to adjust to this fact and be aware that live players' ranges are usually much narrower.

Another major difference, which is extremely obvious but many do not adjust to it, is the fact that playing poker in a live environment means there will be no live online poker statistics being displayed. It is amazing how many poker players are a major force when playing online but take away their live online poker statistics from software such as Hold'em Manager and they simply crumble and are almost unable to play. Live poker players mainly rely upon tells and body language but online players often use statistics to aid their decision-making.

The truth is that neither live nor online poker players are the better of the two. It takes different skills to succeed in online poker games than in a live game taking place in a card room or casino. That said, when the daddy of live poker, the 2011 WSOP, does get under way, it will be interesting to see who are the biggest winners out of the live online poker players and the veterans of the Vegas felt.