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Differences between online and live poker

At one point in your betting career, you might have come across the phrases “online poker” and “live poker” and you keep getting it all mixed up. Just know that you are not alone. This article will give you an in-depth understanding of the differences between the two and afterwards, you will be knowledgeable enough to know the best one to choose. Let us start with the basics. Poker is a family of card games that combines betting and several psychological skills. You can play poker in a land-based casino or at online poker sites.

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If you decide to play poker at an online casino, you will be offered two different forms of play, and this is where the term online and live poker came to existence. Basically, the two forms of play share a lot of similarities especially in the rule of play such that if you have enough experience playing online poker, you will definitely find it easy to play live poker and this goes vice versa. So the major difference between the two is that live poker is played with a real-life dealer through a video feed while the other is played with a computer-based software. In this article we will list the major differences between live and online play, prepared for you by the team of BeastsOfPoker.

Style of Play

Live and online poker requires you to play online through a mobile or desktop platform, however, with live poker, you will be playing in real time with other players from different regions. You also have the ability to interact with the dealer as the round proceeds. Cool right? This helps lighten the mood of the game regardless of whether you win or lose. However, with online poker, cards are dealt by an automated software known as the Random Number Generator (RNG). When playing online poker, you are generally interacting with a computer program throughout the course of the game.

Another difference is the pace of the game. Live poker is much slower in progress. If you are used to the fast pace of online poker with RNG, you might find live poker too tedious to tolerate. Where online poker deals you 60 hands in an hour at a given table, you will most likely hit just half that number using the same timeframe with live poker. Online poker also gives you the opportunity to play several tables at once which translates to more hands per hour than you can get with live poker. With online poker, you can explore more in less time.

According to many players who have had experiences with the two versions, you are likely to experience more bad beats with online poker. However, you should know that this is not because online poker puts you at a disadvantage. It is because you tend to play more hands and rounds within a short period of time, so you experience more of everything and these include more wins and more losses. In the past, the contrast between live poker and online poker players was very clear, however, nowadays there is more overlap with the gap becoming smaller in recent times.

Playing Live and Online

In live poker, you will often come across more bet sizing than you can find with the online type, primarily when it comes to opening preflop raises. Generally, online poker is ideal for players with a relatively small bankroll. While online poker might feature players opening for 2x, or 3x the big blind, it is quite normal to come across players opening for 5x, 6x or even more, particularly in the lower-stakes live poker. Tournaments are a different story, although you will occasionally find live players overbetting, particularly inexperienced players who find it hard to keep track of pot sizes.

While playing live poker, you are likely to have more encounters with loose play in the form of players doing a lot more calling. One major consequence of this trend is more multi-way pots occurring during the rounds. Cases like this require strategy adjustment and also a lot more thinking through before proceeding with the round. It is not that unusual in a live poker session to come across a number of limpers in preflop and/or several callers of a preflop raise. Online poker on the other end, has preflop betting that results in more heads-up situations.

Generally, online poker gives you the opportunity to access online betting tools to help you play better. In essence, you will also be playing against other players who have the same access to such tools and are well-groomed strategically, thus making every round tough. However, live poker will most likely involve players who just play for fun and in many cases are not too technical about their analysis. However, this is not typical of all live poker cases. So, if you prefer to follow the calm, soft trend, live poker might be a good deal for you.

Variance in Online Poker

When playing poker, either live or online, it is a good practice to keep track of your wins and losses over time. Keeping record of your results helps you to ascertain whether your strategy is helping you make money or not. Be aware that variance plays a big part of your wins and losses in the short team. When the number of wins over a period of time is much more than your losses and more than you would expect to make if the cards break even, then you have a positive variance. If you experience more losses than wins over a particular period of time as a winning player, then you have a negative variance. It is common for players to experience extended periods negative variance at some points in their play – these periods are called downswings.

There is no standard period to compute poker variance, you might decide to go for 50 or 100 sessions– the choice is yours. However, it is advisable you stick to a period to get good data on how well or bad you have done. So, how do you apply this in real life betting? Let us assume you decide to use a month as the standard period for statistics. After a month, you played 20 sessions and you achieved a 55% win-rate which is 11 sessions. You can then check subsequent months to see if your results improved or not. The most important part is of course the amount of money won or lost – simply having more winning sessions only to lose a lot in a single sessions is not good for the long-run.

It might be quite tricky to run a variance calculation manually. This is why there are several tools that can help you. You can simply do a google search for “poker variance calculator”. However, when using variance to determine your win rate, you should be mindful of short-term losing streaks which might be a result of habits you don’t do regularly. An example is trying out a new poker variant that you have never played before such as 5 Card Pot-Limit Omaha. The losing sessions from this new adventure can skew your result, thereby misleading you to believe you have a negative win-rate.

Pros and cons of online poker compared to live poker

Pros of Online poker

• You can control the speed of play
• Allows multi hands and multi tables at once

Cons of Online poker

• Online poker is generally aggressive and harder
• Less social

Relative stakes and betting limits

Regardless of your skill level, you will need to adapt to different competition & betting structures for online and live poker if you will be trying both. As we have established earlier, online poker players have access to software that can improve their skills. This is however not the case for live poker. For this reason, you will most likely encounter higher-skilled players while playing online poker. As a rule of thumb, it is generally advised to use the 10-to-1 guideline when comparing poker games. For instance, if you have a $0.50/$1 NL game online, it will play as “tough” as a $5/$10 NL live game.

Due to the gap in skill level, we advise you to use relative stakes when playing online or live poker. With that in mind, you should note that there are different betting limits and they are implemented in four common forms. The first is the no-limit type and it’s denoted with ‘NL’. We referenced this type in the last paragraph for you to see how it’s used. This betting form allows you to raise the bet by any amount up to your remaining stake, however, the raised bet must be at least the amount of the previous raise.

There is also the pot-limit betting structure which limits players from raising more than the size of the total pot. The total pot includes starting pot (chips collected from previous betting rounds), trail (previous action in the ongoing betting round) and/or a call from the player making the raise. Also, we have a fixed limit betting structure. This betting structure allows players to choose whether to bet or not. However, the bet amount is fixed by rule in most situations. To enable the possibility of protection and bluffing, the fixed amount normally doubles at some point during a round.

Poker Variants

Poker has several variations, most of which still retain the standard order of play. However, individual differences occur when considering the type of hand values to be used, the number of betting rounds, the exact cards that are dealt and the type of actions allowed to be taken between rounds. There are three categories of poker variations that you will come across and these variations are Draw, Stud and Community poker. Generally, in draw poker, you will be dealt a complete hand, facedown, and allowed to replace cards to improve your hand. Draw poker allows two to eight players in a table.

Stud poker is a little different from Draw in that each player is dealt a combination of face-down cards and face-up cards in different betting rounds. The face-up cards are then used for analysis by the players. The popular types are 5-card stud and 7-card stud. The major difference between these two is the number of cards dealt before the betting round. The 7-card stud has an additional two cards dealt to the players and in a case whereby the deck is exhausted before the round is completed, the players share the community card dealt at the center of the table to proceed with the game.

And lastly, we have poker with community cards. This variation involves the player’s incomplete hidden hand being combined with shared face-up cards. The shared face-up cards are dealt in the centre of the table and are shared by all of the players. The set of community cards is known as the “board” and may be dealt in a set pattern or arranged in a simple line. The popular community poker variants are Texas Hold‘em and Omaha Hold’em. At the end of a round, each player will have two cards but has access to the five community cards from which they can make the winning hand.

Poker Game Structures

There are three common gaming structures available in the poker world. The first is the cash game. This is the most basic poker format that involves you buying in with a certain bet amount based on the stakes, and with the bet amount, you can bet, raise or call once you have received your cards. You can decide to sit out whenever you want without a penalty. If you have a busy schedule and still want to enjoy poker this is the best game structure for you. It allows you to get in a few hands during a short free period.

Tournament Poker

Tournaments, on the other hand, require you to play until either you are busted from the tournament, out of chips or you win. If you decide to sit out, your blinds will still be taken, which means that despite not being at the table for that round, you will still lose some chips. Tournaments require a significant time investment and it’s only recommended for those who have enough free time to spare. However, tournaments offer huge rewards and can attract tremendous player pools from different regions. An example of a poker tournament is the World Series of Poker.

Sit and go tournaments

Sit and go tournaments have several similarities with tournaments however they do not have a set schedule. This type of tournament only starts when enough players register to participate. Much like tournaments, they require a time commitment, therefore, it is not recommended for players with a busy schedule. Also sitting out does not exempt you from playing the blinds just as it is with tournaments. However, sit and go tournaments are typically much quicker from start to finish than a tournament. They are often the best choice for practicing final tables of larger multi-table tournaments since they are short.

FAQ

What is the best format of poker to play?

Many of the common poker formats are beginner-friendly – make sure you understand the rules and the betting structure in a particular game before jumping in!

Is online poker legal?

This is totally dependent on the region you are from, but most countries allow you to play online.

Can I play online poker using my phone or tablet?

Yes, you can. Several online poker sites are compatible with mobile devices.

What is a poker strategy?

This is the pattern of play a player develops for winning. In poker you can win with many strategies, but usually winning players use a tight and aggressive style of poker.

Can I play at more than one poker site?

Yes, you can try multiple sites and use the best one for you.

Is poker hard to learn?

Not that hard! Poker takes just a few minutes to learn as a beginner-friendly game and you only need to know the basics to start, but mastering a game requires real commitment and will take thousands of hours.

When all things appear to be equal, how do you know which is better?

In this case, I’m talking about gambling sites and, specifically, Bovada and BetOnline. They’re two of the top full-service online gambling sites that cater to US players.

At first glance, you can see that both of the operators have a full range of real money gambling options, including a sportsbook, casino, live casino, and poker room. There’s nothing out of the ordinary with one bonus program compared to the other, the slot games, or the odds in the sportsbook.

So, it appears to be a coin toss, right?

Not quite. Once you dive in deeper and take a look at the actual casino games in the virtual slot banks, the live dealer tables, and overall promotional programs, some distinctions emerge.

To help you make the best decision that aligns with your preferences, I’m going to assess Bovada vs. BetOnline in four areas to see which one rises to the top.

Please bear in mind that these are my personal observations. Our official rankings of the best US gambling sites are compiled by our resident team of experts and are more objective.

I’m sure that we all agree that quality banking and betting are the two most important aspects of online casinos, sportsbooks, or poker rooms.

But when you’ve got options, why not go for the best in all areas? That includes a well-designed, user-friendly, and mobile-friendly website.

The overall design is a matter of personal preference, and Bovada has received quite a few positive reviews in this area. However, BetOnline recently redesigned its site. Not only is the homepage now filled with valuable information, but the menu is better.

Bovada has you go on a little quest to find a few things like banking and promotions. BetOnline, on the other hand, has everything at the top. There’s a separate banking button, as well as links for promotions and contests.

There’s also a help menu in the bottom right corner of the BetOnline site, giving you direct access to customer service.

Printed materials are more of a focus on Bovada. It has a comprehensive help center with a long list of questions and answers. So, Bovada encourages you to use those resources first. If you still have problems, then customer service is your next option.

You’re accessing a gambling site because you’re interested in doing some online gambling. So, betting and gaming opportunities, whether in the casino, sportsbook, racebook, or poker room, are the services that you’re “buying.”

When you compare Bovada vs. BetOnline, you’ll start to see some differences in both the casino and the sportsbook.

Sports betting opportunities are relatively similar. Both Bovada and BetOnline cover a wide range of sports, leaning heavily on the US top four of MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. They both offer a broad selection of props and futures, as well as live betting.

But BetOnline has the edge over Bovada when it comes to betting limits. Bovada has one of the lowest minimums around with 0.50, compared to BetOnline’s 1.00. However, BetOnline takes a significant lead with maximum betting. Whereas Bovada is capped at 5,000.00 for NFL spreads, BetOnline accepts up to 25,000.00.

Both sites offer a wide range of poker tables, including tournament action. Bovada and BetOnline also host live dealer casino tables courtesy of Visionary iGaming (Vig).

But BetOnline takes live casino games a step further by adding a second one to its site. The “red” casino is dedicated to Vig, and the “black” casino has Fresh Deck Studios tables.

Many of the tables are similar, but Fresh Deck has a Casino Hold ‘em table that you won’t find in the red casino.

When you hit the virtual casino floors to look for your favorite slot game, you may hit the jackpot in one, and come up short in another. That’s because Bovada uses Realtime Gaming and Concept Gaming software, and BetOnline is a Betsoft casino. So, slot titles will be entirely different.

So far, BetOnline has taken the lead in the Bovada vs. BetOnline competition. But Bovada is the superior casino for real money slots. Not only does it have RTG slots, including Zombies vs. Cheerleaders and Football Frenzy, both jackpot progressives, but provides twice as many titles.

If you’re a fan of Betsoft games, like Back to Venus and Fruit Bat Crazy, then quantity won’t matter to you, and you’ll head toward BetOnline anyway.

BetOnline makes up for its lower slot count with a more extensive table game section, though. Approximately 40 tables are always open in the virtual pit, including 17 poker games on top of what’s in the dedicated poker room.

I bounced back and forth with one casino’s strength over the other in the Bovada vs. BetOnline battle. But when it comes to gambling, it’s up to you to decide. If you’re a slot player, you’ll want to state your preference of RTG or Betsoft. Table games are more prevalent in BetOnline, and video poker and specialty options are up for grabs.

Follow the Money

So far, I have to declare BetOnline as having a slight advantage. But that’s about to change in the banking section.

Bovada implemented one little player benefit that could make all of the difference to you when it comes to deposits and payouts.

Before I reveal the financial game-changer, let me start with a little cryptocurrency plug. This tip is particularly for US players who have a challenging time getting money in and out of gambling sites and, therefore, put up with online casino banking fees.

I highly recommend using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency if you’re an American looking to use a gambling website, whether for sports, casino, or poker.

The evidence for the crypto advantage is evident in both Bovada and BetOnline. Each of these operators provides free Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. Now, you may wonder why I included deposits in the statement, but that’s because you’re going to pay for card deposits, whether you use a debit, credit, prepaid, or gift variation.

No, I’m not being compensated by the Global Cryptocurrency Organization – is that even a thing? But I’ve looked at enough online casino banking menus to know that it’s the way to go unless you live in a country with e-wallet provisions.

When you compare crypto transactions, Bovada and BetOnline are accommodating. The difference, however, comes into play with those card transfers.

So, here are the numbers.

Bovada vs. BetOnline in the deposit arena breaks down as follows.

• Bovada – 5.9% for card deposits
• BetOnline – 7.5% for card deposits

Card payouts are off the table with both casinos. Bovada replaces them with checks by courier, and BetOnline also issues check payments. But BetOnline’s are noted to be a few days faster.

As far as withdrawal fees, though, here’s the situation.

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• Bovada – first check free every 90 days and then $100 per check
• BetOnline – checks under $1,500 = $50; Over $1500 = 3%

If you’re looking for that Bovada bright spot, go back and look at the withdrawal fee, and you’ll see that Bovada gives you one free payout every 90 days. There’s also a little perk for new players in the deposit realm, as your first deposit as a new Bovada player is also free.

In a heads-up banking comparison, Bovada is a clear winner. But you have to plan so that you take advantage of the freebies.

Bonuses and Other Promotional Benefits

Promotions, like deposit bonuses, is an area that may or may not appeal to you. Some online players love the concept as it can stretch their betting funds. But others steer clear because the rollovers are challenging.

I wanted to include bonuses in this Bovada vs. BetOnline comparison as they could make or break your decision about using one or the other of these two industry giants.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that it’ll guarantee your commitment in this case, though, as, once again, it’s a similar situation.

Bovada and BetOnline each offer a three-part welcome bonus for new players. It gets you a 100% match up to $1,000 for the first three deposits you make into your betting account.

The top spot for rollovers goes to Bovada. Its playthrough requirement is X25 on both the deposit and bonus, as compared to X30 for BetOnline. But, there’s a little twist to the story.

Once again, we’re back to the subject of Bitcoin, as BetOnline lowers the rollover to X14 for a welcome bonus using Bitcoin. That makes quite a difference in how much you have to wager to meet the bonus stipulations.

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BetOnline appears to put more of an emphasis on bonuses, promotions, and contests. There’s a promos button in the top menu that opens up quite a few possibilities for incentives in all areas of the operations (casino, poker, sports, etc.).

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In addition to bonuses, contests are also more prevalent with BetOnline. They’re primarily sportsbook-related and seasonal, but the contests button is also in the main menu, so you can take a peek whenever you visit BetOnline.

BetOnline has been around for a decade longer than Bovada. But with its recent makeover, it’s far from looking dated. I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed with either service, regardless of your game of choice.

It’s a tight competition with Bovada vs. BetOnline, and that’s a good thing for players, as you can’t go wrong either way. They both accept cards, Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies. The two providers cover the gamut with sports, racing, e-sports, poker, casino, and live casino gaming.

Additionally, BetOnline and Bovada welcome new players with three deposit matches and other promotional opportunities throughout the year.

My goal was to determine which of the two rose to the top in the Bovada vs. BetOnline competition, and I didn’t know which one it would be until I broke it all down into sections.

Now that the results are in, I find that BetOnline has an ever so slight edge over Bovada in all areas except banking and the number of slot games.

If you’re not going to use cryptocurrency, then Bovada is the only way to go to avoid payout fees, as it provides one free check every quarter.

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I prefer the BetOnline menu to Bovada, though, as more information is front and center. Customer service is more comfortable to access with BetOnline, and it also provides more bonus opportunities as compared to Bovada.

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Whether you agree or not, one thing is for certain. These two sites both deserve their place among the top US gambling sites. Why not join both?