Online poker you can play anytime you want -- 24/7 365. You may play it as a whole comfort, right from your own home, wearing whatever you like (or nothing at all), sitting, reclining, or jogging on a treadmill (though we do not recommend it). You can set the lighting, temperature, and ambience to be just as you like it. In several ways, with online poker you simply have more control.

You have no others to contend with (at least not in person) -- no-one hovering over you, talking at you, pushing you, crowding around you, giving you unsought advice, or shooting you nasty looks. You don't have to smell smoke in the event that you don't want to. You've got no sexy waitresses tempting you with mind-altering drinks and otherwise distracting your attention away from the game at hand (pun completely intended). You should not have to drive anywhere (and with gas-prices what they are, that alone preserves your bankroll tremendously), nor do have to get dressed up or tip your dealer -- all of which save you time and money.

Another benefit of online poker is that you can play against people from on the other side of the globe. Consider it next time you sit down at an online poker table -- not everybody there even speaks the exact same language. And globetrotting on the web gives you access to more casinos and poker rooms than you can ever find in one single place, even if that one place happens to be Vegas!

Online poker players get to select from an inordinate selection of cardrooms, game types, and table stakes. Moments ago, we mentioned the ambience of the environment where you are going to be sitting down with your computer to play online poker (probably your home), but online poker provides you with almost just as much control in determining the ambience of the cardroom itself.

Whether you enjoy an Old West setting, a Hollywood setting, an Egyptian setting, a jungle setting, a resort setting, and on as well as on...you may almost certainly find an online poker room designed around whatever theme suits your tastes. Likewise, you may find rooms more prone to have more (or less) experienced players, faster (or slower) action, higher (or lower) stakes, etc.

Through the same token, on the flip side, when playing online poker it also helps to be aware of its perceived disadvantages as compared with playing traditional "offline" poker. A simple awareness of the main difference alone could make you an even better player.

For one, you don't get that intimate, face-to-face contact with other human beings. But do not rule online poker out as a social outlet altogether. An increasing number of good online poker poker rooms are fostering a real experience of community amongst their players with attractive and appealing member's clubs, player forums, and sponsored land-based events.

For some poker players, the game just isn't the exact same without the feel of the cards in your hands as well as the weight of the chips when you place them within the center of the table (or the sound of them clinking as you pull the pile towards you after a big win). And also you cannot substitute a number, however large or small, for the visual impact of the chip stacks -- red, blue, and white -- increasing or receding in front of you and expect the exact same effect.

But probably the biggest deal that makes some offline poker players leery of playing online poker will be the inability to read the additional players. Most expert poker players rely upon inadvertent visual cues given by their opponents -- tells -- as to the specific strength or weakness of their hands. There is a thing to be said for the amount of information you can glean by simply looking your opponent in the eyes (thus the prevalence of sunglasses at the poker table) and watching their hands, their posture, their facial expressions, etc. Fortunately, alternatively, there are numerous of tells you can look for in online poker as well, you just need to know where (and the way) to look. But that is a subject for another article.

As for this article, we leave you by having an analogy. If you like going to the theatre for your shows, the arena for your concerts, and also the stadium for your games, get thee to a brick-and-mortar casino for your poker playing enjoyment. If you like Tivo though (or if perhaps you just ain't got the dough for the theatre, arena, and stadium tickets), then online poker is your ticket.