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

You've got no others to contend with (at least not face-to-face) -- no-one hovering over you, talking at you, pushing you, crowding around you, giving you unsought advice, or shooting you nasty looks. You should not 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 do not have to drive anywhere (and with gas prices what they can be, that alone preserves your bankroll tremendously), nor do have to get dressed up or tip your dealer -- all of which save you time and expense.

Another advantage of online poker is the fact that you may play against people from throughout the world. Think about it next time you sit down at an online poker table -- not everyone there even speaks the same language. And globetrotting on the internet provides you with access to more casinos and poker rooms than you may ever find in one single place, even if that one place happens to be Vegas!

Online poker players get available an inordinate number of cardrooms, game types, and table stakes. Moments ago, we mentioned the ambience of the environment where you will be sitting down with your computer to play online poker (probably your house), but online poker gives you 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 and also on...you can almost certainly find an online poker room designed around whatever theme suits your tastes. Likewise, you can find rooms more likely to have more (or less) experienced players, faster (or slower) action, higher (or lower) stakes, etc.

Through the same token, however, when playing online poker additionally, it helps to be aware of its perceived disadvantages as compared to playing traditional "offline" poker. A simple awareness of the real difference alone may make you a far better player.

For one, you don't get that intimate, face-to-face contact with other human beings. But don't rule online poker out as a social outlet altogether. More and more online poker rooms are fostering a real sense 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 perhaps the sound of them clinking while you pull the pile towards you after a big win). And you can not 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 same effect.

But probably the biggest deal that makes some offline poker players leery of playing learn online gambling site poker is the inability to read the additional players. Most expert poker players count on inadvertent visual cues given by their opponents -- tells -- as to the particular strength or weakness of their hands. There is one thing to be said for the amount of information you can glean by just 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 many of tells you may look for in online poker also, you need to simply know where (and just how) to look. But that is a subject for another article.

As for this article, we leave you having an analogy. If you like going to the theatre for your shows, the arena for your concerts, as well as 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 you just ain't got the dough for the theatre, arena, and stadium tickets), then online poker is your ticket.