Friday, August 28, 2009

The In's And Out's Of Online Poker

By Peter Werth

The Internet has got it all! From information to entertainment content to business and purchases of commodities, be it basic and special services and products, name it, it can be found in the virtual world.

Online poker is only rising in popularity, and with many more people looking to get their fair share of the fun... the online poker phenomenon has hit the internet.

Online poker is poker or card game played using computers connected to the Internet. It is assumed that online poker has further, and dramatically in that sense, increased the popularity of poker worldwide.

Brief background on poker

For you to understand what online poker is all about, you need to know the history of the sport... so let's take a look!

Poker is a class or type of card game referred to as 'vying game', where players attempt to outpace or beat each other by coming out with the best possible combinations of cards.

There will always be debate about the origins of poker. Linguistic scholars insist that the name 'poker' literally descended from 'poque', a French word which in turn came from a German word 'pochen', which means to knock'.

But looking closely at the mechanics of poker, scholars say the card game should have been derived from the 'as nasi' game in old Persia (now Iran). Studies suggest that the Persian sailors in the 17th century had taught the game to French settlers in the US state of New Orleans.

From then on, a lot of modifications in the mechanics and way of playing have been introduced. It would be safe to assert that like humanity, poker has evolved and online poker is just one form of evolution the game has taken over the decades.

Online Poker vs Old School Poker

Traditional poker venues are sometimes referred to as 'bricks-and-mortar' poker rooms. With not many poker rooms around these days, players are intimidated to attend such events because of the distance required to travel and play.

As inflation increases, so do wages, and so do general operating costs... making running a traditional poker room an unprofitable business venture. You must wonder, how could this happen when they charge so much for commissions or rake. For your information, those charges and fees do not usually offset the costs in running or operating an actual poker room.

Brick and mortar venues and casinos strategically survive nowadays from revenue generated by slot machines in their houses.

On the other hand, online poker rooms have very little overheads. Adding an extra digital table takes up no room and may be done instantly.

Online poker rooms have also been rated as being friendlier and more accessible. Automatic shuffling and dealing, prompting when it's time to play, and other features enhance the online poker players experience. The stakes when playing online poker may be as low as 1 cent... making it perfect for beginners to get started.

Can you enter a poker room or casino without paying entrance charges? Not usually! How about online poker? Absolutely! Online poker rooms also offer deposit bonuses for their players to entice more people to join the fun. Pretty cool huh!

Protection in online poker venues

The grim reality that where there is money involved, scammers are always attracted. This does include online poker rooms, thankfully the online poker rooms are well prepared.

However, to avoid fraud and collusion among online poker players, Internet sites and businesses that run these sites often install anti-collusion detection software and programs. Another advantage that online poker rooms have over traditional bricks-and-mortar venues.

How does it work? Online poker operators or rooms do check an online player's Internet protocol (IP) address to make sure no two players are located at the same location or household. That would prevent collusion. Players using open proxy servers are also prevented from playing online poker on a single or same poker table.

Online poker rooms also check on an online player's strategy or play history. This would make patterns of behavior or thinking detectable than in brick and mortar venues, where some players collude by folding hands or having secret sign languages.

A lot of sites offer online poker games, and you can choose whether you would want to play against real-time players located anywhere in the globe or against computer programs. So if poker is your game, then log onto the internet and start playing.

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