When it comes to the online vs. live poker debate, be honest: wouldn’t you rather play from home at your convenience than in a casino with rules and dress codes and crowds? 

Okay, we might have a bias. Live poker isn’t that bad, and some fellow tablemates can be quite entertaining. However, we can discuss quite a few reasons that online poker is better than playing live poker. 

Things You Can Avoid By Playing Online Poker 

Once upon a time, casinos were the best place to play poker. Before the age of computers, poker required human interaction, physical cards, poker chips, and actual cash. In the late 1990s, computers delivered a way to avoid all of those things and play poker virtually. Perfecting online poker through the years delivered alternatives to everything that players dislike about poker in live settings. Let’s look at some of the main live vs online poker considerations.

Limited Casino Hours

Online poker players avoid paying attention to casino hours, as casinos outside of Las Vegas often close for at least a few hours every day. Poker sites make it easier to play poker online because they operate around the clock. For cash game players, it’s especially beneficial to continue a good game when on an upswing rather than stop playing because the casino needs to close. 

Travel, Parking, and Transportation Costs

Avoiding the casino for poker means you don’t have to worry about driving or parking, arranging any transportation, or paying for said transportation. Many poker players don’t live near a casino or poker room, meaning they have to schedule a time to make the trip, whether that means a long drive or a flight. Scheduling poker and the transportation to reach it often requires coordinating with a spouse and children, a boss or business clients, and maybe even a pet sitter. And paying for gas, parking, bus or plane fare, taxis, and accommodations can add up quickly. 

In addition, transitioning from live to online poker eliminates the worry of walking into a casino with money or walking out with your piles of winnings. Criminals can take advantage of casino patrons in a parking lot, as has been reported on numerous occasions. Everything that happens in an online poker game, however, is private and confined to your desktop, laptop, or mobile device.

Casino Dress Codes and Social Pressure

There’s no dress code when playing poker online. No shoes? No shirt? No matter.

By playing online, you avoid direct contact with people, which means you don’t have to make small talk, answer questions about your poker experience, pay for food or drink, or tip anyone. You can have a cocktail without judgment, wear your slippers, and play your favorite music at any volume.

In fact, avoiding the casino means you can take notes on hands without looking like a newbie, use a calculator for odds, and even consult a range chart, all free of judgment from others. You don’t have to worry about physical tells whatsoever. 

Online vs casino poker etiquette is very preferential to online poker, as the only etiquette for the latter is to refrain from inappropriate behavior in the chat box and unnecessarily taking too long to act when the action is on you.

Dealer Errors and Tipping

Speaking of tipping, it doesn’t apply at all in online poker. Players on the virtual platform avoid tipping the dealer in cash games and tournaments, tipping the wait staff for food or drinks, and tipping floor staff for rebuys or any services they provide. It’s also a perk to avoid tipping a valet or any staff associated with parking or hotel accommodations.

Live poker is always at risk for human error, whether by fellow players or dealers. There are no dealer errors when playing poker online, though, as sites like BetMGM Poker are licensed and bound by technical rules of card randomization. Oversight ensures proper card shuffling and dealing at all times.

Childcare and Scheduling Constraints

Parents don’t need to worry about finding a babysitter when heading to an online poker site. Online poker is always open and available as fun entertainment, so you can play while the kids are at school or at a friend’s house, while they watch television or do homework, or you can wait until they go to bed at night.

Online poker players often say that the biggest perk of playing online is that there are no scheduling issues. You can play poker at your own pace, whenever time allows. Since it’s available around the clock, you can sit down at a cash game or play SNGs (Sit and Go’s, a type of poker tournament) at any time, and you can usually find poker tournaments that fit your free time periods. 

The Positives of Playing Online Poker

As for the benefits, online poker sites like BetMGM Poker offer quite a few perks not available in live poker. Many of these reasons to play poker online were the inspiration for the poker boom in the early to mid-2000s and why the game remains in demand.

Faster Gameplay and More Hands Per Hour

Live poker dealers typically produce 20 to 30 hands per hour, depending upon the number of players at the table and the general speed of the action. Online poker, on the other hand (so to speak), issues more than double that amount of dealt hands. A typical online poker full-ring game provides anywhere from 60 to 100 hands per hour, and that number increases with short-handed tables, faster players, and games like FastForward poker on sites like BetMGM. Players who multi-table can double or triple their hands per hour as well.

More hands equals more experience. Players are able to learn more quickly, practice their online poker strategy, and develop their styles at a much faster pace online than during in-person poker games.

Multi-Tabling and Table Flexibility

As mentioned, multi-tabling poker allows players online to see double or triple (or more) hands per hour. It’s the best way for experienced players to attempt to make the most profit in the shortest time.

In addition, online poker allows for table flexibility not often found in live poker, which doesn’t typically allow players to change tables without good reason. And live poker players frown upon those who leave the table after winning a big pot, while there are no barriers to this behavior online. Online players can change tables as they choose, switch from live poker to tournaments as the latter become available, and even move up or down in stakes without judgment.

Built-In Poker Tools and Hand Histories

The only way to record hand histories during live poker is to take photos of the board or make notes on your phone or in a notebook. Online poker removes all of those tasks by automatically recording hand histories and providing ways to download them for later analysis and strategy development. 

Along with the ease of hand histories is the availability of poker HUD stats, ones that are transferable through hand histories to most poker software programs. This is a common way for the best players in the game to learn from their mistakes, figure out what plays work best for them, and even find poker tells and patterns among opponents. 

Easier Rebuys, Top-Ups, and Bankroll Management

Everything takes more time in live poker because it requires people to do those tasks. It stands to reason, then, that those things are much faster and easier online.

When you want to rebuy or purchase an add-on for an online poker tournament, it requires a simple click of a button and just moments to complete the task, instead of waiting in a live poker room for the floor staff to handle the rebuy, deliver your chips, and record the transaction. Live tournament reentries are also time-consuming, as you must leave the tournament area, buy in again, receive a new seat and table assignment, and begin the tournament all over again. Online reentries are almost instantaneous but perform the same function. 

The ease with which players can rebuy and reenter online does present an issue, though. Since you don’t have to hand over any cash or view a tangible receipt for your purchase, it can feel like you’re not spending real money, but you are. This requires more attention to poker bankroll management. 

It’s imperative that you pay close attention to the cashier page, to the ups and downs of your cash balance, so that you’re sticking to your bankroll limits and goals. The benefit of doing this through online poker, however, is that you can set limits on your spending, such as limiting your own rebuys and reentries, to serve as a reminder of your bankroll limits.

Play Poker Online at BetMGM

Online poker tends to be a better choice for most poker players, though not all players live in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, where they can access legal and regulated online poker platforms. And sure, there are also people who just like other people, social contact, and going places, so they sometimes prefer casinos or poker rooms. 

If you are the online type, or if your life is simply more conducive to this type of poker, you can play poker with real money at BetMGM. And if you’re the type of person who likes to benefit from bonuses and promotions, you can take advantage of BetMGM’s online poker welcome bonus when you open your new account. 

A look at the top reasons that legally playing poker online is better than playing live poker.