Poker-based Casino Games on the Internet

HISTORY

The first every real money game of internet poker was dealt on the 1st January 1998. Internet poker had been played before this date but never for real money. The game was called Planet Poker.

Many internet sites use rewards to attract new players. They offer entry into “satellites” which are tournaments. The prize for winning one of these satellites normally gives entry into a real-life poker tournament. This happened in 2003 when Chris Moneymaker won a satellite and was given an entry into the World Series of Poker (WSP) tournament. He went on to win the World Series of Poker. This immediately shot him to international stardom in the poker world. Nobody had every done this before.

In March 2008, there were less than 40 stand alone sites but by February 2010 there were 545 sites. Internet poker has not stopped growing.

DIFFERENCES

The obvious main difference between internet poker and real-life poker is that players cannot see each other. Another difference from real-time poker is the time the game takes. In real-time poker a dealer has to deal the cards. Collect the “flop” (discarded cards), shuffle the deck and then re-deal. In a real-life casino, a table will play about 30 hands per hour. On the internet, this is done almost immediately. This means that players can play many games per hour than in a real-life establishment.

Internet poker players have to focus on their opponents actions. What are their opponents’ betting patterns like? What is a player’s reaction time? How quickly do other players place bets? Because internet poker is a game that requires players to adapt, successful internet players learn these new challenges more rapidly mould to the new routine.

In a bricks and mortar casino, it is physically impossible to play at more than one table. On the internet, this is quite a simple process and is allowed by most sites. A player could, if they wished, play 4 or 6 tables at the same time. The player has to open separate windows – one for each table. All these windows are visible at the same time. There is no need to switch between screens. They are then able to participate in 4 or 6 games simultaneously. This dramatically increases the chances a player has of increasing his or her winnings.