If you started playing poker before 2003, odds are you started playing poker either inside of a casino or in a home game. Although sites existed before 2003, the majority of online poker sites did not come online until after the poker boom. If you started playing poker live and have not moved over to the online game, then you need to move over to the online game. However, you need to realize that there are a few differences between playing Texas Holdem online and playing in live casinos. Let’s take a look at a few.

For many players, the main reason they play poker inside of a casino or in a home game is to interact with other people. Poker is a social activity and in many areas, it is a great “guy activity.” However, with the advent of online poker, players that aren’t “people persons” are now able to get online and play due to the most glaring different, and that is the fact that you do not have to face your opponents when you play Texas Holdem online.

When you play Texas Holdem online, you are faced with a graphical representation of a table and your players. Some will have pictures for avatars and other will just be blank. Also, many players will not talk while playing at the poker table. Some will even cut off their chat box to concentrate solely on the game. This takes away from any reads that you may get on players as a result of how they act at the table, how they dress, etc. You have to rely more on betting patterns and what hands they play.

Next, when you play Texas Holdem online, you will notice that the pace of play is almost lightning fast compared to the casino. A computer can calculate pots, drop rake, and push pots in a millisecond. Even the best dealers in the world cannot compete with a computer. It is not uncommon to play twice to three times as many hands per hour online than you would in a live game.

Also, there are many more tables available at any one time when you play Texas Holdem online than there are with traditional casinos. You might have five or at most 10 in many rooms. In the larger card rooms, you might have 20 to 40 tables. Compare that to the hundreds of tables that run at any one time and the advantage to playing online clearly becomes game selection.

While we are talking about game selection, when you play Texas Holdem online, you will discover that you have the ability to play at multiple tables at one time. This is known as multi-tabling. This is not allowed in any live casinos anywhere in the world. However, it is not uncommon for some of the more experience players to play anywhere from 10 to 20 tables at one time. Granted, you likely will not have the computer setup to be able to play that many games, but if you did, you have the option.

Another huge difference in playing Texas Holdem online is the ability to play in specialty Holdem games. For example, you will not in many casinos find six-handed, four-handed, or even heads-up play offered unless you specifically ask for it. In online card rooms, you have the opportunity to play in these types of specialty games all of the time. In fact, six-handed and heads-up Texas Holdem are among the most popular styles of games online due to the difference in skill level required in the games.

About the only significant difference that can prove to be a negative involving playing Texas Holdem online involves making deposits and cashing out when you want to take money out. In order to deposit money on most sites, you have to make a deposit via one of several deposit choices. Some are nearly instantaneous, but others require you to wait some time before playing.

Additionally, when you finish playing a game in a live casino, you can either take your chips with you or you can take them to a cage and cash them out. Not so with online poker. You can clearly leave your money on the site without any problem, but if you want to withdraw money, then you might have some issues depending on how quickly you need it. Most payment processors take anywhere from two to five days to transfer money to your account. In the case of a physical check, you may be waiting to receive your money for weeks. So if you want to take any money off of you account online, be ready to wait.

Once you get past the basic differences between online and live poker, playing Texas Holdem online becomes just a matter of playing great poker against your opponents. You may want to check out several sites or even play at several different sites to determine which suit your style better. Also, you may want to do so to ensure you always have an abundant supply of fish.