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Online PokerPlaying poker over the Internet ("online poker") has resulted in a huge increase in poker players all over the world. In fact, online poker is one of the single biggest businesses in the world, with monthly industrywide revenues well in excess of $200 million. And Internet poker differs in some ways from traditional poker games, but at the same time, it's similar enough the someone who learns virtual poker and compete in a traditional poker tournament with little or no "reeducation". Online Poker Rooms
Online Poker PlayersBut online poker games don't take up any space really. Online poker is just a matter of arranging and rearranging electrons instead of casino furniture. So online gaming operators have aggressively pursued this space, and honestly, they probably could only make more money if they owned an actual printing press. PokerStars has over 15,000 real money players online at a given time, and smaller cardrooms still have huge numbers of real money players online at one time too. It's not unusual for Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker to host over 8000 real money online poker players at any given time too. Online Poker GamesInternet poker sites offer the same variety of poker games and poker variants one might find in a traditional casino cardroom. In fact, since there are no physical space requirements involved, online poker games can sometimes be more varied than anything you'd find in a traditional brick and mortar casino. (Last time we played in Oklahoma, the only game that was being spread was Texas holdem, and that was mostly only available in a no limit format. They had 18 poker tables, and only 2 limit holdem games and 1 Omaha game available.) Some poker sites offer online poker game choices like five card draw, which is almost never seen in a traditional casino anymore, or razz, which is rare, or five card stud, which has the same problems at the other 2 poker games. And traditional brick and mortar card rooms also limit these poker games to only certain betting limits. Online Poker LimitsOnline poker games can be found in almost any kind of limit imaginable. If you're interested in learning to play poker but don't want to mess with the play money games, you can play $0.01/$0.02 microlimits and move up to $0.05/$0.10 limits soon afterward. If you're a high roller, you can find games as big as $1000/$2000 at PokerStars and at at Full Tilt Poker. These site also offer headsup no limit poker tournaments with buy-ins as high as $2000. Online Poker RakePoker websites offer similar rake structures to what one might find in a traditional casino. PokerStars, for example, takes a rake of $0.05 per $1.00 in the pot on each hand up to a maximum rake of $1.00 per hand at their lower limit tables. ($1/$2 and under). The maximum rake per hand goes up to $3 per hand at limits of between $2/$4 and up to $100/$200. $200/$400 games have a maximum rake of $5 per hand. In pot limit and no limit games at PokerStars, the rake goes up to a maximum of $3.00 per hand if you're playing limits at or below $25/$50. |
USA Poker Sites
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In
many Las Vegas casinos, poker rooms had been shutting down at a
steady pace for years. Casino managers decide how much floor
space to devote to any game (poker included) by looking at how
much revenue the game generates per square foot of space that it
takes up. (Seems like a very scientific way to run a business,
eh?) Since poker cardrooms make far less money for a casino in
general than slot machines, many of these poker rooms have
closed down to make room for more slots.