Online Poker is a Total Snore. Period.
Given the fact that online poker is available 24/7 from any location on earth, it stands to reason that more people have played poker online than have tried their hand at a live game. And the numbers don’t lie. Full Tilt and Poker Stars have millions of registered players, and online poker itself is a billion dollar industry worldwide.
Online poker. Someone tell me please, WHAT is the deal with online poker? I. Don’t. Get it.
Have I played online poker? Yes, but not much. There’s a reason for that. I don’t like it. It’s boring. I want to take a small nap just thinking about what it would be like to call online poker my job. I can’t imagine anything more tedious than trying to make a living playing poker online for 40 hours a week. Staring at a screen, watching betting patterns and calculating odds, developing carpal tunnel as your wrist clicks back and forth at the speed of light in order to keep up with all the games you’re playing at once…(Zzzzzz… Oh, I’m sorry, I must have nodded off.) Of course, many people I know feel differently. It comes as quite a surprise to people when they hear me say that I don’t play online. “Why not?” they ask. “It’s such easy money!” I beg to differ.
Here’s a shocker: I’m not the world’s greatest poker player. Yeah, I think I’m pretty good. I think it’s fair to say that I’m even better than average. But by far the weakest part of my game is the mathematical aspect of poker. I realize that the formula for calculating pot odds is relatively easy, but for some reason, my mind doesn’t wrap around the cards that way. I understand the basic concept, but when it comes right down to it, I make my decisions based on the player, and not necessarily the numbers. I can’t sit for hours in front of a computer screen and focus on some cartoon moniker’s betting patterns. Forget it. It may as well be a video game. And a pretty boring one, at that. I mean come on, there’s no catchy little Super Mario-type doot-doot-bleep song, and the cartoon guys don’t even move, much less fly or shoot fire-balls.
Another reason that I don’t care for online poker? Well, I’m just not that good at it. I try not to get myself involved in poker games where I’m the obvious underdog. I won’t sit at a table where the stacks are already 5 times the max buy-in, I don’t like playing when I’m tired or drugged up on allergy medicine, or at a table full of guys who treat every hand like penis-measuring contest. The strongest part of my game is reading people as opposed to betting patterns, and I play games where I can use that to my advantage. Unfortunately, online games do not fall into that category.
I play poker because I enjoy it, not to make millions of dollars. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because I find people interesting, and I’m pretty good at figuring out what they’re up to as far as poker goes. I like the social aspect of the game, chatting with people, and listening to their stories. Not only is that amusing to me, but I use all of the available information to make decisions during the game. THAT is my advantage. Take away the people, insert a cartoon moniker, and for me the game’s as good as gone.
Posted: March 23rd, 2010 under Gina's Blog.
Comments
Comment from petek
Time March 27, 2010 at 8:18 am
Yeah I play online for most of my living, and if you can win at a high enough level you don’t have to play 40 hours a week, more like 2-3 a day. It’s not so bad. And I don’t find it boring, to be honest I find playing 1 table live with a bunch of smelly, smoking, annoying people really really REALLY boring because I might not play a single hand in 2-3 hours. When I’m playing 9 tables at a time online I”m always in hands and interesting spots.
Pete
Comment from petek
Time March 27, 2010 at 8:22 am
PS: I think joining a training site is pretty mandatory if you want to win online. leggopoker.com is my favorite.
My March so far…not many hands played since my wife just had our first child! 
Comment from Gina
Time March 27, 2010 at 8:51 am
Thanks for the comments guys! Just like any player, I’m always trying to improve different aspects of my game, and learn to play effectively outside my comfort zone. Maybe someday I will grow the desire to return to playing online, but until that time, I’ll happily stick to live action.
As far as the smelly, smoking, annoying people go… I do run into the occasional Stinky (shout out to my homies at the Dilworth VFW!), but hey, whatcha gonna do? Smoking is rarely an issue around here, and making snide remarks to people who annoy me is one of my favorite things to do. Lol. Pete, some of your biggest issues with live action are some of the things I find most amusing about the game. That’s okay though, to each his own. And by the way, congrats on your new addition!!!
Comment from petek
Time March 27, 2010 at 11:39 am
Thanks Gina. Yeah to be fair I’m not antisocial and enjoy meeting and playing live as well. I like that much more in a recreational sense. But since I also play poker to support my family (in part), and as a cash game player, getting in lots of hands is a big thing, and online is so helpful in that. I can play 800-1000 hands per hour! Live I could play maybe 20?
Also I like that online I get rakeback. I can play for an entire month and even if I break even I would still make $1000-2000 just on rakeback, which you don’t get at a casino.
I understand loving live play though, and I really really really want to play at the WSOP some day. And I first really played poker at the free leagues around GF, and it was always good fun.
Comment from Gina
Time March 27, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I totally get that. For me poker is purely recreational. Lol, as in, I never expect to win anything. If it were about money, online would for sure be the way to go. Like you said, with the availability of different limits and games, plus the sheer number of hands you can play per hour, live play as a career just doesn’t make sense.
Comment from irockhos
Time March 30, 2010 at 7:50 am
petek, what stakes do you play and on what site? Are you strictly a nlhe cash game guy or do you plo it also? What’s ur online name and when do you play? Yes, i know, so many questions, but it’s interesting to find new area players that grind online alot. I’ll have to find you and we’ll chat sometime or play a hu session. good luck,
Comment from petek
Time March 30, 2010 at 11:51 am
hey man, hit me up with an email at kopr11@yahoo.com and we can chat. I play 200NL on Full Tilt mostly. Peace!
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Comment from irockhos
Time March 24, 2010 at 5:26 am
Its only natural that people don’t like things they aren’t good at. That’s ok gina, i don’t like razz, so i stay away from it. I would like to learn it though and become a better overall poker player. Online is a tool that can log you hand after hand after hand and literally put you in every situation imaginable. Set over set isn’t uncommon for someone who logs 3k hands/day. There is obviously more action and whatever stake you want to play available. I guess the bottom line though is that it DOES improve your play and calculating ability. Open up ur game and try mtts or a couple hu tables at a time, you might learn to like it….. Until then, good luck at all poker endeavors.