Play Poker On Line - 11 Benefits of Playing Online Poker (And a Few Tips and Traps)

1. Comfort and Convenience - You can play anywhere, anytime. As soon as you wake up, right before you fall asleep, whenever it's comfortable and convenient for you!

2. No Expenses -No plane tickets and no hotel fees to get to Vegas! No parking fees or gas to go to your closest casino or local charity game.

3. Availability and Variety - There's always a game ready for you online! Literally 24/7, whenever you want to play, other players are ready and waiting online. You can easily find different formats (ring / cash games, Sit-n-go's and MTT tournaments), different poker games (Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Razz, etc.) all at different stake levels (micro 2-cent tables to high-stakes).

4. Simultaneous Play - Something you cannot do at live games is play more than one table and/or tournament at the same time! Online you get more action, more hands and more experience. Play as many simultaneous games as you can profitably handle.

5. Flexibility - While you play online, you can multi-task. Do whatever else you want to do while you play. Take care of the laundry, do some homework, pay your bills... whatever! Of course, you should focus on your play, but online poker gives you that flexibility.

6. Excellent Learning Experience - At all levels, especially for new players, playing online is a great way to learn. In addition to watching poker on TV and reading books and magazines, actually playing poker is the fastest and best way to learn.

a. Because online poker is driven by technology and software, and the fact that you can play multiple tables and/or tournaments and sit-n-go's, you easily can play hundreds of hands per hour (versus playing live, you'll probably only get in 30-40 hands an hour).

b. Playing online also gives you the ability to review interesting hands, allowing you to analyze betting patterns, and the actions you took.

7. Poker Analysis Software and Stats - Playing online also gives you the capability to use additional software that displays and records statistical information on you and your opponents. This type of software application also archives every hand you play, giving you additional ways to review and analyze your hands and how you played them.

8. Less Intimidating - This is a big advantage, especially for new beginner poker players. Physically sitting face-to-face with a table of strangers is intimidating. There's just too much going on, for example:

a. organizing and counting your chips

b. knowing when to act

c. figuring out how much is in the pot

d. figuring how much money other players have in front of them

e. trying to see exactly what cards are on the board

f. trying to read people

g. trying to not give any information away yourself

h. controlling your heartbeat...

All these things make a "live" game intimidating, and negatively affects your game. An online poker's interface is simpler and more comfortable, with all the information clearly in front of you, and your actions executed through the click of a mouse.

9. Play Money Options - Online poker has "Play Money" games that not only come in handy to just have fun and learn the game, but offers other benefits too:

a. After a session of bad beats, bad luck and just bad playing on your part, put your real money aside and out of danger, and play with "Play Money" to donk off your frustrations!

b. Also, as you read and learn about other strategies and tips, you can test them out comfortably at the Play Money tables and build experience with them, before risking new strategies with your real money.

10. Small Bankrolls, Low Stakes - Online Poker offers really LOW stakes. It can help you build-up a small bankroll, even a ZERO bankroll, by playing in online Freeroll tournaments. This is actually how I started myself. I built up my bankroll from zero, and after winning a few freeroll tournaments, I hung out at the "shallow stack" $0.01/$0.02 tables for awhile. At a "live" casino, the "cheapest" games I've seen were $1/$2 tables (yikes)!

11. Worldwide Poker Community - Technology and the Internet truly have made this world a "small world after all", bringing people from all over together at the same table. Yes, you will run into some rude negative punks once in awhile, but for the most part, I've really had some great chats with friendly people from many different countries.

A Few Tips and Traps to Watch Out For

1. Addictive - If you love poker and you've got a real passion for the game, you can easily spend way too much time and risk more than you should playing poker online. Because of the benefits I mentioned like "comfort and convenience", you may end up playing too much. A few times for me, I was playing online when I really should have spent the time handling some other important responsibilities.

2. Quality Internet Connection - Make sure you have a reliable and stable technical environment, primarily your internet connection and your electrical power. I have lost some big hands and a good chunk of change because my connection went out in the middle of a hand. When you lose your connection, you have some time to "reconnect", but if you time-out then you're S.O.L. and you are forced to automatically fold your monster hand. I actually have a small UPC (power backup) for my setup, so in case I do have a brief loss of power, I've got enough juice to finish the hand.

3. Positive Environment - Like many other efforts, you want to have a comfortable environment to provide you positive support and energy. Give yourself good lighting, use a comfortable chair, play on a clean clutter-free desk, and drink water, coffee (just no alcohol!). Whatever you can do to make your environment better to help you focus on your games will help contribute to successful and profitable poker.

4. Bankroll Management - There are many resources on this topic, and it's something you should research and establish for yourself. If you play at stakes your bankroll cannot handle, you will quickly go broke. Learn, define and follow proper bankroll management, to allow for variance in the game, giving you a comfortable opportunity to profit and play poker for a very long time!

Good luck and have fun! See you on the virtual felt of online poker.

Submitted by J. Vito, a happy husband, proud dad, small business owner and total poker junkie.

For more great tips and information on improving your online poker game, visit http://learnpokeronline.info.