Difference between online poker and offline poker
It’s not a secret that some of the best live poker players in the world have trouble beating online poker games. While there is a distinct possibility that these guys who have grown to rely heavily on their player reading skills, suddenly find themselves without one of their main weapons, and thus are unable to deal with the situation on their own terms, but there are other factors at play here too.
If you sign up to an online poker forum, you’re sure to come by comments Made by online poker players who claim the game is rigged, because there seem to be far more bad beats in it than in live poker. While the claim about the bad beats is true, it doesn’t represent any sort of proof. Bad beats can be explained with some pretty straightforward reasoning, (believe me, I’ve suffered many bad beats in online poker too), as well as the reason why there are more of them online than offline.
For one thing, online poker is about playing far more hands per hour than live poker. That alone is something that brings about more bad beats. The hourly rate for winning players grows as well, but with it, so does the incidence of bad beats.
The increased hourly rate brings about a ripple-effect affecting many others aspects of online game-play too. Because the hourly rate is bigger, in theory, players can afford to act on more marginal EV+ hands. As there is a direct proportionality between the average EV on a bet and the hourly earning rate, it is safe to say that these two variables influence Each-other. If the hourly rate goes up, and the EV per hand goes down, Winning will still is possible. People acting on more marginal EV hands, means the game will loosen up. A loose game means there will be more people seeing the flop, the turn and probably the river too. This will lead to increased schooling, which in turn is the best prerequisite to some of the most insane bad beats.