Regardless of the method of use that you choose, poker is the most loved card game ever internationally. The great phase of expansion enjoyed in recent years, however, is also due to the undeniable advantages offered by the Internet
When it first appeared in a modern format just under two centuries ago, it didn’t take long to realize that poker was a game that would go down in history. In fact, some intrinsic characteristics contribute to its success, among which the possibility of choosing among an impressive number of variations, the relative speed of the hands, the existence of internationally renowned tournaments and the basic rules rather simple to learn and put into practice.
If its fame was already evident in the beginning, it has grown further over the years until it has reached its current levels. To better understand the various phases of its incredible evolution, it will therefore be inevitable to open this article with a brief account of the most important moments that have shaped its history.
Among these, we will focus on the current period, which sees about 100 million players from all over the world dedicate themselves annually only in its online version. If such a result is possible, what are the main reasons?
This is what we will try to understand below. In doing so, a comparison will inevitably be made with its traditional alternative, i.e. the one practiced in land-based casinos.
The history of poker, in a nutshell
The first ancestor of poker is a type of domino widespread in the Chinese court of Emperor Mu-Tsung in the X century AD Another game with similar characteristics would also be the Persian As-nas of the XVII century AD
Instead, we had to wait until 1858 to witness the official appearance of modern poker, when its first regulation was published in the United States. Already at the beginning of that century, however, the first versions of this game were already widely popular overseas thanks to the import work carried out by French soldiers or by sailors coming from Persia.
After experiencing an extraordinary boom during the Civil War of 1861-65, poker had one of its moments of greatest expansion in the seventies of the twentieth century. In particular, reference is made here to 1971, the year in which Texas Hold’em was chosen as the undisputed protagonist of the newborn World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
The popularization of the internet starting from the nineties and the concomitant technological development that saw the spread of smartphones, then contributed to the success it still enjoys today. It should also be remembered that the victory of Chris Moneymaker – a novice accountant – of the Main Event of the WSOP in 2003 immediately brought hundreds of thousands of people closer to the fantastic world of poker.
All the advantages of online poker
Numerous variations
Firstly, thanks to the structure of the web, an online casino does not have to submit to any type of physical limitation compared to a traditional one. This inevitably means that in the latter the number of tables and seats to give yourself a hand is reduced.
Those who prefer the virtual mode, on the other hand, have an almost unlimited range of variations available; these include, for example, Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo. As if this were not enough, by accessing the site presented below, one will also realize that on it it is possible to take part in a large number of tournaments; one of these is the Mystery Bounty, in which a variable bounty is awarded on each player’s head. Obviously, this site turns out to be the best in the Italian market due to the number of options made available to its users. In addition to the above, the classic version is also very popular, which has brought this site to the top of the online poker market.
Convenience and savings
This is probably the most obvious benefit for those who try their hand at the online mode after years of experience in the best physical casinos in the world. In fact, although the experience of entering one of their luxurious halls should be done at least once in a lifetime, the latter often require a good amount of time and money to be reached.
Those who choose online poker, on the other hand, just have to connect to the site of their preference to start playing directly from the browser. Furthermore, more and more people are relying on the dedicated apps that the main Italian casinos make available to their customers to allow them to enjoy their experience even more.
Great economic benefits
Another intrinsic feature of physical casinos concerns the fact that, in order to be managed in the best way, they must incur a series of rather large management costs. These costs, deriving above all from the rent of premises, salaries to be allocated to staff and various types of utilities, are considerably reduced for an online one.
The money thus saved is invested by the managers themselves to retain their long-standing customers and to be more attractive in the eyes of new ones. This translates into offering a wide range of bonuses, such as welcome bonuses, with or without a deposit.
International opponents
If, as anticipated, before the explosion of the internet, to carry out most of the typical actions of everyday life one had to physically move, today it is the world that is accessible from the place one prefers most. This maxim, which also applies to the poker industry, inevitably means that more options and more people are literally a click away.
In other words, when the only way to play was to go to a traditional structure, many people met, most of them coming from the casino’s country of origin. On a website, on the other hand, not only more players potentially converge, but also more people of different nationalities, which makes the challenges even more exciting.
Relaxation guaranteed
Without a doubt, being able to participate in a major poker tournament in one of the most famous casinos in the world is the dream of any person who is passionate about this magnificent game. Nonetheless, especially when years of experience have not yet been accumulated, events of this type are difficult to manage due to the strong emotions they can generate.
For this reason, training online for a certain time is ideal, as it allows you to focus exclusively on the cards you have available and on your opponents’ plays. When you sit at a table in a physical casino, however, you must also pay particular attention not only to your body language but also to that of your opponents, who could attempt a bluff at any moment.
Quick matches
According to statistics, those who play offline poker can on average take part in about 35-40 hands in an hour. This mode, in fact, provides for the possibility that you can only sit at one table at a time and that you have to wait as long as necessary for the croupier and your opponents to have made their moves.
Online, on the other hand, this value grows enormously, increasing proportionally to the number of tables you decide to play at the same time. The faster speed of the games results not only in a lesser chance of getting bored, but also in the opportunity to practice more and potentially win bigger prize pools.
Online poker: here are its benefits
Regardless of the method of use that you choose, poker is the most loved card game ever internationally. The great phase of expansion enjoyed in recent years, however, is also due to the undeniable advantages offered by the Internet.
As pointed out in this article, in fact, online casinos offer their customers a greater number of variants to choose from than their physical versions, as well as greater convenience and savings. To this, then, we must add other economic advantages, the opportunity to challenge each other with people from all over the world, the possibility of indulging in a game with greater peace of mind and that of completing more hands in the same period of time.