Just about any poker dealer in a casino can deal between 30 and 35 hands per hour and automatic shuffling machines can speed the process up to about 40 to 45 hands per hour.
Even though these machines increased play by about 25%, the game can only go as fast as the human can go. It takes time to rotate dealers, change chips for new players, take the rake, shuffle the cards, change the deck, and the infrequent floor manager calls and service calls. New players might also not understand the rules of poker games and may need them to be explained by the dealer.
All of these things can take precious time from the game.
Believe it or not, people used to think that automatic shufflers were going to revolutionize the industry. Now that online poker is here, players can enjoy really fast poker games.
A typical online poker game can deals between 65 and 85 hands per hour, and for you shorthanded players, expect to see a minimum of 85-90 hands per hour at most tables. Still, online poker rooms are finding ways to increase the number of hands by “cutting the fat” from the way their poker games are being dealt.
In the beginning, players would click a button indicating their decision when it was their turn. Then it evolved even further and “auto-check” buttons were added, making games roll even faster when players already knew what they were going to do.
Today, online poker software whisks cards to all of the players in a matter of a split second. Not only does it deal faster than humanly possible, it’s also able to accurately keep track of pot sizes, side pots, and other decisions that would take humans a matter of minutes to complete. Pots are awarded automatically and players don’t even have to stack their chips, its all automatic.
So how does the speed of the game affect your bottom line?
The answer to this depends on one thing, you. Whether you are a good player or a bad player, the number of hands will magnify your usual playing ability.
A good player will have the opportunity to sit around and wait for those monster hands that they like to play, while a poor player will can now have as much fun as they want playing their regular selection of junk hands.
With this being said, I should point out that only about 10 to 15 percent of poker players are consistent winners, while the rest are left in the dust, losing their bankroll in a matter of hours.
Losers lose much faster with more hands to play.
Imagine a player who loses his bankroll in a matter of hours in a casino or card club. Now take the time it usually takes him to lose and divide that by about 3; this is how much time you can expect him to last playing poker online.
Not only do people lose because of the magnification of time, they are put under a lot more pressure by all of the bells, whistles, and annoying buzzers that online poker rooms have. If you can’t make up your mind within a minute, your hand is simply disqualified and you can’t win. With these compelling features, beginners learn how to play very fast.
And online poker players let players play at more than just one table. Many beginners discover this and want to try playing at multiple tables at once, something that would be impossible to do and probably against the rules at a casino or card club. Even seasoned players can get confused from time to time when playing multiple tables. It’s not very difficult to click the wrong button or to confuse a tight player on one table with a loose player from another.
Not only do beginners catch on fast, they also don’t realize the value of whats in front of them at an online poker table. They can’t physically pick up the chips, bet them, and stack them back up. It’s just a number on a screen to them, and they aren’t physically winning or losing anything in the game.
Sharks and veteran online poker players can certainly win a lot at online poker, so long as they don’t let multi-tasking get to them. Inexperienced players make a lot of mistakes at first, but with time comes experience, and with experience comes winning.
If you already know that you are a winning player, and it doesn’t matter to you whether you play poker in a casino, card room, or online, then try out one of the online poker rooms and see if you can net some fish.
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