Online more profitable than live

There is a long-running argument over who are the better players, those who play predominately online poker or those who usually stick to playing in casino and cardrooms. The argument never seems to be settled but one thing is for certain – playing online poker is far more profitable than playing live poker.

Obviously to make a real comparison between the two we would have to compare players of similar stakes otherwise it simply would not be fair. The lowest stakes many Las Vegas casinos offer at their no-limit Hold’em tables is $1/$2 so we can compare live NL200 to online NL200 and prove there is a massive difference in potential win-rates in the favour of the online player.

A full ring $1/$2 player in a casino will probably see around 30 hands per hour if the dealer is on the top of their game but an online player will see closer to 65 every hour, almost double the amount. Just on this fact alone it should be obvious that the same player would be better off playing poker online, especially when you take into consideration a good online player will often play 4-12 tables with some online grinders regularly playing 20 or more tables simultaneously.

When you take into consideration the rake the house takes out the difference grows even larger. The rake of most online poker sites is capped at 5 per cent of the pot with a maximum of $3 but some casinos rake seven to ten per cent which is often uncapped or capped at a maximum of $10, a huge difference. It is common knowledge that many live $1/$2 games are actually unbeatable in the long term due to the rake and this does not take into consideration the fact it is custom to tip the dealers when you win a pot too.

If you join a bricks and mortar casino you will be lucky to get even a small discount from the restaurant or a free spin of the roulette wheel but all new online players will qualify for a poker welcome bonus which can be as much as $1,000. Then you have the VIP schemes online sites run which can add up to thousands of dollars per month if you play enough hands.
By now it should be quite apparent that the potential to make more money at poker lies with the online generation. That is not to say that live poker is not profitable, far from it, some of the worst players you will ever encounter are live players, it’s just for a winning grinder playing online should be far more profitable than playing in a casino.

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