Eureka!!!

[JJNJustin]

I just had an amazing insight! For the longest time I wondered about the legitimacy of online poker, having been unable to win much online. Actually, all in all, I didnt do too bad. I had a huge tourney hit on Paradise, winning $1800 from a $7 investment. But still, my overall results on online poker were meager profits, if it all.

I have since made some posts on here questioning whether internet poker was rigged and gotten flamed. I have since learned some facts and had some insights which have moved me away from these thoughts.

What I didnt realize was that guys who play live are playing much lower stakes online. For example, a guy who plays $10/$20 online can make roughly the same hourly rate playing two $3/$6 games simultaneously online. This is due to the increased amount of hands/hr per table and the ability to play at two tables at the same time. Consequently it's not surprising to find $10/$20 players at limits down to $2/$4 and $20/$40 players at the $5/$10 limits. I was so dumb I never made this observation and was constantly playing up to $5/10, thinking that lower limits were donk fests and wastes of time. Being mostly a live player (and winning player), it never dawned on me that $2/$4 games online would be populated by guys who were winning at $10/$20 live. Consequently, a $2/$4 game online is going to be a lot tougher than either a $3/$6 or $5/$10 game live. I'm so retarded I never thought about that until now.

Another reason online games are tougher is because the typical donk, drunk, or bad player who gambles casually and slowly loses money at the B&M casino is not going to play online. This type of player might not even understand how to get hooked up. I know many players at the casino who feel overwhelmed by computers and lack the resources or intellect to get started playing online. Even if a bad player does manage to start playing online, he will lose inordinately quicker, and his long term results will become apparent much more readily than if he plays live at the casino. In one session at the casino, he may play about 100-200 hands, whereas he will play this in one hour or less online. A couple hour session online will amount to a week of live play. He will not have the encouragement of his short term results, only the dissatisfaction of his long term results, which will be apparent more quickly online.

I'm not saying donks dont play online, but the player base is going to be limited to players who are computer literate and capable. These people tend to be more educated, and have access to educational materials (i.e. this site) to improve their game, whereas the donk at the B&M casino doesnt.

Also, B&M casinos tend to draw a player base which is geographically generated (i.e. players who live close by) whereas internet poker rooms draw players from around the world, the average quality of which is going to be higher than the guys who "live close to" the B&M cardroom. The online players may not have access to B&M casinos and play online as their only outlet. Hence, the average pool of players online is going to be that much tougher than live players who flock to B&M casinos because of living in reasonable proximity or who frequent strictly for entertainment value.

In conclusion, the quality of online play is much tougher than B&M, due to the fact that winning players at higher limits are playing lower limits online and also because the technical aspect of computers deter many of the live ones from the live casino.

I'm so retarded. How could I not see this before?

duh

-J