Does Playing Poker Online Really Make People Better at Live Tables?

Since the rise of internet poker sites, there have been a number of players who have taken the skills learnt online and used them to good effect in real world games.

The man credited with starting the poker boom, Chris Moneymaker [3], qualified for the World Series of Poker via an online poker tournament and ended up winning the ultimate contest. This led to many more players following suit and taking on the professionals. Well known poker streamer Doug Polk even claims that playing online poker first makes live poker incredibly easy. Is the holder of three WSOP bracelets right to say this?

Few would deny that online poker and live poker are two completely different games in terms of the skillsets required to prevail in each. But it could be argued that a greater number of strategies that are refined online can be translated to live games, rather than the other way around. When playing online, players can’t see their opponents, so they are unable to read psychological cues as they would try to do in live games. This makes the concept of bluffing and spotting bluffs completely different in an internet setting. Players have to study the varying bet sizes of their opponents and remember how they acted in certain situations. Using all the information they have gathered over the course of a game, they can then make educated guesses as to when someone is bluffing.

One of the main skills that separates good online poker players from average ones is their mathematical ability. Online poker [4] players need to be able to use advanced concepts such as calculating pot odds and the probability of winning a round based on what cards they are holding. The emphasis on this side of the game means that players learn to make more sensible bluffs. They work out how many outs they have and whether it makes economic sense to keep firing at a pot.

Some of the best players in the world started out by playing at internet poker sites. One of the most notable experts is Tom Dwan, who is renowned for being completely fearless at the poker table. Dwan started with a $50 bankroll, but within a few years had made over $5 million. His notoriety led him to earn frequent spots on televised cash games including Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. Scott Blumstein [5] is a recent example of someone who mastered poker online but then took down the biggest prize of all in a live setting. The American made over $150,000 online while studying accounting at Temple University in Philadelphia. Soon after graduating he entered the 2017 WSOP and came first, bagging over $8 million in the process. With much more poker being played online these days, the standard is rising.

With so many successful online players winning major prizes in live games, it could be fair to say that playing on the internet first is a good way to prepare for tables in the real world.