Poker lovers don’t just have the internet to thank for spreading the game across the globe and making it available to millions of people, they should also be grateful for the way the digital age has helped the game evolve. Online poker rooms led to a more refined skillset among elite players, with high level maths skills, for instance, being a key attribute of the modern-day card shark. Now that poker has spread out onto mobile, could we about to see top poker players adapting to a new way of playing?
Players Looking for Speed Games Previously Turned to Casino Offerings
Poker is known for being a rather slow-paced game, especially in tournament format. The World Series of Poker Main Event, for example, takes place over three days as the vast number of players are whittled down until only one remains. Players who want to join the highly coveted club of winners of this competition which includes Hossein Ensan, John Cynn, and Scott Blumstein in recent years need extremely high levels of patience and endurance. They can’t afford to be hasty in their decisions.
For this reason, a lot of poker players turn to online casino games as a way to blow off some steam and enjoy some faster-paced options. Phil Ivey has been known to partake in baccarat, Stu Ungar was a massive blackjack player, and Will Kassouf loves a game of roulette. For players who feel inspired by these experts, the best online casinos for these games are those with the most lucrative sign-up bonuses for new players.
Internet Poker Changed the Way We Play
The reason why there are questions over whether mobile could change the way people play poker is because the internet brought about major developments in the game. When people began playing a digitalised version of poker in the 2000s, Texas Hold’em quickly became the most popular variant on the planet. Prior to this, more people would have been familiar with stud poker. In addition to making one strain of the game boom in popularity, online poker also introduced new techniques and ways of playing.
In the pre-internet days, poker was yet to become an exact science. Back then, there was a much heavier influence on psychological techniques, bluffing, and trying to get a read on opponents. None of this could be done in the online poker rooms, however, as the other players weren’t visible. This meant that players had to perfect different ways of playing.
Now there is widespread advice and agreement about how players should act in any given situation. Players put a lot more focus into calculating pot odds before making bets, and putting opponents on certain ranges based on their position at the table. This has made poker more of a science, as the experts tend to play the game in the same way. Because of this, players like Daniel Negreanu are able to pull off seemingly magical reads. In fact, he combines his knowledge of ranges and how the vast majority of players would act in order to make his assertions.
Mobile Poker is About Fast-Paced Options
Now that a large number of poker sites are putting focus into their mobile offerings because of the booming smartphone market, it seems like the game is evolving again. Nowadays, Texas Hold’em is still the most popular variant, but players are looking for new and exciting ways to play it. For the mobile crowd, developers have created fast-fold versions of the game where there is no waiting time between hands. There are also timed offerings which force players to go all-in when the clock reaches zero.
These games are making poker more accessible for a wider audience, but they don’t really stay true to the essence of the game found at live poker competitions. They could be useful as a way to get more people into poker, but expert players are most likely to avoid them.
Mobile poker is unlikely to foster a new type of player, as the faster-paced offerings go against the key elements of the game which are patience and endurance. They may help to introduce more players to the game, but professionals are more likely to play casino games for their gambling release.
