Deciding Where To Play Texas Hold Em Online: Sportsbook Or Poker Room?
Playing Texas hold em online can be quite an experience; youll find your fair share of talent, pros, wanabes, and maniacs in any poker room you go to. Now Ive played Texas hold em in many different venues; online, live, tournament, cash game, no limit, limit, at a sports book, in a casino, and in an online poker room. And as far as the online games go, Ive definitely noticed a difference in the type of play and players in the two different venues: the sports book table and the genuine poker room (a site that only offers poker and nothing else). Each venue has pros and cons and Ill break them down for you to better help you decide which venue you should play at and where you can make the most money without having to be that good of a Texas hold em player.
If you play Texas hold em at a sports book, especially at the lower limits (up to about the 30-40 dollar tourney buy in), youll mostly encounter a lot of novices. Why? Well, the bigger sports books (the ones known mostly for their sports book and not their poker rooms) mostly draw in sports better NOT poker players. These sports betters mainly focus on their strength: betting on sports, and some ( a lot) of them decide to try their luck and play Texas hold em. These players usually have money to blow and dont care if they lose or not, which is what good player love. They wont play too many cash games due to the act that they mainly see no limit Texas hold em tournaments on TV and decide to play just that. So your best bet at finding these players would be at a lower limit no limit Texas hold em game. Beware, Im not the only one that knows this; a lot of sharks out there make their living (myself included) off of these players, theyre what we call dead money
If you decide to play Texas hold em at a poker room like full tilt poker or poker stars, youll come face to face with more serious poker players, no matter what limit you play at. These players are usually more serious and have better game plans then players youd find in a sports book poker room.
In the end, if your trying to make easy money your best bet would be to play Texas hold em in a lower limit (12-40 dollar) buy in no limit tourney, no multi table tourneys, one table only. Youll find a lot more novices at these tables and trust me, they love giving their money away. If, however, you like to play against higher quality players and like a challenge, go to a poker room, its all up to you. As for me, Ill be at the 24 dollar no limit short-handed table, hope to see you there