Online Poker Vs Live Poker: What’s The Difference?

When you think of poker, you probably imagine a dimly-lit, smoke-filled room occupied by well-dressed players with drinks in hand, playing for high stakes.

Or perhaps you think of a group of friends in someone’s living room, playing mostly for fun, with low stakes and a small pot of cash up for grabs.

You probably don’t imagine millions of players sitting at their keyboards, playing hundreds of hands an hour - but, in terms of volume at least, that’s how the majority of poker is played nowadays.

Online poker has taken off enormously since its initial launch in 1998. In 2024, the global online poker market was valued at an incredible $102.8 billion, and it’s expected to roughly triple in value by 2030.

But how exactly does it differ from live poker? Which is easier to play? And, most importantly of all, which will make you the most money?

In this article, we’ll take you through everything you need to know in order to decide between online and live poker - and we’ll even throw in an alternative suggestion for making money from betting online.

Key Differences Between Online And Live Poker

Although the essence of the game is (for the most part) the same, there are a surprisingly large number of differences between online and live poker. Some of the most significant, and with the greatest impact on the game, are below.

Physical reads

Even people who’ve never played a game of poker will probably be aware of the importance of reading your opponents when playing live.

The concept of ‘bluffing’ in its modern, general sense - to deceive an opponent through confident behaviour - actually derives from poker, and this aspect of poker has been heavily featured in popular culture.

You can of course bet high online even with a poor hand, but you won’t be able to back up your actions with a bold attitude, meaning that a hugely significant aspect of the live game is missing altogether.

Online players must therefore look for other, non-physical tells from their opponents, and many are extremely good at this. Even so, there’s no denying that the inability to physically read your opponent makes a dramatic difference to strategy and gameplay for online poker.

Stake size

Another very obvious difference is the typical size of stakes - which is far higher in live poker than online. The reason for this is pretty obvious; a casino makes most of its money from poker from the rake, a percentage cut of the initial pot.

From a casino’s point of view, there’s little profit to be made from hosting games with very low stakes. Physical casinos have significant overheads, including the physical building they’re in and staff, which don’t exist for online providers.

They therefore set minimum stake sizes at around £1 or £2 - which doesn’t sound like much, but is several times higher than the minimums of often only a few pence (or entirely free games) at online poker sites.

This naturally means that you can potentially win more from a single game of live poker, but that you risk losing more as well.

Pace of play

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that live poker is much slower-paced than its online equivalent.

A live dealer takes time to shuffle and deal cards, collect chips and distribute winnings, whereas it only takes a moment for poker software to do the same, even if it does play a visualisation of the process.

The fact that you’ve got people physically in a room together also means that they’re going to interact, and especially in fairly low stakes games they’re probably going to chat and generally enjoy themselves, rather than being solely focused on play.

This is compounded by the fact that online poker makes it possible to be at multiple tables playing multiple hands at once, meaning that you can play through hundreds of hands in an hour, as opposed to just 30 or 40 in a live game.

Multiway pots

The nature of online and live poker results in differences of behaviour on the part of players.

When playing online, players are far more inclined to fold if they get a bad hand and move on to another table, especially as they’re probably playing multiple tables at once.

But when a player is physically sitting at a table, they can’t simply walk off if they decide not to play a hand. This means they’re far more likely to play a marginal hand just for the sake of being involved in the game.

This means that multiway pots (where three or more players are involved) are far more common in live poker, which can make your gameplay strategy both more complex and more challenging.

The importance of your own image

The corollary to being able to read other players’ physical behaviour in live poker is that you also need to consider your own, which isn’t the case with online poker.

In a live poker game, you’ll spend a considerable amount of time in the company of your opponents, which gives them as much opportunity to read you as the other way around.

It’s wise to consciously build an image of yourself, perhaps as a cautious player, or as a big bluffer, and then use it to your advantage by doing something they won’t expect.

Well utilised, establishing a persona before acting contrary to it at crucial moments can result in a very successful game.

The size of rake

As much as players like to complain about the size of the rake in online poker, it’s almost always significantly lower than in live poker.

This is for the same reason as the difference in stake size; a casino has to make a profit somehow! Live casinos are expensive to run, as we’ve already established, and so they need to take a larger cut of the pot in order to keep the lights on and the tables staffed.

Flexibility

One of the major benefits of online poker is that it works around your schedule. No matter what time you prefer to play, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a table that suits you somewhere online.

The same can’t be said of live poker. Live casinos run their schedules according to traffic, meaning that most games will be available in the afternoon and evening, and at weekends.

Live poker will often run very late, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and while this can be good fun with a great atmosphere, it’s not going to suit everybody.

So for the greatest flexibility and freedom, online poker is always going to be the better choice.

Is Online Poker Easier Than Live Poker?

It’s generally agreed that live poker is ‘softer’ than online poker - i.e. that the calibre of your opponents in live poker is likely to be lower.

It’s important to be aware, though, that when people say live poker is softer, they mean that the game is likely to be less competitive at equivalent stakes.

Because live poker stakes start at a much higher level, players with less experience will have no choice but to play at those stakes when playing in person.

Online, though, minimum stakes are comparatively tiny. So if you enter games with the size of stake you’re likely to find in live poker, you’ll probably encounter much more experienced players.

In that sense, therefore, live poker is indeed easier when you compare like for like games according to stake size.

On the other hand, accessibility is an important consideration. Online poker gives new players the opportunity to play at very low stakes, meaning that they can start to learn the game without much risk.

Online poker sites also tend to offer much more in the way of educational content, so it can be much easier to get to grips with the game through online poker than in person.

And of course, there’s also the fact that online poker allows you to play without having to set foot outside your home, or even having to get out of bed.

So just because live poker is ‘softer’, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best place for newbies to start.

Can You Make More Money From Online Or Live Poker?

This is an interesting question, which is more complex than it might first appear.

Experienced poker players are likely to win more frequently in live poker, due to live poker games generally being ‘softer’ than online.

You’d think that winning more frequently would automatically mean making more money, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Because you can play so many more hands per hour in online poker, you can have a lower overall win rate while still making more money per hour.

Of course, this does rely on winning more than you lose overall - which means you need to be a pretty skilled, experienced player regardless of whether you play online or live.

Is Online Poker Fixed?

One of the most common concerns of online gamblers, whether of poker or any other casino game, is that the game is rigged against them.

People have more confidence in a live poker game, where they can see someone shuffling and dealing the cards, and often feel distrustful of the technology that powers online poker.

But in truth, online poker isn’t any more likely to be fixed than live poker. While there is theoretical scope for your fellow players to attempt to cheat by collusion, or even for a member of staff to facilitate cheating, this is perfectly possible with live poker as well.

Players are often most suspicious of the software that uses random number generators to deal cards, sometimes blaming a run of poor hands on the software deliberately working against them.

But realistically, software is far less likely to be biased or to fail to deal fairly than a human dealer, no matter how skilled.

In short, if you get a run of bad luck in online poker, you can be pretty confident it’s nothing more sinister than that.

Can You Make Money Through Betting Without The Risk?

If you’re not already an experienced poker player, and you’d like to make some money through betting without the risk, it’s worth considering Matched Betting.

Matched Betting is the strategy of betting both for and against the same outcome, via sports betting rather than casino. So for example, you might bet both that Manchester United win a match, and also that they don’t win a match.

When you combine this technique with the many promotions bookies offer to lure in customers, you can end up making a guaranteed profit (so long as you follow the instructions correctly).

For example, you might see an offer where you have to place a £10 bet (known as a qualifying bet) to receive a £10 free bet. If you match both bets, you can roughly break even on the first bet, and then use your free bet to make a guaranteed profit (so long as you do it correctly).

Profits tend to be steady and more modest than high stakes poker, but you can make £300 - £1000 a month from Matched Betting if you invest your time in it consistently and regularly.

While you probably won’t ever win a life-changing amount of money in one go, you can substantially boost your income, which can make a huge difference to your life.

Outplayed members regularly tell us about the holidays or cars they’ve been able to purchase thanks to their Matched Betting income - sometimes even houses!

So if you’re uncertain about the risks of a game like poker, Matched Betting is an excellent alternative! To find out more, check out our full guide for beginners.

Summary

For two activities based on essentially identical games, online and live poker have a lot of differences.

If you’re relatively new to poker, you might be tempted to start playing live rather than online, due to live poker’s reputation for being softer.

But online poker has the advantage of allowing you to play at lower stakes, or even completely free, which minimises your risk while you’re still learning.

You’ll also find a lot of educational resources on online poker sites that’ll help you get to grips with the game, and you won’t face any limits as to when or where you play.

So although online poker can be more competitive, especially at higher stakes, it can still be a great place to start for a beginner.

Or as an alternative, if you’d like to make money online without the risks of casino games like poker, you can try your hand at Matched Betting!

The Outplayed free trial takes you step by step through everything you need to know, and gives you access to offers worth over £850 of profit - a great incentive to try Matched Betting today.