Playing online poker is one of the biggest pastimes for people worldwide, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. People no longer visit their local brick-and-mortar casinos. Instead, they come home from a long day of work, sit on their PC or mobile, and load up a game of poker on their chosen site.
Since online poker is becoming more popular each day, providers and casinos are starting to update their technology for the ultimate gameplay. There are some innovative advancements that have been made in the past few years, and it has changed online poker as we know it. We will go into four of these top advancements so you can discover how online poker is set up.
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The emergence of poker sites
Online poker has been around for as long as some people can remember. The first online poker game was made available as early as 1998, and you could start winning real money. However, the US criminalized online poker in 2010. Therefore, only five states allow you to play the game on online casinos: Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan.
If you want to play online poker in any of these regions, there are some of the best poker sites for US players reviewed on Top 10 Poker Sites. BetOnline and Ignition are the best overall online poker sites which are known for their around-the-board quality gaming and customer service. If you’re a pro poker player and want to get involved in some high-stakes games, you may want to try Americas Cardroom. And for the best free poker games, Slots.lv is the one for you.
Since these sites were launched, they’ve only grown with their technology. Here are some of the most innovative advancements behind online poker at the moment:
Virtual reality
If you like the thrill of playing poker with people in real life but don’t want to leave the comfort of your own home, then you’re in luck. Online casinos have introduced an aspect of virtual reality into their table games, and this includes online poker. Video poker provides players with the face-to-face interaction they crave while having fun competing in tournaments.
The technology that provides people with these sorts of games offers a more realistic gaming environment. You may be sitting in your living room, but you’ll feel like you’re sitting on a stool around the poker table. You can easily interact with players in real-time using HD streaming cameras and fast chatrooms.
Before, everything was automated, and it was hard to tell when other players were bluffing without the use of cameras. This online gaming advancement has changed how we play poker, and it will continue to become more realistic as more changes are made and new programming languages are being introduced
Poker trackers
Have you ever played online poker and wondered why you keep losing? It can be difficult to figure out what you’ve been doing wrong, especially when you want to get on a winning streak like the other players. Luckily, poker tracking software has been developed where it provides you with player analytics. You can browse through your playing history, table style reports, and play-win ratio, which can help you identify your weak points and try and improve on them.
Poker trackers also offer a heads-up display, which is real-time information about your opponents that can help with your gaming strategy. You’ll be able to see how often they play poker games and how aggressive they are with their hands. With this sort of insight into how your opponents play, you are giving yourself an advantage and can increase your chances of winning the next session and taking home some money.
Odds calculators
There is no magic recipe to winning online poker, as it is a game of chance most of the time. However, you can increase your chances of winning with a strategy that includes a large amount of analysis and calculation. However, this is difficult for people to do, especially when they are first starting out or don’t have the mathematical skills to figure out the right formulas. That’s when an odds calculator comes in useful and can assist in developing your strategy for your next games.
An odds calculator is a tool you can download when playing poker to help figure out your chances of winning or losing a hand. You just have to let them know the hand you have, and you can make an informed decision on your next move that way. These calculators are completely free and have transformed how many people play online poker.
Customer support
No longer are the days when you had to send an email to customer support and wait for a response in a few days or even a week. When you have an issue during an online poker game, you want it resolved immediately. Therefore, many online poker sites have updated their customer support systems so you can get a solution as quickly as possible.
If a problem arises during your tournament, you can get a helping hand straight away by starting a chat with a customer support representative on their online chat. This will depend on the site you are using, but they are mostly available 24/7. Most of the time, you will start by talking to a bot who can help with simple tasks, and then they will put you through to a helpful member of staff for the more complicated issues.
Final thoughts
While the future of online poker is unknown, there are most likely going to be even more advancements in the future. Technology is constantly changing, and online casinos are looking or ways to improve the gaming experience for their players. You can check out some of these innovative solutions by heading to a casino of your choice and playing a game of online poker with more ease than ever before.