One phenomenon that has emerged with the dawn of the computer age is “online poker,” by which quality poker (More about the author) enthusiasts can play poker games over the internet for fun or real money. Online poker is now so big that in accordance with Christiansen Capital Advisor, worldwide online poker revenue jumped from $365 million in 2003, to more than $1 billion in 2004. In December 2003, revenues were estimated at $34 million a month. And also by March 2005, approximately 100,000 people were playing for real money at the various pokers rooms at peak times.

There are lots of factors that contribute to this extraordinary upsurge in the online poker industry. For one, online poker rooms tend to be cheaper than casinos since they have very little overhead cost in comparison to conventional casinos, and they are more player friendly. By way of example, the introduction of freerolls (where there is no entry fee) attracts a whole lot of novice players.

Many large online poker sites also offer certain attractions, including admission to real life poker tournaments for online winners. Other features such as “collusion detection” abilities also enable sites to detect certain frauds, that are not accessible in conventional casinos. This better security attracts more players.

Another factor is the ability to conveniently track detailed statistics of your play in online poker, made available by “”Hand Histories”” text files, which track every action both you as well as your opponents made during each hand. This is not possible in conventional casinos in which you could have to take time-consuming notes after each hand. Combined with these factors, many online poker software programs are user friendly and are often automated as outlined by specific needs and actions, for example prompting when it’s a player’s turn.