Online Poker is the game of poker played over the Internet and has been responsible for a huge increase in poker players around the world. It can be played from a PC or a laptop and can be free to play or for the smallest stakes possible (literally pennies). Players can also win satellite entries into the most amazing live poker tournaments in the world.
In the online poker world there are countless websites that offer poker to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. Some sites are standalone poker rooms but the majority of the online poker world is run through a number of major networks. These poker networks offer a range of services including software, customer support and security. The majority of poker players will play at multiple online poker sites and many of them will also use a variety of different types of poker client software.
The most involved online poker players tended to spend more time and money at the poker tables than less involved players, but they also spent much less time away from the game. This pattern of behavior is consistent with findings from the gambling literature and may reflect a trade-off between the time invested in poker and the benefits obtained from doing so.
Almost two-thirds of the online poker players in this study did not withdraw funds from their account, and these results are consistent with findings from other studies. This suggests that players have a strong incentive to leave their winnings in their accounts, and this tendency is likely augmented by the perception that a growing account balance is a source of pride or part of their poker identity.