Poker Room Player Activity

The thing to watch for when you are trying to determine the best place to play online poker is the number of registered and active players.  The number of patrons is important for a number of reasons, and this article will touch upon the most important reasons.

Finding a Table:
Only a few players are needed to being a game of poker, but since online poker rooms offer a fairly wide variety of game options, players will tend to spread out according to their interests.  This is in contrast to what is typical of real life casinos.  Some of the game options may provide less of a draw to large numbers of players, and so it is important that there are enough players online to give players a chance to take advantage of the variety offered.

Obviously, if you want to play at a table with a decent number of opponents it is necessary that there actually be enough players to play with you.  High limits games, and those that are no as popular as Texas Hold ‘Em (for example) draw less players. If these are your interests, then you need to look to see that there are active players with similar interests.

Playing ‘Other’ Games:
Globally, at this time the most popular form of poker is Texas Hold’em.  This is especially true in the world of online gaming.  If you do not prefer to play Texas Hold ‘Em, but rather you prefer Omaha - then you will have a more difficult time finding the right place to play.  If you are interested in the more unique offerings such as maybe Razz, you will find it even more challenging to find opponents at most sites.

Considering this information, you can see why indeed it matters that there are enough players in an online poker room with the same tastes.

Tournaments:
Sit and go tournaments, where the tournament begins once the table is filled, are a popular form of poker tournament play.  If you enjoy this - then you prefer to not have to wait for a seat to become available.  Busy rooms mean busy tables that fill in a few minutes, but they also mean constantly added new tournaments.  Smaller rooms may have less tables, and may lead to waiting times before you can get in to a tournament.

As mentioned above, the variety of game you want to play will also affect tournament waiting times. You may also find it true when you want to play in a high stakes tournament..

If you prefer larger tournaments will big prize pools, the number of players active matters even more so.  You want to participate, not just to sit and wait for a seat to open up for you.  And you certainly don’t want to waste your time with tournaments that have lower prize pools because the ideal number of players weren’t present to contribute to the pot.

Recognition:
If your play technique and strategy are commonly used - then perhaps you are best off playing in a poker room that draws large crowds.  This is because experts will be able to identify your strategy and to successfully counter your actions.  When you are a small fish in a big pond in terms of poker, this type of play leads you to more wins than if everyone knows your style.  It really depends though - because in situations like no-limit aggressive poker you will need to have a reputation among other players. The decision about how many active players you seek in a poker room really is individual, so choose carefully to ensure the best advantage to your style of playing.

Our overall recommendation is that you seek an online poker room which is popular - and additionally where the number of active players is relatively high. This will most likely give you more of an advantage in the long-run.