The popularity of online poker has grown dramatically in recent years. There are now more than 100 regulated poker sites in the US, offering real money play to players from all over the world. Online poker sites compete for player traffic by providing a wide range of promotions and bonuses to lure new customers.
While there is no doubt that skill can overcome random chance in poker, the game has a tendency to be much more volatile online than it is live. This is because the faster pace of play online artificially increases what is known as “variance”, meaning that short term gains and losses tend to be bigger than in the long run.
Various software applications are available to assist with online poker play. These include hand database programs that save, sort and recall all your online hands. Some even scan active tables for known players and display previous statistics from past hands with them next to their name (a heads up display or HUD). Other programs help with game analysis by calculating odds, equity and variance.
Rogue employees and players have made headlines in the past with cheating scandals, but this type of behavior is nearly impossible when playing at licensed and regulated sites. Many of these sites employ a variety of security measures to protect their customers, including digital device fingerprinting and the use of reputable third party auditors such as eCOGRA.