Playing bridge online v/s live

I am in that mood today where I just want to kill the internet, Bridge Base Online - to be precise, because it has killed live bridge. You know, I want to give it a death sentence for killing something else. I know so many players who were good at bridge, but then they started playing online, and it killed their game. This holds particularly for my regular online bridge partner

Lets just consider two situations, first, you are in a live-in with your girl and second, your girl lives a thousand miles away and you regularly video chat with her. Needless to say, the former is like playing live, where you can actually touch the cards. The latter is the equivalent of playing online. To say the obvious, everyone will like to be in the first situation. If you are stuck in the second situation for long, that is if you play online without playing live, you'll end up breaking up with bridge. Such (long-distance) relationships don't last.

Besides, I've noticed that I actually play better when I'm playing live. The best of your skills come out when you are playing live. An example from last week, I used the opponents carding agreement to make an overtrick which wasn't available otherwise. This sound a bit naive to some of the experts around, but this was the first time I used opps' carding to achieve something. I am too casual when I am playing online, and I never did that, ever, when playing online

I was in the same situation some time back. I hadn't played live bridge for two years, and had really started losing interest in it. Thankfully, the love wasn't lost completely and I've started playing at club level on weekends. I'll also take every chance to play zonals/nationals, whatever they call it, whenever possible.

My love is back into my life!

Why you shouldn't play online poker

Let me just begin by saying that I am totally in favour of playing poker with friends. It’s a wonderful way of passing time in nightouts after you are out of college. Frankly, I don't see a better way of passing time than that, unless, of course, if you have a chick with you.

Details aside, I may also add that I have made enough profit in poker, friendly or online. That is, I am not writing this because I've lost while playing. The reasons I have against online poker are purely strategic and analytical.
 
So lets get to the point!

1) The fees which online casinos charge: "Rake" as it is called, is at around 5%. So, if you are an average player, you will make a loss of 5% in the long run. Do you really want that? Compare it with the stock market, which many insane people believe is like legalized gambling. If you an average player there, that is just invest in an ETF, you make a return of 13-15% (this is a 100-year average, which, by any definition, is a long run), adjusted for fees, for every unit invested. So, unless you are a very good professional player, which you aren't because you are reading this, you shouldn't play online!

2) You can't read faces: This takes a lot of fun out of the picture. Imagine yourself bluffing by seeing the player's face only, without caring a damn about your cards!
Also, lack of face-reading takes away a major area of improvement. A typical poker pro has an immaculate sense of face reading, which he takes advantage of. You must have seen how Negreanu sometimes tells the two personal cards of an opponent perfectly.

Hand Read!

3) Addiction: That's simple, you will be addicted to it, because you have it with you all the time. I can suggest one way to get rid of this addiction, change your Internet service provider to bsnl, and you will not (be able to) play again.

4) Complicated Legalities: The Terms & Conditions are way too complicated, especially the ones relating to getting Bonuses. And the worst part, the player has no power or authority to turn to in the event of a dispute.