Year Of The Online Poker Generation

The 2010 World Series of Poker is in full swing and already a number of players who cut their teeth by learning how to play poker online have had some deep finishes. Could the 2010 be the year the online generation dominates the WSOP?

At least three players who have already won bracelets would come under the umbrella of being an online player. Although British pro Praz Bansi, winner of a $1,500 no-limit Hold’em event, now plays predominately live poker, he first started to play poker online before the lure of big money live tournaments became too much.

Simon Watt, a New Zealand based player stated that he mainly plays online and that the experience gained from playing a large number of hands helped him win another of the $1,500 no-limit Hold’em events, a tournament where he had to defeat the iconic online poker star Tom “durrrr” Dwan heads-up in order to win his first WSOP bracelet.

Another British pro who has won a bracelet this year, James “Flushy” Dempsey, said in his final table bio that he prefers to play pot-limit Omaha cash games online and that the majority of his income stems from playing online poker from the comfort of his own home.

There is an age old debate that is still raging where the online poker players say they are better than their live counterparts and vice versa. Whilst the live players have the advantage over physical tells and reads, the online players are much more used to navigating huge fields in tournaments and thanks to the ability to play multiple tables simultaneously, many of the big name online players have played many more hands and tournaments in just a couple of years grinding than some of the big live players have in their entire careers.

With the likes of Paul Foltyn, Chris “Moorman1” Moorman, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, David “Bakes” Baker and David “Doc Sands” Sands all taking part in numerous events at this year’s World Series of Poker, it would not surprise me if online poker players do far better than the live players by the time the entire 57 events have been completed.