Does playing online remove the physiological edge? 💭

[Shadow6969]

Do you think online poker removes the psychological edge?

 

[austral]

In online poker, aspects such as patience, discipline, reading betting patterns, and emotional control without physical cues tend to prevail.
In live poker, interpersonal psychology is used (reading tells and table presence).
I believe that combining skills from both worlds is necessary to maximize performance.

 

[Kasztor007]

I don’t think online poker removes the psychological edge, it just transforms it.
In cash games, you have to mentally reset after every single hand.
The real edge is focus, discipline, and the ability to maintain decision quality over time.

 

[s0ftdumps]

I think online poker adds a physiological edge. allowing you to not be limited by one table!

 

[GarotoMaroto]

I have no idea XD
Live poker is probably easier
God bless

 

[schtiuky]

it sure influence it

 

[dompoker]

I think it's the same, because I've run into some online players, who increase the stakes and then they increase, they make you withdraw psychologically, some of them show their cards and they don't have a good hand.

 

[Roller]

Live poker favors human-reading skills.
Online poker favors pattern recognition and emotional control.

The psychological edge isn’t gone—it’s just less theatrical and more mathematical.

 

[SPANKYSN]

Do you think online poker removes the psychological edge?

Getting a read on opponents online is more difficult, but not impossible. Speed of decision making, betting patterns still give clues.

 

[Goggelheimer]

Online poker definitely changes the psychological landscape, but it doesn’t erase the psychological edge — it just transforms it.
Research shows that while players lose access to physical tells, they gain new ways to read opponents through betting patterns, timing, and emotional swings like “tilt”.
Studies on online gambling also highlight that self‑control, stress, and impulsivity still strongly influence decision‑making, even without face‑to‑face interaction.
In other words, psychology remains a major factor — it simply shifts from body language to behavioral data.
So the psychological edge is still there, just expressed differently.
But to people who know about this it is very easy to change these online tells to their advantage.
Online you don't need scarfs, sunglasses, hoodies, face masks, botox injections (to hide facial micro movements) to mask physical tells that are also founded in psychlogical reactions of human bodies.

Sources: MDPI, Springer, University of Bristol Research Portal, IRep - Nottingham Trent University, Wiley Online Library

 

[Leandro6803]

There are certainly differences between online and live poker, especially in reading your opponent. In live poker, the reading is more rudimentary, relying on expressions and gestures, while online poker is aided by software and player statistics such as VPIP, open raise, and hand frequency.

 

[flattershay]

There's some tells in online poker that you can exploit. Like bet-sizes, how fast the players act and etc. It just different from live poker.

 

[Ruslan L]

Most likely, yes. But online poker is a very dynamic game, and you have to be active enough to achieve acceptable results. Playing at one table is definitely not what you need

 

[machinm19]

I still find online poker to be a psychological game, all depends on the opponents I guess.

Obviously it’s a lot easier to play the game online but it’s still tough and good players are able to play mind games regardless of where they play poker.

 

[moraeskvmi]

It can eliminate body language and facial expressions, but it doesn't eliminate betting patterns and decision-making time of opponents.

 

[Fosterbio]

I don't think it eliminates it completely, because online poker has its own tells, just like offline poker. You need to be able to get rid of your own tells and look for tells in your opponents.

 

[tuitui]

It certainly is more about mathematical probabilities and thinking about ranges. Psychological aspect does not dissappear totally, it kind of changes form.
But I have to say I many times wonder if the things I'm observing on opponents online are real or just result of my imagination. Usually I create some kind of image about them according to their avatar picture and nick and I know with that I probably go very wrong at least.

 

[csabika94]

online only mathematics remains and sometimes intuition

 

[dreamer13]

Brain chemistry is both fascinating and dangerous. For example, alcoholism is dangerous largely not because you're drinking poison, but because that poison promotes the production of other substances in your head that can significantly impact your quality of life in the present moment. I used alcohol as an example, but poker is also comparable, as are other chemical and non-chemical substances that can affect the psyche and your brain as a whole.After all, for some people, poker is a rest, and without rest it will be bad.

 

[Mantinhoo]

Online poker removes physical tells, but it doesn’t remove the psychological edge.
It shifts it inward: mental discipline, tilt control, focus, and pattern recognition matter even more.

 

[black and]

Obviously, playing at home in familiar surroundings is more comfortable than playing live. But at the same time, we must understand that online gaming and live gaming are different games. Which option you choose for yourself depends on your capabilities.

 

[Wallaf11]

Do you think online poker removes the psychological edge?

In online poker, aspects such as patience, discipline, reading betting patterns, and emotional control without physical cues tend to prevail.
In live poker, interpersonal psychology is used (reading tells and table presence).
I believe that combining skills from both worlds is necessary to maximize performance.

 

[Stringy]

i think online just has a different physioloical battle than live

 

[martinoni]

I Think depends. Online can be better in this point but can be worse in a bad tilting day

 

[Baco]

I don’t think it removes the psychological edge, it just changes it. Online poker replaces physical tells with other factors like timing, bet sizing patterns, discipline, emotional control, and long-term decision making.

Mental game, tilt control, focus, and patience are still huge edges online — they’re just expressed differently than in live poker.