In Browser Poker
For many poker players, downloading and installing a large poker client is inconvenient, and in some cases impossible. Many poker sites have addressed this problem by launching an in-browser version of their poker clients, which can be launched with just a couple of clicks. Most in-browser poker games will be compatible with all of the major browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari.
Advantages of In Browser Poker
Playing Poker at School or Work: The in-browser poker option is useful for a wide range of situations. If you’re stuck in school or work and want to play a few hands, you’ll often be prevented from downloading and installing new programs on work or university PCs, but as long as you can visit the website of your favourite poker room, you’ll be able to play as all of the action takes place inside a regular browser window.
If you want to play on a school or work network and most poker websites are banned, you can still get around this by using re-routing software to access the webpage, such as www.hidemyass.com, or you can sign up to a virtual private network (VPN), which is a service that allows you to circumvent the firewalls which most institutions use for a small monthly fee.
Playing Poker on a Slow Connection: If you’re on a slow connection where downloading the client would take a long time, playing in browser is a great solution. Once you have the game up and running, even a slow connection will usually be more than enough to transfer the data to and from the poker room. Online poker uses far less data than most people think it would, with each table on using about 100 kB/hour.
Playing Poker on iPhone and iPad: In-browser play is also very handy for people who want to play poker on iPad or iPhone For the most part, gambling apps are banned from Apple’s App Store, but again because there is no need to download anything, you’ll be able to play right in the Safari browser. One thing to be aware of if you want to play on iPad is that Flash based in-browser poker applications won’t work. You’ll need something which operates using a non-Flash platform; for iPad players we recommend Switch Poker.
Playing Poker in Internet Cafes: Playing in browser poker is a good option if you’ve got some time to kill at an internet cafe. Instead of wasting time downloading and installing the client, it’s much quicker to just open up a table in the internet browser. In fact, some internet cafes place restrictions on the downloading of executable files to their PCs. Be extremely careful when playing poker in an internet cafe however. If you have any doubts about the security on the PCs or their maintenance you should err on the side of caution, and you should never play on an account where you have a lot of money in an internet cafe. Also, if you are playing a few hands, don’t forget to log out of your account when you’re finished!
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Disadvantages of In-Browser Poker
Playing poker in your internet browser does come with a few disadvantages and these disadvantages mean that using the client is always a better long term option if possible.
Graphics: Typically because the data transfer is a little slower through an internet browser, the poker sites will offer a scaled down version of their graphics for the in-browser versions. Many of the animations and other features will be disabled meaning that the whole appearance is not as smooth as the client version. As well as this, many of the lobby filters and advanced customisation options will not be available.
Multi-tabling: Multi-tabling is typically much more difficult when using the instant-play option. Each table opens in a new browser window and keeping track of the action becomes very difficult. You generally won’t have the option to tile of cascade the tables and usually they won’t be re-sizeable.
Tracking Software: Another point is that you won’t be able to use tracking software packages like Poker Tracker or Holdem Manager nor will you be able to save hand histories to your hard to drive to add to your database later on.
