Conventional poker rooms are generally expensive to start and maintain. It is difficult to profit from it and most of the places end up replacing them by slot machines. That is why online poker has monopolized the poker industry. Online poker has changed the face of conventional poker.
 
Online poker has become very famous over the past few years. It has redefined the way poker has been played. Although poker has been played for almost 200 years online poker has come up only recently. Before online poker came about there were only online gambling sites and online casinos. Though it was started in 1998 it became famous only in 2002. Planet Poker was the first online poker room. The second online poker room was started in 1999. It boosted the whole idea of online poker with its exceptional software and advertising. Soon after this, Poker Spot was opened in 2000. It was the first to offer online tournaments. But being incapable of collecting deposits from players it was eventually closed.  Soon other poker rooms like Poker Stars, Party Poker and Ultimate Bet came up. Poker Paradise dominated the field till 2003 when Party Poker launched a very successful campaign. Paradise Poker was then acquired for $297.5 million by Sportingbet in 2004.  Right now there are about forty card rooms. The most famous and successful of all is probably Full Tilt Poker with about top ten of the winning players.
 
Online poker has been made legal in several countries like the United Kingdom. In the United States a bill was passed in 2005 legalising online poker. But this was quashed by the Department of Justice. Later in 2006, a law was signed making internet gambling illegal. This affected the United States operations of several popular online poker sites. Finally in 2008, an Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act was introduced.
 
There are lot of differences between conventional poker and online poker. In online poker shuffling, dealing and counting takes place very fast, thereby preventing any delay. As there is no direct contact between the players they will not be able to observe the body language of the others which can be both an advantage and disadvantage. There is also no additional cost relating to tipping, food and beverages making it relatively cheaper than conventional poker.
 
Basically there are four ways through which the online poker rooms make their profit. The first way is through a rake which is essentially a percentage of the pot. Sometimes an entry fee is collected. Thirdly, some poker sites let the players play against them. In such cases the poker house makes sure it has an upper hand in the bets thus making a profit for itself. Lastly, almost all the poker sites invest the money deposited by the players. All this put together ensures that they make an enormous profit.
 
Today there are several online poker rooms coming up but Pokerstars continues to dominate the industry. The number of new players continues to increase every month. It is also considered as a great way to hone your poker skills.