Chris McClung, the Canadian online poker player who has been making headlines lately, was asked about his opinions on live poker tournaments versus playing online poker. He had some interesting answers and comparisons between the two varieties of the game.

According to McClung, live poker games are “so much easier” than playing poker online. His reasons are numerous. First, he says, the speed and number of tables a grinder plays with online poker are excellent ways to improve one’s ability to make decisions quickly and process a lot of different bits of information at the same time. Second, says McClung, the sheer quantity of hours online poker players put into the game gives them a significant edge over live poker players who don’t have the same number of tournaments available in the real world where things are so much slower paced. Finally, when it comes to playing in a live poker game face-to-face with competitors, there is a whole lot more information available for analysis – facial expressions, body language, and much more – that it’s easier to make decisions with increased input.

McClung expressed love for both types of poker, however; he claims to play whatever type of game is available at the moment depending on his mood, preferring not to commit to one type of poker over the other. When pressed, he replied that he would play “whatever comes,” and that it all depends on “how I feel.”

Whether or not online poker players ever hope or want to play in live tournaments, it is still refreshing to hear from those who play in both worlds that online poker players often can have an edge.