The last few years have seen a massive increase in the popularity of poker, you can't turn on the television without seeing poker being played these days. There was a time not that long ago that poker was considered a game for hardcore gamblers and played in seedy casinos or illegal backroom games. Nowadays everybody plays poker, from college students to grandmothers poker has enjoyed a huge renaissance.
The reason isn't hard to understand, it's the only casino game in which you actually have a chance of winning. Other casino games are based on pure chance, and the odds always favour the house, if you play long enough you will lose. That isn't the case with poker, there is skill involved and good player can win consistently more than he loses. The increased popularity of poker has also resulted in a huge flood of online poker sites like Full Tilt Poker. These sites are perfect for beginners who are just learning how to play.
The primary reason why people often prefer to use an online poker site like Full Tilt Poker is that they simply don't have easy access to a casino. Many communities don't have casinos in them and the ones that do are often located outside of town and aren't really easy to get to. Most casinos are vacation destinations, not the sort of place that you go for a couple of hours after work. The massive popularity of poker has resulted in a huge demand for games and in the absence of easily available casinos online poker has stepped in to fill the gap.
Even if you do live near a casino not everybody likes to use them to play poker. There is a lot of wasted time in getting to the casino and then invariably there is a waiting list before you can get into a game. There is also the simple fact that a lot of people are not comfortable being in a casino. Casinos are loud, there are a lot of distractions and many people feel intimidated by the other players. Playing online at Full Tilt Poker removes most of these problems, you can play from the comfort of your own home, with no waiting and no distractions.
Perhaps the biggest problem with casinos is that they don't let you play with pretend money while you are learning to play. In order to learn how to play poker in a casino you have to gamble real money, and suffer real losses. This is an expensive way to learn how to play poker. With the huge increase in the popularity of poker in the last few years there has been a huge demand for places to learn to play that won't result in losing your shirt in the process. Websites like Full Tilt Poker have started offering free games with play money so that people can learn how to play before they start risking real cash.