It won't take you long to notice that poker on the internet is:
Internet poker is much, much faster than real-life poker. If you are playing a standard game of online poker you get about 30 seconds to make a decision before you are timed out and your hand is automatically checked or folded. However, decisions are often made instantly - sometimes by using auto-bet buttons - and it means you'll be seeing up to 60 hands an hour. Play in the real world, where you have to shuffle, cut, deal and move and stack your chips, and you won't play anywhere near this number, even if you have a professional dealer.
Because online poker is faster and you get less time to make your decision, it is much looser. Add to the equation the fact that a lot of people play multiple tables simultaneous, or play while watching TV, and you can get an extremely loose game of poker with players playing hands they wouldn't touch if they were in a casino.
There are pros and cons to this. The good news is that a loose game is rarely boring. There is plenty of action and plenty of dead money to take. On the other hand you are going to have to put up with more bad beats and accept that you are going to get called - and possibly beaten - by any number of weird starting hands.
Games are available whenever you want them, and you can play for as little or as long as you want, which sounds brilliant. And it is, if you play responsibly. But get on a losing streak and it is easy to fall in to the trap of chasing hands and losing more chips. If you feel you are hitting a cold run of cards online, then get out for a day or two before going back. Don't make the mistake of playing bad poker just because it is there.
As in the real world, Texas Hold'em rules the online roost - over 80% of online poker at the last count - but if you are a fan of Seven-card Stud or Omaha, you can find a game on all the big online sites. More specialist games such as Five-card Draw and Triple Draw are available, but you have to hunt around to find them.
The main choice is between play and real money tables, and between cash games and tournaments. Online cash games are the same as you'll in the real world, with varying limits from $0.25/$0.50 games up to dizzying $500/$1000 games where thousands of dollars can be won or lost in a single hand.