Online poker takes the traditional game of poker and cranks it up to an entirely new level. Players can now play poker on their computers, tablets and phones, anywhere in the world at any time of day. It’s not just about playing for money either, you can also play for free in tournaments or compete against other players for a satellite entry into some of the biggest live poker tournaments in the world.
Signing up for an account is relatively simple, just fill out your name, address, email and password and you’ll be ready to start playing immediately. Then it’s just a case of selecting a deposit method and you’re ready to go. There are a number of different deposit methods available including credit cards, debit cards, pre-paid cards and bank transfers. Once you’ve deposited your funds you can select which games you want to play and even change tables and stakes whenever you like.
There are plenty of different poker games to choose from on a good online poker site with No-Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo all on offer along with other variations such as Stud and 32-card draw. The large player pool available means you’ll always find a game to play and there are plenty of chances to win big.
Another great benefit of online poker is that it’s not just about the big names in the game, some of the smaller regional sites can be surprisingly fun too and often have much tighter communities. There are also some excellent poker software programs that can help you improve your game, such as PokerSnowie which uses a GTO (game theory optimal) approach to analyse your results and make recommendations for areas where you need to work on. PokerCopilot is another popular HUD program that works with most of the major online poker sites and can help you make the best decisions at the table.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when you’re playing online poker is that it plays at a much faster pace than live poker. While this might be a benefit for some players, others find it distracting and can lead to a lot of bad beats. Thankfully there are ways to mitigate this by focusing on your bankroll management and playing in short handed games only when you’re comfortable.
The speed of online poker also means that you’ll see a lot more hands in an hour than you would in a live game. This can also artificially exaggerate the effect of variance. The fact that you’re playing so many hands in a short period of time also affects your average winnings and losses.
The biggest benefit of online poker though is that you can play with players from all over the world at any time of day. This makes it a great choice for those who have busy lives and can’t commit to sitting down at a real poker table every night.