by Online poker is a great way to get a feel for the game from the comfort of your own home, and thousands of players have made it into a lucrative hobby, and some have even turned it into a professional job. Online poker players make hundreds of thousands of dollars in everything from freerolls to cash games and high roller tournaments, and the names of the most successful players are well known even outside the poker industry.
The first real money poker room started on January 1, 1998, with the prototype online poker client launched in 1995. Over the more than 20 years that poker has been available online, it has changed and updated significantly. Today’s poker rooms offer a myriad of unique games and formats, some of which are extremely difficult to implement in live contests.
There are numerous reasons to play poker online, ranging from the fact that it needs little effort and price to the fact that some game styles are only available on computers and would be impossible to implement in real life. But let’s not forget about the additional benefits of online poker.
The game is available for free. All you need is an internet-connected computer, tablet, or phone. Poker rooms are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is a fantastic approach to learning the rules. There is a wealth of beneficial information to be found on the internet. However, poker is the simplest to learn by doing. Especially since you can play poker for free online.
How to play online poker on real money
Almost all online poker venues include both free play and real money poker. You have an option. To play online poker for free allows you to gain expertise while learning the software and features of the poker client, which is identical to the one used when the game is played for money. In this manner, you may understand the rules of poker and play without danger.
You may easily top up your account every few hours (depending on the terms and conditions of the poker site). However, you should be aware that playing for ‘nickels’ will never win you any money. The conditional chips cannot be exchanged for actual money and are only for entertainment purposes.
Within the poker client, the game can be switched between playing for chips and playing for real money. This is normally done using a separate tab. Some poker venues have distinct free play applications and websites (you cannot switch to real money games there). You have the possibility to gain money by playing online poker for money, but you also face the danger of losing your ‘hard-earned’ money.
What are the common bonuses of poker online companies?
You can also start playing poker for money for free, without investing. There are several ways to do this:
- Get a no deposit bonus;
- Start with freerolls.
In the first situation, you receive money in the form of a sign-up bonus and can begin playing for real money right away. Typically, the number of such prizes are small – up to $10 – but it is a nice start. To take advantage of the no deposit bonus, you must first determine which poker rooms are giving one in 2022 and then select an acceptable one. This article contains a few current no deposit bonuses. They are available to all new gamers without exception. Many now-famous professionals were able to make thousands of dollars using sign-up incentives offered by poker websites at one point.
In the second case, you’ll have to earn poker from scratch. Freerolls are free tournaments where you can win real money. They are held for all players in the room as well as for specific categories of players, such as depositors or those registered from a particular site. There are also ticket tournaments and those that require freeroll passwords. These tend to have higher prize pools with only individual players being eligible to participate.
Starting to earn poker through freerolls is not an easy task. It requires patience and determination. However, when you consider that Chris Moorman started his poker career with freerolls – and he’s now racked up more than $15 million in online winnings – the motivation to try his hand at free tournaments goes up.
Is online poker for real money?
This is a question that many novice players ask, and it’s not at all difficult to answer, as “history knows examples”. There are now thousands of professional poker players around the world who have made it their career. Hundreds of them have gained worldwide popularity and made millions. And judging by their example, you don’t have to invest hundreds of dollars to make big money with poker.
Take Chris Manimaker, for example, whose success triggered a poker boom. In 2003, as a regular accountant, he won a satellite ticket to the WSOP Main Event. Before the tournament, he didn’t even have money for a trip to Las Vegas, but after winning it, he became a millionaire. There are many such stories.
And, even if we don’t consider million-dollar gains, there are plenty of other instances, as there are many plus-size regulars in online poker. Some of them are also fresh to the game.
So, to answer the question in a nutshell, yes, making money with poker is possible. Even in 2022, when there are already a lot of successful professionals online. The most important thing is to be familiar with the “fishing grounds.” However, this does not imply that you should consider poker as a means of producing money. It’s still an intriguing cerebral game that has the potential to become a fascinating hobby.
Online poker differs from company to company
Today’s poker rooms offer a huge variety of poker games online. This applies to both the types of poker and the game formats. Each room approaches the matter individually.
The most popular poker games are Texas Holdem (No Limit Holdem, Limit Holdem) and Omaha (Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo). They are offered practically by all modern rooms. But they are not the only types of poker available online. Online Poker Types:
- Hold’em;
- Omaha;
- Hold’em 6+ (short deck poker);
- Draw poker (Stud);
- Chinese poker (Pineapple);
- H.O.R.S.E. (Mixed games);
- Badugi.
In 2022, most of the traffic will be collected by Hold’em tables. That’s the way it’s historically been done. Even offline, most tournaments are played in Texas Hold’em. This is the most common type of poker in the world. Many of them were introduced as experimental but eventually became permanent. The most popular online poker formats are:
- Cash games;
- MTT tournaments (including Knockout Tournaments, Bounty Tournaments, and All-In Shootout);
- SNG tournaments;
- SNG tournaments with jackpot (Spin Go);
- Fast Poker.
Recently, online poker can also be played virtually. Some companies introduced such a novelty in 2019 with the help of VR technology.
How to start playing online poker?
This is a question that all newcomers face, and as new people come to play online poker every day, it never goes away. To start playing poker for money, a couple of simple steps are required:
- Choose a poker room of your choice (check out our poker room rating).
- Register and download the poker room client (in some cases, you will need to verify your account – i.e., confirm your identity and/or confirm your email).
- Make your first deposit (unless the poker room offers a no deposit bonus).
- Start playing poker for money.
Please note, before you make your first deposit, it is worth checking whether the poker room has any first deposit bonuses – this will help you get extra cash or other bonuses as a gift. It won’t take you long to register and install the client or mobile app. The main thing is to choose the right poker room to play in.
How to choose the best online poker site or app?
You can find an overview of all the popular poker rooms on our website in the Poker Rooms section. There are several factors to consider when choosing a room:
- Reputation of the poker room (player reviews will help to understand this);
- Availability of no deposit bonus, first deposit bonus, and other pluses for newbies;
- Guarantee the safety of funds and the withdrawal of winnings;
- Support of different payment systems and currencies for deposit and withdrawal;
- Quality of software and clear interface;
- Availability of high traffic (in other words – the activity of playing in poker room);
- Working support service;
- Promotions, raffles, VIP system for regular players;
- Availability and percentage of Rakeback.
Inside Contents
