Online Poker

Advantages of playing poker online, as opposed to land-based casinos

Playing poker at home with your friends in a land-based casino can be fun. The atmosphere is great, and many people still prefer to play in a brick and mortar casino. Online poker has its advantages, however, so you may consider giving it a chance.

For example, you can save money because online casinos are cheaper to play than their land-based counterparts. They have more competition, so they offer excellent conditions to convince players to give them a chance.

Operators try to beat each by trying to tempt players with exclusive bonus offers for poker real money games. All of these casinos are only a few clicks away and, with sufficient research, you can find the best deals out there.

You can also play from the comfort of your home. Not only is this more comfortable, but you won’t need to spend money traveling or eating out. Unless you live near a land-based casino, the trip alone to one can be costly.

Poker variations

Part of why poker is so popular is because of its many variations. You can use different rules to adapt the game to your playstyle. Some of the most popular poker variations include Omaha Hi, 7-Card Stud, 2-7 Triple Draw, 5-Card Draw, and the ever-popular Texas Hold’em.

Omaha Hi is one of the top ways to play poker online. It’s very similar to Texas Hold’em, but players get four hole cards instead of two. In it, players try to get the best possible 5-card hand. Getting a good hand is considerably easier when playing Omaha Hi than Texas Hold’em. However, unlike Texas Hold’em, players need to use two of the four hole cards.

7-Card Stud was one of the most famous poker games before Texas Hold’em took its place at the top. In this variation, each player receives an individual hand, and there are no community cards. Some of the cards will be face-up, while the rest will remain hidden in the players’ hands.

5-Card Draw is another good option for people who play poker with real money online. Each player gets an individual closed hand. It’s harder to guess your opponent’s hand in this variation.

In 2-7 Triple Draw, each person gets a hand with five individual cards that aren’t shown to others, just like in 5-Card Draw. Unlike other poker games, this is a low ball game. 

How to play Texas Hold’em?

Texas Hold’em is the most famous version of the game. It rose in popularity in the early 2000s due to TV shows and depictions in many movies from the time. Its rules are pretty straightforward, so it became the leading way to play online poker.

Rules

First, every player needs to start with a small bet, the ante. After that, each one gets two hole cards, which they hold on to. Then, there’s a betting round to see if everybody wants to stay at the table or fold.

Following that, three community cards are set on the table. At each turn, another community card is put on the table, completing five in the end. All players can use them to form a winning hand. At all turns, players need to keep betting to remain in the game.

In the end, the best combination of five cards (including five community cards and the two hold cards) wins.

Terms

Online poker has its own terms, so it can be hard for a beginner to start playing. These are some of the most used ones:

• Ante: is a small bet that you need to make before you get your hand. Without it, you can’t play. It serves to raise the stakes before you even draw your cards.
• Call: is when you contribute the necessary amount of money to keep playing a hand during a match.
• Fold: is when you give up on the current game.
• Hand: is the combination of cards that you show at the end of the game. It can be a combination of both your cards and community cards.
• Hole cards: the ones that you hold and that other players can’t see.
• Community cards: are visible on the table and can be used by everybody.

Hands

You can get ten different hands while playing Texas Hold’em. This list goes from the most valuable to the least valuable one:

It starts with the Royal Flush, which is a combination of the following cards: 10, J, Q, K, A from the same suit. The second most valuable combination is the Straight Flush, which is a combination of five cards of the same suit in a row.

A four of a kind is when the player gets the same cards in all of the four suits. A full house is a pair of cards and three of a kind. A Flush is when your five cards have the same suit, but they are not in any particular order. A Straight, which is slightly less valuable, is five cards of different suits, but this time in a row.

The Three of a kind hand is simple: it’s just three of the same card, but in different suits. Two pairs are a duo of pairs. A pair is when you have only one pair. Finally, there’s the high card, which is when you don’t really have a combination.

Odds

When you play online poker, your odds are as good as your ability to play. Like in other card games, such as Blackjack, poker is extremely dependent on playing the right hands. If your hand isn’t good, you can bluff or simply fold.

There are definitive odds of drawing a particular hand, however. The lower the odds are, the better your hand is. For instance, having a two pair is often easy (one chance in 20), while a Flush is a chance in 508. The odds for the famous Royal Flush, for instance, are almost one in 650,000. If you get it, you’ll undoubtedly win.

Live poker in live casino online

Live poker is a fine option if you want to start playing poker with real money. In this game, you’ll play with a live dealer against other players.

It’s the most accessible way to have an experience that resembles what you would find in a land-based casino.

You can use this guide to pick a live poker casino and start playing right now. Check different bonuses and the availability of tournaments if you want to maximize your fun.