Easy Bet Guide to Online Poker Games
The online game has it all; daring moves, outrageous bluffs and is packed with card and chip action.
The advent of playing poker online has delivered a whole new impetus to the scene. Today you can play a hand at any level and at any time.
There are a myriad of excellent online poker sites offering a range of poker rooms with multiple game selections, differing stakes and limits.
You can also find plenty of online poker games for free, which are a superb way to hone skills and test out strategies, at no financial risk. When you feel ready you can go pick out the most suitable online poker games for cash and try for real money wins.
Why Pick Online Poker Play?
Online poker has definitely made the game more accessible for the general public. Now everyone is able to play the game at anytime, anywhere with thousands of opponents and poker tables available to play at your fingertips.
The first thing you’ll notice with online poker is that the action is fast. There is a set time to act on each hand and the shuffling and dealing is also speedy and full of momentum.
It’s easier to find your level of table play online, you choose your skill level and stakes so that you can sit comfortably and not feel out of your depth. A good poker site will recommend a suitable table and offer the full scope of play options.
Online, you can decide to play and be seated inside a minute, unless you are waiting on a specific tournament, there will always be a place to play and player to play with.
Playing online poker means that even if you have only a limited bank roll you’ll still find a decent game and for sure playing poker online can be rewarding!
If you are new to playing poker then be sure to read up the rules, table ethics and learn a few strategies. This is what makes free to play poker so attractive, it’s a great learning curve.
Any good Poker site will offer you plenty of free play as an incentive to grab your attention. Take advantage of the free roll opportunities whilst learning the ropes!
What To Play?
There are three main categories of poker play and each genre has numerous off shoots that can be readily played online for free and for real cash.
Draw Poker
This is the classic game that has been popular for centuries. Draw poker in its simplest form is the first poker game most people learn to play.
Draw Poker is a game of five card hands dealt from a 52 card deck of standard playing cards. All poker hands consist of exactly five cards. A complete hand is dealt to each player, and players bet in one round, with raising and re-raising allowed. Each player will discard and draw cards to create their best hand. Players bet on their initial hand, draw cards and bet on their final hand.
Straight hands of five cards are sometimes used as a final showdown. Hand values range from the highly longed for Royal Straight Flush, that has the highest denominations showing all in the same suit, and carry on through nine other hands of varying sequences and value.
Basic Poker hand values rank from five card in denominational sequence or in the same suit (Straight flush), to Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, Pairs, Full House of 3 cards of one denomination and 2 cards of another, a Flush of five card from the same suit and the High Card hand. For a beginner it can take a while to understand the possible combinations and hands but practice brings with it understand of the depth of strategy and sophistication of the game.
Community Card Poker
Texas Holdem undoubtedly is the most popular variant of community card poker. This exciting game is a variation of standard poker play and plays with two cards, known as hole cards, plus five community cards that are dealt face up in three stages.
Your best Texas Holdem hands will be made by using your hole cards and the five cards in the middle to make the best possible five card poker hand. The best or highest hand wins the pot. There are also plenty of free online poker Texas Holdem tables to play so that you can get to grips with the basic tactics, etiquette and finesse your Texas play skills.
Omaha is another kind exciting community card variant game, derived from Texas Holdem. Each player is dealt four private cards or hole cards which belong only to that player.
Five community cards are dealt face-up on the board. In Omaha games, all players use exactly three of the community cards together with exactly two of their hole cards to make the best five-card poker hand.
Stud Poker
Stud Poker has cards that are dealt in a prearranged combination of face-down and face-up rounds, or streets, with a round of betting following each. The most popular stud variant today is seven-card stud which deals two extra cards to each player (three face-down, four face-up) from which they must make the best possible 5-card hand.
Multi-Table Tournaments
For many poker players, multi-table tournaments are where the real fun is.
For a set fee and buy-in you get a fixed number of chips, so your bankroll doesn’t have to be huge to take part. But with lots of players competing, the prize pool can be impressive, giving more people the chance to win.
Conclusion
Online poker is a world unto itself. The options for play and interaction is enormous. You can pop into a good poker site and find a table that suits your level and wallet, plus all the strategy and excitement found at the best land based tables.
You can find yourself playing with the big boys, if you want to give that a try.
There are tremendous special offers for new poker players, loyalty and reward programs, online poker leagues, free rolls, satellites and huge guaranteed tournaments, as well as the chance to take part in major streamed poker events.
A good poker player is one who constantly develops their game and online poker play allows you to do just that.