How to get into online poker
You may have heard friends talking about playing online poker and be keen to try it. But if you don't know how to play, you might not know where to start. However, there's nothing to fear with online poker – many sites offer games with play chips so that you can have some practice games without putting any real money down. This allows you to get a feel for the rules of the game and build up your confidence until you're ready to play for real cash.
Even though you can play at home on the internet, online poker is not a single player game. When you join a game, there will always be at least one other person playing it. Most games have eight to ten people playing and larger tournaments can have thousands of people playing at once – though they're divided into separate tables, of course.One of the most popular worldwide tournaments are the ipops, which take place every year. iPOPS stands for the iPoker Online Poker Series and is a series of live online tournaments, culminating in a live tournament finale. Players can play to win a share of the $1 million prize fund and qualify to take part in the live event at the end of the tournament.
To get into online poker, you first need to choose which site you're going to play poker on. There are thousands to choose from and each offers different incentives to get you to open an account. Usally this is in the form of a bonus credit when you set up an account and pay in your first deposit.
You'll need to download a program to run the poker game on your pc, which connects you to the poker game server – hence the way players from all over the world can connect. The poker game server is the virtual equivalent of the people who would run a land-based game. It acts as dealer, floor man – finding you a game to join – and cashier. The server also ensures all players follow the rules.
The sites are set up to make it easy for you to learn how to play and you can always get help when you need it. The best way to try out online poker is to pick a site that you like the look of and simply have a go!
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