Playing poker online

With the continuing spread of the Coronavirus many poker players are avoiding playing live cash games or at tournaments. Instead, for them, it makes more sense to play poker online from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Online poker is a huge industry that arose with the rise of the internet in the early 2000’s, with many poker professionals grinding their way through the ranks to achieve high bankrolls. Playing online is also a great way to introduce yourself to the world of poker.

There are numerous online poker sites. These each allow you to download their own “client”, a desktop app that connects to their servers to play poker. There are a variety of game types from small stakes cash games, tournaments, sit and gos and fast forward. Fast forward is a fast paced version of poker where you can play hundreds of hands per hour.

Following a simple sign up process and deposit users can then play as much or as little poker as they like (or as much as their bankroll will allow).

The most popular online poker site is still PokerStars who have amassed a large share of the market. However, they do have many competitors attempting to claw back some of their share. partypoker, has been aggressively attempting to claw back some of this market share on their site. One of the key aims of partypoker is to reignite the cash game market which has seen a large downturn in recent years and return online poker to the boom it saw in the early to mid 2000’s.

GG poker is another new entry on the market and has made waves with their signing of poker legend Daniel Negreanu as an ambassador. Each site has their own nuances and differences between their clients. Finding the one to suit you can depend on your style or where you are based.

For new players online poker can provide the perfect entry to the world of poker. Rather than worry about small and big blinds, the software completes the actions for you. This allows users to focus on playing the game rather than other intricacies that can come with playing live poker. The stakes are also generally much lower than live cash games that you will find at casinos. This allows for you to play with small stakes such as $0.01/$0.02.

As the Coronavirus continues to cause disruption worldwide it is likely more live poker events will have to be postponed. This in theory should turn many more people into playing poker online.