Best Online Poker Sites in 2024

Live poker games in online casinos are more popular than playing against RNG machines due to their social nature. Bettors relish the challenge of reading their opponents’ cues via live stream as they deal with their cards. All the same, the RNG games still attract sizable traffic.

So what attracts many players to bet on poker games at these sites?

Benefits of Real Poker Online Casinos

Online poker games are convenient as players can choose their most suitable play time during the day. You will also avoid the hassle of booking a hotel room and travelling miles away from home to get your gambling fix. What other advantages do online poker games have?

Safety and Security

Online casinos require players to provide sensitive personal and banking information that could be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. Due to this, bookmakers embrace tight site security measures to protect themselves and the players.

The most common site protection measure is standard SSL encryption on poker sites. Bookmakers also use secure databases and validated input methods for player security. Other players can adopt two-factor authentication procedures to log in and out of their accounts for extra protection.

Proper Regulation

For an online poker site to host real money games, relevant authorities are required to regulate it. Online casino licensing bodies such as the Malta Gaming Authority, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and the United Kingdom Gaming Commission ensure that poker sites meet set standards before giving them licences.

Playing at a licensed site allays fears of unscrupulous bookmakers disappearing with your deposits or refusing to pay out winnings. You can always complain to the regulator in case of unfair treatment.

Bonuses and Promotions

Playing at online casinos offers players many bonuses and other attractive perks. You will get bonuses when you sign up to play your favourite games, prizes when new games are added to the lobby, bonuses for topping up your account, and even bonuses for being a loyal player. With these offers, you can confidently explore the poker variants available without incurring significant losses.

Beyond regular bonuses, online poker sites often have casino tournaments in select titles. Here the best players take home attractive rewards after a thrilling challenge. If you enjoy seeing your name on the leaderboard, you will be happy to find an online poker site with many competitions.

Easy Banking

Every bettor loves convenient payment methods that allow quick deposits that won’t interrupt the gameplay. Also, when taking out winnings, no one wants to wait for long or deal with huge transaction fees. Online casino providers in New Zealand have embraced convenient payment methods that make banking easy.

In many poker sites, your deposits reflect instantly, and withdrawals sometimes take less than an hour. Most payment methods are also free, so you get your loot intact. The common banking methods are credit and debit cards, eWallets, online bank transfers, and cryptocurrencies.

Games Variety

Poker players like having a wide range of games to choose from. Variety makes playing Poker online more exciting as it gives players quite a few gaming options. The best poker sites have stacked libraries with multiple game variants for the players. You can also find games in other categories, such as slots, blackjack, roulette, and other popular casino games. On top of that the poker games, and others, can be played in a wide variety of stakes. This means that low stakes players and high rollers alike will find the game they want to play and in the stakes they want to play in.

Drawbacks of Internet Poker Casino Sites

Online casino poker is a popular entertainment product for many players worldwide. All the same, playing Poker online has some cons that may have a negative effect on players’. Here are some of the disadvantages of online Poker.

Time Wastage

Suppose you’ve played card games before. You’ll know they can drag out for long, especially when you’ve got competitive opponents. Additionally, one game never seems to be enough. Players often want to play more rounds when the adrenaline is up. It’s sometimes hard for many punters to say no to new poker hands, which can waste their precious time and mess up schedules.

Online Poker Can be Anti-social

You hardly have time to interact with others when you spend long hours behind your computer or mobile screen dealing with poker cards. Although live dealer poker games allow you to play against human opponents on tables run by human dealers, there isn’t enough interaction when trying to concentrate on your hand. We need to interact with other people for healthy living. It would help limit play time and strike a balance to avoid antisocial behaviour.

Poker Can Eat Into Your Savings

A primary concern with most casino games is the financial implication. To play hands in Poker, you need to place wagers from your deposits, hoping to land a win and recoup your money. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen all the time; sometimes, you are dealt poor hands, and you have to stomach your losses.

This has enormous financial implications as you must dig deeper in your pockets to cover future bets. Prolonged losing streaks could bleed your pockets dry and potentially affect your lifestyle. The only way out is to set aside online gambling money from the household and other necessary cash. Also, setting betting limits can help you pace yourself and not burn through your deposits. You should always follow the gambling golden rule, in you should never wager with more you can afford to lose.

Gambling Addiction

Playing poker games for long hours can potentially lead to gambling addiction. Some signs of addiction include not stopping despite significant losses, being temperamental during games, and burning out all your income on wagers. While this is unfortunate, there’s certainly no shame in owning up as you can get help.

Gambling addiction is considered a health crisis, and you should seek professional help if possible. Online poker sites also help at-risk and addicted players with measures, such as self-exclusion periods and spending limits. The sites will also have information about services for problem gamblers.

Types of Online Casino Poker

Multiple poker variants meet diverse players’ needs and turn up the thrill at the tables. Some poker variants are similar to the types in brick-and-mortar locations, while others are exclusive to online casinos. Many players prefer versions already available in physical casinos because they are more popular and have many player resources.

Texas Holdem is the most popular poker variant in the RNG and live casino games. If you look up how to play Poker online, you will likely find resources on this game. Other popular variants include Caribbean Stud Poker and Video Poker.

Let’s take a look at what sets apart different poker games.

Texas Hold ’em

In Texas Hold’em game, players get two hidden hole cards and five community cards face up. This action-packed table game has a No Limit version in most casinos, attracting huge crowds to the tables. As it’s a top-rated game, you can find versions that suit most skill levels. There are games for beginners, intermediate and advanced players.

Pai Gow Poker

To begin this game, you’re dealt seven playing cards which could include the joker. The objective is to beat the banker’s hand with either your five-card or two-card hand. A dealer or an opposing player represents the banker in this game. If you lose both hands, the game is over, and you lose your bet. On the other hand, if one hand wins and another loses, the game moves to a push, and you can reclaim your bet.

Let it Ride

To kick off this game, you’ll receive three cards, but later, you’ll have an opportunity to lessen your bet depending on the community cards revealed. However, if you feel you have a strong hand, you can “let it ride” and allow the cards to remain in play. Your winnings are determined by an odds table that can have high payouts up to 1,000:1. In your game, you can have side bets too.

Caribbean Stud Poker

In Caribbean Stud Poker game, you play directly against the dealer rather than other players on the table. At the beginning of the game, you and the dealer get five cards. When you successfully beat the dealer’s hand, you receive a winning payout with an odds of around 1:1. If the dealer’s hand fails, you receive your stake back and can open another round.

This poker table has a progressive jackpot feature, making it one of the most lucrative table games. The jackpot amount, however, differs with the casino you choose to play at.

Pot-Limit Omaha

If you like sitting at an action-packed table, then you’ll enjoy Pot-Limit Omaha version as much as Texas Hold ’em. These two variants also have quite similar rules and styles of play. The key difference is that you begin this game with four-hole cards rather than two. All the same, you can only use two cards in your final hand.

Video Poker

This is the simplest version of the game. You can play it as a beginner as the rules are relatively straightforward, and the gameplay features are easy to use. Online casinos carry a different version of video poker distinguished by extra in-play game features, including joker wilds and deuces.

How To Play Poker Online

To begin your journey at poker tables online, you need to first create an online casino account or log in if you already have an account. It’s essential to pick a site with excellent poker card rankings to enjoy high-quality games. You also need to load your player’s account wallet to have enough money to make wagers.

Some casinos may require that you download the poker software to your desktop or mobile device, while others have no download hassle-free poker variants. With a loaded wallet and probably a casino bonus, you can head to the games lobby and pick the game you’d like to play.

A click will get you in on your preferred game; voila, you’re now playing your cards. As you play, there are a few game rules that you must observe to have a quality gambling experience.

Poker Rules

The rules of poker games are pretty simple, yet many players, especially newbies, tend to believe that they are hard. There are no universal rules as each poker variant introduces its own. However, most rules come from the two basic types of poker games, Stud and Draw Poker. Learning the basic rules in these two gives you an easy time with the rest.

Stud Poker usually begins with each player receiving five cards in most games. A few poker variants can have seven cards. You then must assess your strongest hand before wagering your poker chips. Most strategies will advise you to go easy at the beginning, but you’re best placed to make this decision.

You win if you bid the highest number of poker chips in this round. Nevertheless, if another player is willing to match your bet, then the game continues. When someone matches the largest poker chip bet, the other players will show their cards, and the player with the best hand takes away all the chips.

Draw Poker begins with each player being dealt five cards, just like Stud Poker. After this, players with the most chips make their wagers. The other players on the table can improve their hands by exchanging up to three cards from the deck. If you have an ace, you can trade all other four cards if you like.

Poker tables have terminologies that players use in the games. Knowing these terms helps you actively participate after the cards have been dealt. Here’s how the game progresses if the player with the highest chips doesn’t fold after they are dealt their cards.

Many online poker variants follow these basic rules to the letter, while some tweak them a bit to fit their styles. Nevertheless, the ranking of the hands and the value of the cards remain the same.

Poker Strategy

All casino games require skill, patience, and a little bit of luck to win. Some of these may be out of your hands, but good poker strategies can help. These tips have no winning guarantees, but they could make your poker table experience more exciting.

Play Your Starting Hand Wisely

The best way to open a game is through caution. To begin with, place lower stakes bets, which will help you manage your bankroll and give you time to read the play. Playing lower stakes also provides you with room to experiment with various techniques without fear of losing too much. Experts highly recommend that easing into a game also gives your body and mind time to adjust.

Learn The Bluff

If you’re a newbie at the tables, experienced players who pick on this might call your bluff a few times, even when you have a strong hand. This way, they can dictate your gameplay as you lead them to victory. It’s therefore essential to learn how to call their bluff too. You can make hood hands fold with a good bluff easing your path to success.

Using the bluff in moderation is wise to avoid knocking yourself out and incurring huge losses.

Play Your Strong Hands Aggressively

When you have a strong hand in poker, it’s only with as much as you call it. To rake in tidy sums, take advantage of your strong hands to get more poker chips as they determine how much you take away at the end of the game. This works well if you sit with weak players who like to fold when you can even cash in on the bluff of your weaker hands.

Fold When Necessary

The worst outcome in a poker match is losing chips due to impatience. Online poker games are usually fast-paced, and many hands are dealt simultaneously. Knowing the right hand to raise or call can help you a lot. Likewise, knowing when to fold in the game can keep you from damaging losses. There’s no harm in waiting a few minutes for a better hand to cash in on.

Understand the Hand Values and Odds

This seems obvious, but it could cost a lot if you went in at the poker table blindly. As you go into a game, it helps to know the pot odds, the card values, hand odds and the outs. You also don’t have to remember all the information as you find it easily online. Keeping a cheat sheet to refer to as you play will help a lot.

Hand Values

Here are poker card rankings from the best to the weakest.

How to Win Poker Online

Playing Poker online is a thrilling experience and winning real money makes it even better. Nevertheless, to earn prizes at the poker tables, you have to understand the rules of the game and the cues used. Before you begin playing, it would be best to read winning tips and cheat sheets to get tips from experienced players.

In addition, regular practice will give you an advantage in the games. Most online casinos have several RNG poker titles that have free demo modes. Playing these games allows you to sharpen your skills without bleeding your pockets.

​Key Facts About Poker

1. Poker is typically played with a 52-card deck
2. Poker is a game of chance and skill
3. 2-10 players can make up a poker game
4. Players do not play with money but with chips that represent different monetary values
5. You can play poker online for money as well as for free in the demo mode
6. There are many variations of poker such as Texas Hold’em and 7-card stud
7. Players of all skill levels can enjoy playing online poker
8. The main objective when playing poker is to win the pot by betting on the value of your hand

References

Poker

New Zealand Gambling Commission

NZ Department of Internal Affairs

Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand

Safer Gambling Aotearoa

GambleAware