Choosing Where to Play Internet Poker

So you’re just starting out playing poker and trying to decide which out of the multiple poker sites out there is worth your initial deposit. Or, on the other hand you’ve already played some online poker, but you want to know what else is out there and if you’re getting the best value for your money! If any of this is the case, this small article should be of some help.

Poker sites inevitably vary immensely in the way they look, the number of games available and the computer specification requirements to run them. This can all come down to user-preference, yet due to the great number of different sites on offer, this can become a daunting task for the online poker novice!

The first factor to bear in mind is whether you are American or European. Due to gambling laws in the USA, the choice of poker sites to play on for Americans is very limited. If on the other hand, you live outside of the USA, you have a much wider choice of poker sites to choose from. The reason behind this is that other forms of online gambling (such as sports-betting and casino games such as Blackjack) are illegal in the USA and many poker sites have these facilities available to the player. So if you are playing on a non-American poker site, try to not lose your hard earned poker bankroll playing the casino games!

Before making that first initial deposit, having tested out to see if you like the design of the site using the play-money tables, you can benefit immensely from “sign-up bonuses”. These are offered on almost all poker sites and can vary from $50 to $1000. The way these bonuses work is that as you sign up to the site and deposit money, if you play the specific amount of hands required, you will be incrementally released this “bonus” money as a reward for your loyalty to the site. You read it correct; the poker sites actually give you money to play on their sites! This can turn break-even players into strong profitable winners. This is the best option for more casual players.

On the other hand, if you are interested in playing much larger volumes of online poker onto a new site it is worth enquiring about any “rake-back” offers available. Instead of a fixed welcome-bonus, players that sign up with “rake-back” claim a % of the money back on a regular basis that the site rakes from the pots that you are involved in. For instance, on the internet, the industry standard rake in a cash game is 5% of the pot. That means in a $10 pot, the casino would take $0.5 and the player with the winning hand would win $9.50. Poker sites that allow rake-back would then add up at the end of a fixed time period (i.e. every month) the entire rake that you generated for the internet poker site, and then give you a % of this back for your loyalty! This % varies from site to site and it is worth enquiring before hand. Typically rake-back is between 10%-50% and can often be increased the more you play.

The final point worth noting is that many of the larger sites have lower sign-up bonuses and rake-back offerings than the smaller sites as they do not need to create such incentives to gain customers due to their existing player-base. So a balance needs to be met. On the one hand, you can have very good bonus offers from a smaller site, yet there will be fewer tables to choose between and lower guarantees in the tournaments. On the other hand, you could play on the larger sites where there are much greater guarantees in the tournaments and more tables to choose from, but where the bonuses and rake-back may be significantly less.

If you are playing internet poker , there are a great many sites to choose between, and all of these sites will offer you incentives to play with them rather than their competitors. Once you have found an eligible poker site that suits your needs in terms of looks and feel, you can then inquire on that poker website to ensure that you get the best value for your money in terms of bonus and rake- back offerings.

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