Internet Poker

In the simplest of words, internet poker is any poker game that is played over the internet. In many ways, its elements are very similar to those of a live poker game.

In a live game, players travel down roads to go to a casino. On the Internet, players go on web pages to join a virtual casino.

Players in a live game sign up for a "Player's Card" and walk through the casino to the poker room. On the Internet, players register for an account and download the website's software.

In a face-to-face game, a player goes to the cashier's cage to purchase poker chips. On the internet, a player uses a credit card to purchase poker chips.

In real life, a player who already has chips then goes to the front desk and signs up for the poker game they want to play. On the Internet, players browse through the "Lobby" to look for the game they want to play.

Once a player has found the game he wants to play in real life, he sits down at the table and starts playing. On the Internet, once a player has found the game he wants to play, he clicks the game to open the poker table and starts playing.

All the players in a face-to face game sit at the same table, and a dealer deals the cards and handles the bets. On the Internet, each player is assigned an "avatar" to represent them at the table, and the poker room's software deals the cards and handles the bets.

Just like at a live poker room, there are different games to be played on the internet (Hold'em, Omaha, Seven Stud, etc). There are also different stakes (starting at $0.01/$0.02 all the way up to $2,000/$4,000) and different variations (there are cash games, sit and gos, multi table tournaments, heads up matches, etc).

But there are differences as well. Internet poker rooms are able to offer features that live casinos cannot:

• Multi-tabling – online playing lets players play more than one table at the same time. Many rooms allow players to play at least16 tables at once!
• Micro-stakes – internet poker rooms have cash games starting at just $0.01/$0.02 and sit and gos/tournaments starting at just $0.10.
• Freerolls – on the net, players can enter freeroll tournaments that have real money prize pools, but are free to enter.
• Crazy Variations – Some sites offer the "Cashout Tournaments" at Full Tilt Poker where players can cash out of a tournament at any time, or the "Step Sit and Gos" at PokerStars where players can work their way up a ladder of sit and gos to qualify for major tournaments with very small investments.