May 22, 2013
Welcome to PlayPokerOnline.net - if you're looking to play online poker, you've come to the right place. We believe that we have one of the best resources on the internet to help you find the real money online poker room that's right for you.
Have a browse through our frank and honest poker room reviews down the right hand side of the page, or if you have certain requirements about where you're going to "play poker online", then check out our poker sites section which breaks down all of the poker sites by various criteria such as accepted payment methods and games available, or read the latest poker news.
Editor's Choice - PlayPokerOnline.net Recommended Poker Sites for 2012
Listing Criteria: Big sign up bonus, soft real-money games, high quality poker software and excellent promotions for real money players.
The history of any game is fascinating and complicated. Poker is a perfect example of this: hardly anyone agrees on the exact roots of the popular card games now played all over the world that fall under the umbrella of “poker.”
Whether you believe that poker's origins lie in the Persian game As Nas or a French game called Poque, you are probably correct. It is difficult to say exactly what the origins of today's games are, since so many games throughout the centuries have used rules and symbols similar to our modern game. Notice that the French game Poque even sound similar to our word poker. Much has been written about the history of poker; some suggest an Irish game called Poca may be the godfather of poker, while other writers point to the German game of Pochen, which literally translates as “brag, bluff, or knock.”
Whatever its origin, poker has a new home. The Internet has become a haven for gamblers of all stripes, including card gamers. Most people the world around can now play poker online for real money, at legal state-sanctioned websites devoted to providing Internet versions of the game.
Is Online Gambling Legal?
Depending on what country you live in, the answer to this question varies. Legislation about online casino play is at times easy to understand (as in the UK, where a cultural history of legal gambling has made Internet poker an easy find) and sometimes very difficult to wade through. Poker laws in the United States, for example, are complicated by a series of both federal and state government opinions, including some areas which have no laws on the books at all that apply to Internet wagering.
For an example of how complicated online wagering statutes can be, consider a bill passed in the USA in 2006 called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, known in shorthand as the UIGEA. This bill was added on to the end of an anti-terrorism bill called the Safe Ports Act. Since the UIGEA was controversial, sticking it on the end of a can't-miss bill was the only way anti-gambling activists could get what they wanted. What this bill did was make it difficult for Americans to transfer money to any online casino account, making it illegal for banks and other financial institutions to do business with known gaming sites(for example, US players can't play real money games at sites like Bodog88 Casino and Party Casino). Once the bill passed and its effects were felt, lots of gaming websites who once did business with Americans on a regular basis shut their doors to customers in the United States, while other sites found themselves unable to provide financial transfer methods that American gamblers had access to after the UIGEA passed.
To find out if you can get in trouble when you play online poker, check your local, state, and federal laws or consult a legal professional.
How Do I Find an Online Game?
Once you determine that you have the legal right to engage in texas holdem online poker contests on the Internet, your next step is to find a website to do business with. Hundreds of poker rooms exist, all vying for your business. The industry is massive and worth a ton of cash: in 2005, online punters spent $2.4 billion dealing and playing the game worldwide, according to an article in the August 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine.
Selecting a website for playing poker is a matter of matching your wants and needs with what these sites have to offer. Reading online reviews of poker rooms and participating in forum discussions about Internet gaming will help you find a poker home, though putting in a little time searching and reading on your own will ultimately decide where you play the game.
Look for a site that displays legitimate certificates of fairness and licensure, one that offers game variants you enjoy playing, a site that looks and feels right to you, and one that offers a bonus and promotions program that could help you pad your bankroll a little. At the end of the day, where you play the game is very important in terms of your entertainment value. Whatever you do, don’t settle for a site that doesn’t match your needs perfectly. There are simply too many options to choose from for you to give in to a website that doesn’t give you an entertaining and fair gaming experience.
Online Card Game Myths
Because Internet gambling is still in its infancy, having begun in the mid-90s, plenty of misconceptions abound. Some disgruntled players who lost a good deal of money will claim that websites rig the competitions to increase their profits. Other myths come from a lack of understanding about how online poker games work. The three most common myths about web-based gambling are:
Myth #1: Online Poker Is Rigged
As with any business, there are some disreputable Internet casinos and card games that rip off their clients. To counteract this particular rumor, all you have to do is examine a site’s credentials. Reputable gaming sites display certification from third-party organizations that examine the random number generators and other programs used to display a game and declare it to be fair. Another source for information on legit poker sites: the online gaming community. Websites that refuse to pay winnings or operate illegally will eventually end up blacklisted by players, who post negative reviews and helpful information to make sure no one else is a victim. Online games don’t have to be rigged to earn money; poker and other casino interests are designed to produce a profit, so there’s no need for a legitimate website to use unfair practices.
Myth #2: Internet Casino Bonuses Pay You Money For Nothing
Cash bonuses and other promotions are a huge part of the online gambling industry. These systems replace the comp and VIP programs found in traditional online casinos like Ignition Casino, and usually exist as match offers for deposits made to the site, or a small amount of free cash with which you can wager and test out a site’s games. Know that online gambling sites attach lots of strings to such offers. Though the early days of Internet gaming did offer easy money for people who manipulated bonus offers, these days, sites are wise to the tactics of bonus hunters and have made it very difficult to earn free money. Joining a particular site to attempt to earn free money from a bonus offer is a bad idea.
Myth #3: Aggressive Players Will Always Win
Over time, the misconception that aggressive play is unbeatable in the online world has fallen by the wayside, though many players still cling to this myth. Because the online game doesn’t allow for face-to-face contact, people unfamiliar with Internet play assume that bluffing and the psychological aspects of poker aren’t present online, but this isn’t entirely true. Aggressive Internet poker gaming is not a sure-fire way to win. Those who play Internet card games as a profession know that a methodical hunt for a small advantage over a long series of poker hands is the smartest way to play, and not simply being as aggressive as possible each hand. Consistently aggressive poker play is not profitable over the long run, thanks to high variance in online card games.
The Future of Internet Card Gaming
Starting in 2006, the industry started falling on hard times, thanks to changes in laws about Internet gaming in the United States. The US market is massive, thanks to a population of over 310 million people and a lack of existing laws regarding Internet wagers. That all changed with the UIGEA in 2006, when poker rooms started shutting their doors to Americans. 2011 was another dark year for Americans interested in playing on the Internet; the FBI arrested the owners of the three largest poker sites at the time: Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. The FBI’s allegations were that those sites engaged in money-laundering and bank fraud in order to beat new American anti-gambling laws.
We have the worldwide economic recession to thank for what many believe is a coming renaissance in Internet-based gaming. As state and federal governments in the US and other nations found their budgets dwindling, they began looking for new revenue sources. In the case of the United States, legalizing and regulating games of chance and games of skill has long been a popular way to raise money. In fact, the USA was founded in part on money raised by colonial lotteries.
Governments the world over are debating state regulation of games like blackjack, craps, and poker to add money to their coffers. In the USA, for example, state governments are working together to form potentially large networks of gaming clients across state lines. If online wagers on casino games become regulated by one or two state governments, a domino effect could bring the game back to the status it once held, as a multi-billion dollar industry, taxed and regulated the world over to raise revenue and protect people from unfair gaming practices.
This seemingly simple card game has changed from a series of regional games of skill into a worldwide Internet industry, potentially worth ten figures annually. The future of Internet poker looks bright, thanks to the reconsideration of reactionary anti-poker legislation.
If you're looking to find a poker room to play at, your first stop should probably be our poker sites section, which breaks down the most popular sites based on your requirements. So if you're looking for sites that accept US players or poker rooms which allow you to pay by Paypal or just sites that allow you to play Omaha, Razz or H.O.R.S.E, then you'll find exactly what you're looking for.
If after all that, you've still got a spare couple of minutes, feel free to get in touch with the PlayPokerOnline.net team and let us know what you thought about the site. We'd love to hear from you!
Joshua Simmons
Finding a room which allows you to play poker on your Mac can be a lot of work so be sure to look through our list of Mac compatible poker sites to take the pain out of your search.
Since UIEGA, it has become a little confusing for players in the US to know exactly where they can play poker.
Our list of US Friendly Poker sites will clear up any confusion
