Mac Poker Sites
If you're a Mac user, then I'm sure you don't need to be told just how difficult it can be to find a poker room which will allow you to download Mac compatible software. In order to open a new account, the vast majority of rooms will require you to download software which will only run on Microsoft Windows - not great news if you're looking to play poker on your new MacBook. Luckily though, there are a couple of ways to get around this problem:
- Sign up for a room which will allow you to play poker in your internet browser. These types of poker rooms are usually known as Flash Poker Rooms or No Download Poker sites as they don't require a user to download any software in order to access their account.
- Register with a site that will allow you to download software in the Mac's native DMG format. This will mean you'll have no problems installing the software on to your desktop.
Not all poker rooms fall into one of the two categories above though, so we've compiled a list of the best Mac poker sites out there and listed them below to help you make your choice.
Mac Poker Sites
PC Emulators
Now I know we mentioned above that there were only two options open to the Mac owner who wants to play online poker.
Well, we lied. There is a third option although it's not quite as straight forward as simply signing up to one of the rooms mentioned above, as it will involve you installing a PC Emulator on your Mac.
An Emulator will allow you to install Windows (and several versions of Linux) on to your Mac without deleting your existing OS X operating system. In effect the two operating systems run side-by-side with you using Windows to download and install your favourite poker software.
If you're looking to go down this route, we would recommend the following two PC Emulators:
Boot Camp: Boot Camp is designed by Apple themselves and comes packaged with the Leopard Operating system, meaning that if you've bought your Mac recently you will most likely already have this software on your machine. Boot Camp is free and allows you to install Windows easily while keeping your original operating system intact. We would recommend using this, if at all possible.
iEmulator: Those of you who haven't upgraded to Leopard, might want to check out iEmulator as a cheaper way of getting your hands on a PC Emulator. iEmulator is a popular and reliable piece of software and can be purchased for $23.95. For more information, have a look through the iEmulator website.
The future for Mac Poker rooms
If you're a Mac user, then the last few years have probably been very frustrating for you from a poker point of view. At the height of the poker boom, the best a Mac player could hope for was a Flash or Java version of a poker room that could be accessed via their browser.
These games were poorly designed though and offered a fraction of the atmosphere and almost none of the features which could be found in the downloadable Windows software.
Lucikly though, things have improved since then. 2006 saw some of the larger poker sites offer a fully downloadable version of their software in DMG format and since then may other rooms have started to sit up and appreciate the value of the Mac Poker market.
The good news is that things are continuing to change, albeit at a slow pace. In the last year, Titan Poker and Bodog have released Mac versions of their software and the long awaited Mac version of PKR finally became available in 2009.
Rest assured that we're in contstant contact with all of the major poker rooms, and as soon as any of them decide to come to the Mac party, we'll be the first to let you know!
