Poker is one of the world’s most popular card games and has been for decades. Since making the successful transition to the digital realm, poker has become more accessible than ever, which has helped its popularity and global profile grow exponentially.
I’m a huge poker fan, and I know I’m not alone when I say that playing can be a lot of fun. I regularly enjoy playing competitive tournament poker on dedicated poker sites, and I have a handful of laid-back casino poker variants I play more than any others.
If you are new to poker and want to learn how to play, I would suggest learning to play online, especially if you want to bring your skills up to speed in as little time as possible.
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at why I strongly believe poker is best learned online rather than in person using a physical deck of cards.
Is It Easier To Learn Poker Online, And If So, Why?
When you learn to play poker, you have two different options. For example, you can either get yourself a standard 52-card deck and play at home or around a friend’s house, or you can play online on a legally permitted website.
I learned how to play poker long before it was ever available to play on websites from any decent Wi-Fi/internet-connected desktop computer, smartphone, tablet or laptop. I learned the traditional way.
However, I’ve regularly played online poker in one form or another for over ten years now, and I reckon if it had been around when I first learned how to play, I would have rather learned to play online. The main reason for this is that learning online is so much quicker.
You can squeeze around three times as many hands into a typical one-hour session compared to playing in the real world because there’s no faffing about when playing online. For example, when playing online, you can typically play around 100 hands per hourly session, compared to around 30 hands offline.
Also, if you decide to play in the real world, you have to find someone to play with (that’s if you want to play competitive poker against other players).
You also have to find somewhere suitable to play, get yourself a decent poker chip set (which aren’t cheap these days), and then go through the motions of setting up where you want to play, dealing the cards, sorting out the pots/chips, and everything else that’s involved in a typical round physical poker in the real world.
I don’t have to worry about sorting any of this when I play online. I can log in to my account and start playing after just a few taps or clicks from almost any location, provided my device has solid Wi-Fi/internet connectivity and plenty of battery if it’s not plugged in.
What Kind Of Poker Can I Play Online?
The best sites featuring poker tend to have various formats to choose from where you can ‘sit down’ and play computer-generated against other like minded people in cash games, sit ‘n go tournaments or multi-table tournaments, or where you play against the dealer, instead of having to try to beat other players.
These same sites also have video poker, where you don’t even need to beat the dealer. The aim of most video poker is to land the best possible winning poker hand to receive a payout.
Today’s most trusted poker sites also tend to have hundreds of highly sophisticated live dealer poker games, which mimic actual land-based casinos and are as close to the real experience as you can get today.
Live dealer poker tables are streamed 24 hours per day in real-time from one of a handful of fully licensed and regulated television studios, and the action is presented to you by a live dealer (aka host, presented or croupier), so there really is no need to go to a land-based casino ever again.
When playing computer-generated online poker at a casino, the cards are auto-shuffled and dealt for you as soon as you place your bet and hit the deal/draw/play button.
A short animated sequence with hyper-realistic graphics and authentic sound effects will play out in front of you, and although the cards you are dealt in computer-generated poker are pre-determined by highly advanced mathematical algorithm programs known as RNGs (Random Number Generators), the results are fair and random.
They are designed to mimic real life and produce outcomes/results that are as realistic as can be, with no discernible patterns. In other words, although they are pre-determined, the hands you are dealt are just like in real life. Sometimes, you will win, and other times you will lose.
The software and RNGs used in computer-generated online poker games brought to you by today’s most trusted providers are frequently tested and constantly monitored to ensure players like me aren’t being cheated in any way.
The best thing about learning to play poker online is that you can play for free using a fun balance. What more could you ask for? You couldn’t walk into a land-based casino or poker venue and play poker for free, which is why so many people choose to learn online these days.
If you decide to learn how to play online, my top poker suggestions available on the market today worth checking out are the following hit titles from various well-established providers, such as Games Global, Playtech, NetEnt, Relax Gaming, Play’n GO:
- 3 Card Poker
- Cyberstud Poker
- Aces & Faces
- Tens or Better
- Jacks or Better
- Poker Pursuit
- Casino Hold ’em
- All American
- Pai Gow Poker
- Caribbean Stud Poker
Mastering poker has never been easier thanks to these popular titles, all of which are now widely available to play on hundreds of fully licensed and regulated iGaming sites.
Conclusion
When learning online, don’t forget that you can also watch YouTube videos. Also, every poker variant you play online will always have rules and detailed descriptions on how to play, which can help bring you up to speed and grow your confidence in no time.
To sum up, most people today agree that it’s far quicker and much easier to learn how to play poker online, so if you are considering playing the world’s most popular card game, perhaps start by playing on a legally permitted site before going to a land-based venue to play.
