This is your opportunity to play poker on the Internet. You can find online poker games any time of the day or night. You can play for free or for real money against players from all over the world. There are thousands of ring games at virtually any level as well as thousands of tournaments ranging in size from ten entrants up to thousands with buy-ins ranging from free up to thousands of dollars. This article will provide an introduction to the fun and possibly profitable world of online poker. Let’s begin with some general information about

Online Poker Rooms

Right now there are more than 200 Internet poker rooms. The largest Internet poker room has over 50,thousand people playing at the same time during peak playing hours. Just do an Internet search for poker or take a look at some of the online poker-related sites, and you will quickly find many places to play and thousands upon thousands of pages of information.

The following games, and others, are readily available online:

• Texas Hold’em
• Omaha/8
• Omaha High
• Seven-Card Stud
• Pineapple
• Razz
• Five-Card Draw
• Triple Draw

The Benefits of Internet Play

Playing poker on the Internet is a tremendous way to gain experience and also less expensive than traveling to a card room. Most players tip the dealer when they win a hand in a brick-and-mortar card room (often called B&M) and also often tip the servers when they bring a drink or food. Playing on the Internet requires no tipping. Thus these expenses, as well as the travel expenses associated with live play are nonexistent.

In addition, you play many more hands per hour online because a dealer doesn’t have to take the time to shuffle, and the play is faster because most online poker sites have a time limit for each player to act.

For players who are just learning to play poker or are learning a new game they have little or no experience with, online poker offers a wonderful arena to increase skill, knowledge of the game, and possibly build a bankroll at the same time. Most sites offer the opportunity to play poker for free, using play money. Some sites even have “free rolls,” which are tournaments you may enter for free that pay out real money to the winners. In addition, many sites offer real money limits as low as .01/.02. The largest entry level limit at any site currently is 1/2.

The play at the free money tables is not very good, and it is recommended using them only to get a feel for the gaming software and/or to learn a new game. The smaller games of .01/.02 up to .25/.50 (often called micro limits) offer a slightly more realistic feel to a poker game because you play for real money, but the play is horrendous. As you climb in levels, the play improves, but some games as high as 3/6 and 5/10 can have some inexperienced players, just like at a live poker room.

Poker Bonus Offers

The online poker business is highly competitive. As mentioned above, poker rooms make money from players in the form of rakes (the amount of money a card room takes from each pot) and entry fees. The more players a site has, the more revenue it will generate. For this reason, it seems as though every site has bonus offers to attract new players.

Practically every site offers a bonus on a player’s first deposit ranging from 20 percent (deposit $100 and receive a $20 bonus) up to 100 percent (deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus). These deposit bonuses are usually tied to a requirement to play a predetermined amount of raked hands. Before depositing in any online site, make sure you have read the terms and conditions so you know exactly what you must do to receive the bonus.

Many sites also periodically offer reload bonuses (usually requiring another deposit under the same terms and conditions as a first-time bonus) to current players to entice them to keep playing at the site. Many players continuously move from site to site collecting these bonuses (often called bonus hunting), which can be a good way to increase a player’s profit per hour of poker play. In addition, if you are able to simply play break-even poker, bonuses can make you a profit as you improve your game.