Poker
Poker can be both a gambling game and a strategy game. From the outside, it may appear to deal heavily in luck. Once you get to know the game, however, you will soon find that poker is all about skill. There is no other game in the casino that requires as much strategy as poker. In fact, there’s no other game in the casino that can be beaten as consistently (for large amounts of money) as poker.
Whether you’re a casual poker fan or are serious about making money with poker, this section of CasinoFYI.com is just for you. We can get you started with all the basics and then help you progress through your poker career. Our goal here is to become the best poker resource on the internet.
Best Online Poker Sites
| Rank | Top Poker Sites | Bonus | Visit | Poker Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Carbon Poker |
200% up to $5,000 |  |
Carbon Poker |
| 2. |  Bovada Poker |
100% up to $1,000 | |
Bovada Poker |
| 3. |  Bet365 Poker |
200% up to $1000 | |
Bet365 Poker |
| 4. |  Party Poker |
100% up to $500 | |
Party Poker |
| 5. |  888 Poker |
100% up to $400 | |
888 Poker |
| 6. |  Bodog Poker |
100% up to $1100 | |
Bodog Poker |
| 7. |  ClubWPT Poker |
N/A | |
ClubWPT Poker |
Best Poker Sites by Country
Important Poker Pages
The following pages are our most important and popular poker pages. Visit any of the pages listed below to learn more about poker.
- Poker Site Reviews
- Beginner’s Guide to Online Poker
- Poker Bonuses
- Poker Strategy
- Poker Rules
- Poker Sites
- Play Poker Online
- The UIGEA Explained
- Real Money Poker
- Best Poker News Websites
- PlayersOnly Poker Promo Code
- Party Poker Bonus Code
- Bodog Poker Referral Number
Online Poker
Online poker is our favorite type of poker. Live poker is fun and all, but nothing can beat playing poker on the internet. The convenience of online poker is a major advantage if you don’t live near a brick and mortar card room. On top of that, online poker hands are dealt much faster and that results in a higher hourly rate for winning players.
And on top of all that, online poker gives you the ability to multi-table. At an online poker site, you can open up several tables at a time and drastically increase your win rate. These advantages plus many others can only be found by playing poker on the internet. If you want to learn the game and build a bankroll as quickly as possible, nothing beats online poker.
One way in which online poker sites compete for your business is by offering large signup bonuses to new players. These bonuses are offered as percentage match bonuses on all first deposits. For example, you might get a 100% bonus that’s worth up to $600 for signing up at some poker site. Once again, this is a great reason why online poker is the best way to break into the game.
People who have never tried online poker often wonder if it’s possible to play online poker for real money without being able to see each other face to face. What you’ll find is that physical tells are way over exaggerated by TV and Hollywood. The best poker players do so well because they know how to read betting patterns, mix up their play and maintain strict bankroll management.
Poker Tournaments
Poker tournaments are always popular because they give players a chance to win big money without risking a lot of money up front. Poker tournaments differ from cash games because once you buy in to a poker tournament, you are done risking your own money. If you play your cards right and catch a lucky break or two, you’ll be in for a big pay day.
Online poker tournaments have completely changed the landscape of poker in general. Online poker has introduced millions of new people to the game, and that in turn has made poker tournaments bigger, juicier and easier to find (both live and online). With cash prizes topping millions of dollars, today’s poker tournaments are always worth a look.
Major live events such as the World Series of Poker have also benefited from online poker tournament. Many people qualify for major live events every year by playing in online satellite tournaments. In satellite tournaments, the top finishers win free entry to major tournaments such as the WSOP, WPT and more.
Online satellite tournaments have helped the WSOP and other live events grow to unprecedented sizes. Since the online poker boom of 2003, the World Series of Poker has grown so to the point where $10,000,000 first place prizes are considered normal. It was not all that long ago that the average person had no idea what the WSOP was.
Online poker tournaments have also grown to levels that rival even the biggest live events. Every month, Party Poker hosts a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament – and that’s just one of many on the internet. Absolute Poker hosts a weekly tournament with a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool. So even if you’re not big on travelling to live tournaments, there is still plenty of money to be made.
Poker Cash Games
Poker cash games are played with chips that represent real cash. Players can come and go as they wish and the only goal is to make money while you’re at the table. There are no places, people don’t get knocked out and prize money isn’t set. All you do is sit down, play poker and rack up your chips.
Cash games don’t get as much attention as tournaments, but they should not be overlooked. Poker cash games (also called ring games) are where most of the hardcore pros go to earn a living. Money can be made on a much more consistent basis with cash games than with tournaments.
Some of the top online cash game players bring home upwards of seven figures a month. These players play in cash games with blinds as high as $500/$1,000 with $100,000 buyins. Pots that are worth more than an average house are shipped back and forth regularly at these ultra high stakes games.
Of course, there are also poker cash games at all other stakes. If you’re completely new to poker and don’t want to dive in head first, you can find online poker ring games with stakes that start out at $0.01/$0.02. The stakes go all the way up from there to any level you can handle.
Poker Bonuses
Poker bonuses are a big part of online poker. Every online poker room offers some sort of signup bonus as an incentive for you to sign up and play there. Many poker rooms offer bonuses in which they will double your first deposit up to some maximum amount.
For example, Carbon Poker gives all new players a 100% deposit bonus for up to $600 extra. This means that if you deposit $200, they’ll throw in an additional $300 on top of that. It probably sounds too good to be true at first glance, but it actually works out pretty well.
The reason poker sites can offer such massive bonuses is because they require you to play a certain number of hands before the bonus is released. Every poker hand generates rake for the poker room and it helps keep the games full (which in turn attracts more players). So by playing poker, you help pay off some of the cost of the bonus. The poker room in turn hopes that you will stick around and become a loyal player.