Best Beginner Texas Holdem Online Sites

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Lean the best strategy to play no-limit Texas Hold'em with the best strategy articles from PokerNews. Read everything you need to know about the game. Beginner Texas Hold'em Poker. As a new player, you may be wondering where to find the best online poker sites for beginners, and more importantly where you should deposit your hard earned cash. There are lots of different online poker sites to choose from, so let me give you some recommendations. Best Legal Online Texas Hold’Em Poker Sites The following sites have been vetted by our team of industry professionals and determined to be the best options for USA online poker players. Each of theses sites are located offshore and have the legal licenses to service the US.


Unless you permanently live under a rock, you’ve seen that Texas hold’em has been exploding in popularity over the past few years. The allure of this exciting and action-packed game can be attributed to many things. This cliché phrase says it best: “It takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.” The game is one that you can pick up in a matter of minutes, but to be good requires a life-long quest.

On top of the excitement factor and the never-ending ability to get better, the game can also be extremely lucrative. Anyone can make a ton of money from playing Texas hold’em. Whether you’re playing at home with friends and family for pennies and nickels or you’re playing in Vegas at the World Series of Poker for millions, the amount of money you can win is endless.

You’re in for a real treat with this guide. We’re going to start by walking you through the basics of the game. We’ll talk about why the game is important, how to play the game and the differences between the different ways you can play Texas hold’em.

After that is where we get into the fun stuff. We’ve created a section fully dedicated Texas hold’em strategy that will cover everything from beginner strategies like starting hand requirements to advanced strategies like floating, three and four betting and more. Our team of professionals will be revealing strategic content that you normally should have to pay for completely free. You can consider this our donation back to the poker community.

If you’re ready to get learning, let’s dive into the world of Texas hold’em poker!

Recommended Sites: Start Playing Now!

Some of you action seekers might already be crushing your local games and are ready to jump to the next level. If you’re ready to try your hand at online Texas hold’em, we’ve got you covered. One of the most important decisions you can make in your poker career is where you choose to play. You need to be playing at a trustworthy and secure site that understands the importance of an easy to use interface, player bonuses and keeping the easy to beat recreational players around.

We’ve done the heavy lifting for you and put together a list of the best sites in the business. If you’re ready to start raking in cash, check out one of these amazing sites now!

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It’s important that we let you know that we do not allow any online poker sites to pay for better reviews, ratings or recommendations. We feel that allowing that would be a disservice to you, our reader. For that reason, you can trust that the sites we recommended above (and anywhere else on our site) are actually the best options available. We refuse to waiver on this. All we care about is that you have the best online poker experience that you possibly can.

In This Guide…

This comprehensive guide was put together by a team of past and present professional poker players. These players have extensive experience in all facets of the game as well as professional experience with instructing poker players of all levels. The beginning sections of the guide will focus on information important to those brand new to the game. We’ll walk you through a general overview of the game, how to play the game and then the different variations of the game that you need to be aware of.

After that, we’ll dive into our strategy section which is the real treat of this guide. The section has invaluable information for players of all levels. Unlike some resources online that only give you generic poker strategy, we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty details and specifics about the different formats of hold’em and how to beat them.

As a game of skill, poker is not in the same gambling category as games like blackjack or craps. In those games, you compete against the house and will always be at a statistical disadvantage. With Texas hold’em, though, you’re competing against other players in a game of skill where the best player will reign victorious in the long run.

If you’re brand new to the game, we highly recommend that you work through this guide from start to finish. If you’re not, though, we’ve left some convenient links to jump to the specific sections that you’re most interested in. Take your time and try to absorb as much of this information as you possibly can. Remember, the game can be learned quickly, but it takes a lifetime to master it!

The Importance of Texas Hold’em

We touched in the intro about the growing and exploding popularity of Texas hold’em poker. What we’d like to do now is go more in-depth into some of the reasons why the game is so popular and, more importantly, why you should play Texas hold’em. Understanding why you should learn something is crucial to keeping the motivation to push through the mountain of knowledge we have for you here.

Why is Texas Hold’em So Popular?

It really is no secret that Texas hold’em is one of the most popular games in the world. People of all ages from the old to the young are picking up the game. The game is shown on TV networks worldwide, has dedicated magazines and publications, monster forums and websites dedicated to it and is played at the majority of casinos in the world.

So why is this game so darn popular? As we’ve already mentioned, it’s a game that doesn’t take long to learn. The rules are fairly simple and straightforward, and you can have a fairly firm grasp on them in no time. This means that you’re not spending a lot of time preparing before you can jump into the action and give it a shot. For people that love action and excitement, this is a huge draw.

The game also allows anyone to ascend to the highest ranks. Imagine if you decided today that you wanted to play professional football. Could you realistically see yourself in the Super Bowl next year? Unless you’re some freak athlete, there is probably about a 0% chance of that happening. Even if you were a freak athlete, you’d still have a million different hoops to jump through, and that percentage wouldn’t be much higher.

With poker, though, anyone can play at the highest level as long as they have the cash to cover the buy-in. The Texas hold’em Super Bowl is the World Series of Poker Main Event played in Las Vegas every year. Do you have to go to tryouts, qualify and make the team to play? Nope! As long as you have the $10,000 buy-in to play, you can take a seat and play with the best.

Does this mean you’re going to win? The answer to this question is another reason that Texas hold’em is so popular. If you went out and raced against the best sprinters in the world 100 times, you would lose 100 out of those 100 races. You would win zero times. But, if you play poker against the best in the world 100 times (and you aren’t that great), you’d probably end up winning a few of those times. Sure, they would beat you most of the times, but poker includes a small element of luck to go with the skill side.

This means that, on any given day, an amateur could beat the pros. In the long run, the better players are going to prevail, but in the short term, anything is possible. This makes it exciting for amateurs to take their shot against the pros. This coupled with the other reasons we’ve mentioned are just a few reasons why Texas hold’em has been exploding in popularity and shows no signs of lightening up anytime soon.

Why Play Texas Hold’em

Some of the reasons you should play Texas hold’em might already be clear to you, but we want to mention several of them in case you are considering getting in the game and are still on the fence. This is not a complete list of the reasons to start playing, but they are some of the main ones that most people would list as the reason they got started or that they continue to play.

The Fun

This one is straightforward. The game is insanely fun. The action is fast, the excitement is real, and every hand is completely different from the last. If poker ever makes you bored, you may want to check your fun fuse because it may be out of whack.

The Money

The only thing more fun than playing Texas hold’em is playing Texas hold’em and winning boatloads of cash. The game allows anyone with the right skill set to beat out their opponents and be rewarded with real money. Whether you’re playing online or at a brick and mortar location, that amount of money that you can win playing poker is endless.

The Camaraderie

Even though you will be competing against everyone else at the table, Texas hold’em still makes for a great social experience. Whether you’re playing online and chatting in the chat box or playing live and chatting face to face, the Texas hold’em community is a great one to interact with. Sure, there are some bad apples in the bunch, but for the most part the game attracts some of the brightest and most interesting minds in the world.

It’s not rare to be sitting at the table with billionaire businessmen, famous Hollywood actors, comedians, athletes and more. The greatest part about poker is that, at the table, everyone is an equal. No one gets special treatment once the cards hit the felt which makes for a great environment to let your guard down and make some new friends.

The Brain Workout

Yes, poker is an easy game to learn, but that does not mean it’s easy to beat. Have you ever played golf? It’s easy to learn that the game involves you hitting the ball and getting it into the different holes. Does that mean golf is an easy game? Definitely not. There is a big difference between “easy to learn” and “easy.”

Texas hold’em will test your mind, wit and resolve as you work to conquer the game and defeat your opponents. It’s important that your mind is always pushed to the limits and worked out just like any other muscle in your body. You can rest assured that this game will always push you to those limits. If it ever starts to get easy, you can always move up in stakes to play at the higher limits. There can only be one “best player in the world, ” and if that’s not you, you’ve still got room to grow.

How to Play Texas Hold’em

The first step to being the best Texas hold’em player in the world is learning how to play the game. The rules are fairly simple and straightforward, so they shouldn’t take you long to learn. If you’re brand new to the game or looking to brush up on the rules, we’ve got you covered.

Below, you’ll find a link to our dedicated guide on the rules of Texas hold’em and how the game is played. When you finish that guide, you’ll be ready to try your hand at the game. Should you, though? Well, we recommend not getting ahead of yourself. After you get through learning the rules, come back here and learn everything else you need to know to get started on your journey to the top.

Cash Games vs. Tournaments

All Texas hold’em games are not created equal. In fact, every variation of the game is light years different from the others. What we’d like to do is start by introducing you to these different variations. Texas hold’em games can be divided into three main types: cash games, tournaments and sit and go’s. Within each of these subsections, there are more variations that we will go over as well.

Remember, while these different formats are in fact different, they are still just variations of classic Texas hold’em. The rule sets are going to be the same. The same hands that beat other hands will not change. The order in which you play along with the flow of the game will be the same. The only things that will be different will be the format of how the game is set up. Let’s take a look at each, and it will make much more sense to you if you’re currently confused.

Cash Games

A cash game is a poker format where you can play for as many or as few hands as you want. A cash game has no definitive end, and the blinds and antes never go up. Players will come and go from the game as they please and are never required to play a certain number of hands.

When you buy-in to a cash game, you are given chips that represent the exact amount of money you used to buy-in with. If you buy-in with $200, then you are given $200 in chips. If you take those chips back to the cashier, you can get $200 in cash back. Cash game chips are effectively the same as cash. They hold a cash value.

You’re free to sit down and play one hand in a cash game and leave if you want or you can sit down and play for 20 hours straight. Every other player at the table has the exact same right as well. Cash games come in varying stake/blind levels, but they will always stay at the stake/blind level that is posted. They will never increase as they do in some of the other formats we will mention.

For example, if you were to sit down in a $1/$2 cash game, the small blind would be $1, and the big blind would be $2. At no point will these ever increase. During hand 1, the blinds will be $1/$2…at hand 8,479, the blinds will be $1/$2.

As we mentioned, you are free to leave a cash game at any point in time that you want to. When you leave, the value of the chips you have in front of you is the amount of money you will get back from the cashier. If you started with $200 in chips and get up when you have $300 in front of you, you’ll get $300 in cash back. If you start with $200 in chips and cash out when you have $150 in front of you, you’ll get $150 in cash back.

Also, if you lose all of your chips in a cash game, you are always free to buy back in. You are not eliminated from the cash game. You’re free to purchase more chips and get right back into the action.

Tournaments

Tournaments are much different than cash games. A Texas hold’em tournament is a poker competition where players compete until one player has all of the chips in play. The blinds and antes continue to rise on a fixed schedule until the tournament is completed.

Players pay an entry fee for a set number of chips instead of buying chips that match the amount of money they put in. This means that technically tournament chips have no cash value; they are only tournament units. Players are not permitted to ever cash out of a poker tournament, but must play until they are out of chips or until they have all of the chips in play. Players are awarded prize money based on what position they finish in the tournament.

Let’s break this down a bit more to make it clearer. Let’s say that 100 people sign up for a $100 Texas hold’em poker tournament. Each player is given 10,000 in chips. Obviously, these chips do not equal $10,000. They are just units for the players to work with to see what place they finish in.

The tournament will start, and the blinds will rise to help force the action along. When a player is out of chips, they are out of the tournament (with exceptions we will cover below). The play continues until 1 of the 100 players has all of the chips in play.

So, how does the money work? Well, 100 players each put in $100, so the total prize pool is $10,000. This prize pool is usually distributed based on what position the players finish in. While this can vary, the industry standard is for the top 10-15% of players to receive money with the amount increasing the higher you finish. The remaining players receive nothing.

The payouts for this tournament might pay the top 15 players with first getting much more than 15th. The level at which the payouts increase will be determined by the site or poker room putting on the tournament.

Different Types of Tournaments

Just as all Texas hold’em games are not created equal, all tournament formats are also not created equal. There are a multitude of different popular formats that you will encounter at some point along your poker journey. Are you required to know how to play and beat all of these to be a successful Texas hold’em player? Of course not! You can make your whole career out of only playing one of these formats and do just fine.

Freezeout Tournaments

A freezeout tournament is your “classic” poker tournament style. Entrants pay their entry fee and play down to a winner. When you’re out of chips, you’re out of the game. Payouts are usually paid to the top 10-15% along a sliding scale awarding the most money to the top finisher. If you’d like to learn more about freezeout tournaments, as well as some of the strategy associated with them, take a peek at the guide we’ve put together below.

Rebuy and Re-entry Tournaments

Rebuy and re-entry tournaments are essentially freezeout tournaments, except that for a designated period at the beginning of the tournament, you can get back into the tournament if you lose all of your chips. You are required to pay the entry fee again to get back into the tournament. There are some significant format and strategic differences between rebuy tournaments and re-entry tournaments that you should be aware of before you saddle up to try your hand at one. We cover this and a whole lot more in our dedicated guide.

Satellite Tournaments

A satellite tournament has nothing to do with NASA or anything like that. A satellite tournament, sometimes referred to as a satty, is a tournament where the winners receive an entry into a bigger tournament. Typically, the top prize will only be the value of the buy-in to the bigger tournament. If there is additional prize pool money, it will be paid out to the remaining places as additional seats to the bigger tournament.

Satellite tournaments are a great way to get involved in bigger tournaments without having to put up the full buy-in amount. If you’d like to learn more about satellite tournaments and how to dominate them, click the button below now.

Bounty Tournaments

A bounty tournament can come in one of two styles. The first is where every player has a bounty on their head. With these, a portion of the buy-in goes to the main prize pool while another portion goes to the bounty. If you knock a player out, you get their bounty money regardless of how you finish in the tournament. The other style is a tournament where the people running it will add money to the prize pool to put bounties on specific players. If you knock one of these players out, you get their bounty money no matter how you end up finishing in the tournament.

Bounty tournaments can be a lot of fun, but can change a lot when it comes to proper strategy. We break everything down for you for both styles in our special bounty tournament guide below.

Sit and Go’s, Shootouts, Steps and Heads Up Tournaments

A sit and go (SNG) is a tournament that has a fixed number of entrants. In some of the other styles of tournaments, anyone that wants to enter can enter, and they usually won’t cap the entrants. A SNG, though, will be a set number of entrants. It won’t have a start time either, but will begin as soon as the correct number of players have signed up.

The most popular type of SNG’s are single-table tournaments. These are 9 or 10 handed tournaments that usually pay the top 3 players. It’s not rare to see multi-table SNG’s as well with any amount of players (usually in multiples of 9 so they have full tables). You may also see tournaments where SNG’s are played in a bracket-style with the winner of each table moving on to play the winners of the other tables. These are known as shootouts. A variation on this style is the step tournament that we will cover more in depth in the dedicated guide.

Single table SNG’s can also be run with two players only where the players battle it out against only the other player. These are known as heads-up SNG’s or heads-up tournaments. These can be one table only or can also be done in a shootout format, although they aren’t usually referred as shootouts in those situations.

To learn more about all of these types of tournaments that fit in the same format family, click the button below.

Guaranteed Tournaments

A guaranteed tournament is a little different than everything else on this list. Basically, any one of the tournaments on this list could be a guaranteed tournament on top of their own style. A guarantee simply means that the poker room is guaranteeing that the prize pool will be a certain amount no matter how many players enter.

For example, if a poker room says that a $100 buy-in tournament has a $10,000 guarantee, this means that no matter how many players show up to play they will be giving out $10k in prize money. If 90 players show up, that means the poker room only collected $9k, but they are still going to pay out the prize pool as $10k. The poker room will have to put up the extra $1k out of their own pockets. If 200 people show up for this tournament, the poker room will collect $20k from players and the prize pool will then be $20k.

The poker room does not get to keep any extra money just because they met and exceeded the guarantee. When the poker room falls short on a guarantee, it is called having an overlay. As you can guess, an overlay is extremely good for players and means they’ll be playing for more money than they really should be.

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Pot Limit vs. No Limit vs. Limit

If you aren’t already overwhelmed with all of the different options with Texas hold’em yet, we’ve got more for you! Within each of the different formats we listed above, you have three more variations of the game that can be played. These variations have to do with the style of betting and the amount that you are allowed to bet on each street.

No Limit Texas hold’em

This is by and far the most popular form of Texas hold’em there is. This is the style that is played during the WSOP Main Event and most likely the style you’re accustomed to playing. For that reason, most of the rest of this guide and the strategy sections deal with no limit. In no limit Texas hold’em, you can bet as much or as little of your chip stack as you want at any point in the hand. There are no limitations. Your entire stack is always in play.

This makes for a much wilder and more exciting format of poker. The pots are usually bigger, the action is faster and the chance to make a fortune grows.

Pot Limit Texas hold’em

This version of Texas hold’em is “no limit lite.” In this format of the game, you are only allowed to bet as much as is in the pot. If there is $100 in the pot, then the maximum you can bet is $100. If there is $800 in the pot, then the maximum that you can bet is $800. You are limited in your bet size by the pot, hence, why it is called pot limit.

Limit Texas hold’em

Sometimes referred to as an old man’s game, limit Texas hold’em is a structured betting game where you can only bet or raise a fixed amount on each street. While this may sound like a buzz-kill and somewhere you can’t make a lot of money, that’s definitely not the case. Limit games will sometimes play very big with the chosen limits being in the thousands per bet.

Even though limit Texas hold’em is technically similar to no limit Texas hold’em, the strategic implications are so different that some regard it as a totally different game. These people are somewhat right and somewhat wrong. The strategic theory is similar, but it just is altered due to the limits in betting sizes. You have only one bet size to react to instead of interpreting a lot of different bet sizes as you do in pot limit or no limit.

Texas Hold’em Strategy

Welcome to the fun part of this guide! This is the section that we are the most proud of and the section that will certainly bring you the most value in helping to grow the success of your Texas hold’em career. Our team of past and present poker professionals have spent countless hours putting together a fully dedicated Texas hold’em training and strategy section.

You’ll find tips, tricks and strategies that you normally would have to pay for completely free. If you’re ready to elevate your game to the next level, click the link below and enter our fully dedicated and completely free strategy portal. We know you won’t be disappointed.

Luck vs. Skill

It’s crazy for us to think about how widely this is debated and how often people are misinformed about the topic. Is there luck involved in poker? Yes. Is it predominantly luck? Definitely not. Poker is a game that can be beat long term. There is a reason the same people always seem to find their way to the top of tournaments. There’s a reason that certain people are able to play cash games for a living for many years.

Are these people just the luckiest people on the planet? No. These people understand the strategy of the game and how to exploit their opponents properly. They know how to get maximum value when they have the best hand and lose the minimum when they have the worst hand.

Since we know that many people are stubborn, we’ve put together a dedicated guide to walk you through this debate. This guide is perfect for those who aren’t sure whether to believe that the game can be beaten long term. This guide is also perfect for those that “have already seen the light” and are looking for an eloquent way to share this information with their friends, families and significant others.

Click below, and you’ll see that we’ve finally settled this debate once and for all.

Online Texas Hold’em vs. Live Texas Hold’em

One of the biggest choices you’ll have to make once you start playing Texas hold’em is whether or not you’re going to play live in a brick and mortar poker room or at home on the Internet. In the older days, you were limited to only playing in a brick and mortar poker room or at a home game at a friend’s or someone you knew.

While this could work, it ended up being fairly inconvenient for a lot of folks. This only worked if you lived close to a poker room or you happened to know someone that was running a game. Even then, you had to travel to the game, and security was a real concern if it was a home game. In the late 1990s, though, Internet poker blasted onto the scene giving players a convenient option to get their poker fix on.

In the sections below, we’ll dive into the differences between live Texas hold’em and online Texas hold’em. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each to help you make a much more informed decision about where you might want to play. This will be great if you’re brand new to the game or maybe if you’re someone that has played live for many years and is considering the switch to online play.

Live Hold’em

This is the most classic form of Texas hold’em. If you watch any old movie with gambling in it, you’ll most likely see a table of cowboys in the background playing poker. While they probably weren’t playing Texas hold’em, they were playing live poker. Live poker is any time that you play the game in a brick and mortar setting. This could be going to the local card room to play, going to the poker room at a casino or even playing in a home game at your friend’s house.

Live poker is a favorite of a lot of people because they can see their opponent. A lot of times they feel like they can get a much better read on their opponent based on their facial expressions, body language and the way they speak. This is definitely one of the biggest pros that live poker has over online. The second pro of live poker is that it’s much more social than online poker. You’re able to chat face to face with other players, the dealers and the floor staff. For a lot of people that use poker as a recreational hobby, it’s a great reason to get out of the house and get some human interaction.

On the flip side, there are some downsides to playing in the brick and mortar setting. First, convenience is much lower than it is with online poker. You’re forced to put your pants on, get a babysitter for the kids or your significant other, drive to the game location and then finally start playing. This takes time and costs money. This is time you could be already playing and money that you could be saving.

You’re also only able to play one game at a time. A lot of poker players who like action or play to make money like to play more than one game at once. This is possible online with the click of a button, but in a live setting, you are limited by the fact that you can’t physically be in two places at once. For some, though, they’re content with playing one game at a time. Yes, live poker is slower than online poker, but for a lot of recreational players looking for social interaction or to pass the time, that’s fine.

If you do decide to play Texas hold’em in a live setting, you need to make sure that you follow a lot of general etiquette rules when you get to the poker room. Following these will ensure that you don’t make any costly mistakes and that you have a much more enjoyable time.

Online Hold’em

It’s funny that we still refer to online poker as a new innovation when, in fact, it has been around for over 20 years now. In its infancy days, it had issues that were legitimate concerns for people interested in trying it out. In the past 20+ years, though, the kinks have been worked out, and online poker is now a legitimate and viable way for you to play poker. Some would argue that it’s more legitimate, safer and better structured and organized than any live poker room in the world.

Let’s talk about the pros of online poker. First, it’s much more convenient. You don’t have to leave your house, and it takes just a few seconds to get logged on. All of your transactions can be done digitally including cashing out your money. This saves you an enormous amount of time, hassle and most of all, money. It officially takes $0 in gas money to get to an online poker room.

Secondly, it’s much more conducive to improving your game quicker. You’re able to see hands faster, play more games if you want, study your hand histories easier, use software to help you get better and most importantly, you can start playing at much lower stakes than you can playing live. If you go to play Texas hold’em in a local poker room, the smallest game that you’ll most likely see will be $1/$2 no limit hold’em. The standard buy-in for this game is $200.

When you play online, though, they will have tables as low as $.01/$.02 where the standard buy-in is $2. This means that you can start playing for real money without risking much in the beginning. You can then slowly and strategically work your way up the stakes as you improve and are ready. This could be reason enough to play online if you are new to the game and looking to improve at a gradual and safe pace.

The third major pro of online Texas hold’em is that there are MUCH more players. Because you’re able to play with players from around the world, you’re always going to be able to find a game. If you want to play on a random Tuesday morning, you might not be able to get a game at your local card room. Online though, there are always people ready to play. They might not be from the same country as you, but their money cashes out and spends just the same!

There are some limited drawbacks to online poker that are more preferential thoughts. First, some people don’t like the fact that you can’t see your opponents face to face. They like to stare down the table when they’re making a tough decision (or sometimes any decision…insert eye roll), and it’s just not the same when you’re starting at a small avatar or a screen name. Secondly, some people like to use poker as a social outlet. While you can still chat with people online, it’s definitely not the same as talking to someone face to face. As a culture that stays buried in our phones now anyway, this may not be a big deal.

Overall, we are big proponents of online poker versus live poker especially for Texas hold’em. It’s convenient for the casual player and strategic for the serious player looking to improve their game. As an industry that’s now been around for over 20 years, it has really turned into an amazing product and industry that you definitely need to check out!

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about Texas Hold’em

Is Texas hold’em hard to learn?

Nope! The game itself is easy to learn. Now, that being said, it’s easy to learn, but it takes a long time to master. Expect to know how to play quickly, but don’t expect to be the best right away.

Is Texas hold’em the same as poker?

Texas hold’em is a type of poker. There are a lot of different variations of the game of poker that are played very differently. You should treat Texas hold’em as its own beast. If you are still unsure, check out our how to play section above, and you’ll see all the rules that you need to know.

What does “no limit” mean?

No limit is a form of Texas hold’em where you are free to wager any number of your chips at any point during the hand. This unstructured betting makes for crazier hands and more strategy to learn, but also bigger pots and a higher potential to make more money. The other variations are limit and pot limit.

Are tournaments the same as cash games?

They are not. A tournament is a format of a Texas hold’em game where all players pay an entry fee, and prize money is awarded based on how the players finish in that game with the higher finishers getting paid more. The game continues until one player has all of the chips. A cash game is a format of Texas hold’em where players are free to come and go as they please and can buy-in or cash out whenever they want. There is technically no definitive end to a cash game. The game ends when all of the players choose to leave, and there are no new players to fill their spots.

Should I play online or in a poker room?

Ultimately, this is going to be a personal choice based on your preferences. We’re bigger fans of playing online for several strategic reasons, but it’s ultimately up to you. If you aren’t sure, read our online vs. live section in this guide.

Table Of Contents

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That's where you find the best free online poker games with fake money to play with other poker players from all over the world and engage in exciting Texas Holdem Poker and Omaha ring games and tournaments.

Best online poker sites coaching. Diezereine started the Coaching For Profits program in January 2015. The semi-professional football player from Germany is very competitive in every aspect of life. Now he is focusing on a full-time poker career. He thinks the CFP program is a great place to learn all about the essential fundamentals for a successful (poker)life.

Playing on these play money poker sites helps you understand how poker works and how to use the right strategy to beat your opponents.

Many players started playing online poker from the free games. That's because playing free poker online you can develop your poker skills and learn the ins and outs of popular games like Texas Hold'em and Omaha poker before you decide to play for real money.

Think of Anette Obrestad.

Once poker wunderkind, Obrestad started playing online poker for free — and then, one freeroll tournament after the other, she built the insane bankroll that helped finance games and tournaments for real money.

Use the free poker games online to become a better player.

The best online, free poker sites are essential to get some free poker practice. How else could you try our proven poker tips without risking a single cent of your bankroll?

In this article, you find all your best option to play free online poker in 2020.

All these sites have options to play free online poker games with fake money and help hone your poker skills with some good poker practice.

All the site in the list offer mobile poker apps or platforms, so you can play with other poker players on desktop, Android, and iOS.

The mobile poker apps feature the same games and tournaments you find on the desktop versions. Some (like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) app, Zynga Poker, and the World Poker Tour (WPT) Poker app) do not offer options to play for real money.

Others (like PokerStars, PartyPoker, and 888Poker) combine free poker games and tournaments with real money ones - so you can have an authentic 'full poker experience' always playing on the same website.

So, are you ready to start playing some poker? Join tens of thousands of other poker players on these exciting websites, claim all the poker bonuses available right now, and get busy with your first poker hand.

Best Free Poker Sites

Need more information to choose where to play some good free Texas Hold'em, Omaha, and stud games online? Check out the description of all the free poker sites and don't forget you can read even more about them on the reviews published on our list of the top online poker sites.

WSOP Poker

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Social Poker site is the best free-to-play poker sites in the world. This poker site and mobile poker app comes from the kitchens of Playtika, the same social Casino giant that came up with uber-successful apps like Slotomania and House of Fun.

WSOP Poker is the only option to play no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha cash games against friends, family, and opponents from all around the world.

US players can play online poker games on the WSOP free mobile poker app.

Compared to other free poker sites, WSOP Poker hosts some massive games and tournaments where you compete for awesome prizes, including virtual WSOP bracelets.

Link the WSOP free poker app to your Facebook account to challenge your friends and brag to them when you beat them in a big pot or major free poker tournament.

The WSOP poker app offers the best free poker games online. It is a superb place to practise poker for free and hone your skills without any financial risk to your bankroll.

Play free poker games on WSOP Poker:iTunes, Google Play, and Desktop; free.

PokerStars

If you already play poker, you know about PokerStars already.

PokerStars is like a mecca for Poker. It is:

  • The largest online poker site in the world
  • The host of the most successful online poker series
  • The only real money PA poker site in 2019

PokerStars is also known for providing great free poker games online — although this isn't a 100% free poker site like the one that operates under the World Series of Poker brand.

This online poker site is known for the breadth of poker games and tournament formats that you can get accustomed to if you're starting and learning to play online.

Playing free poker games on PokerStars is simple:

  1. Register a gaming account (it's free)
  2. Select the 'Play Money' option.

From there, you are good to go. Ready to take on the world.

Best

Pro tip: when you run out of chips, you can top up by taking a seat at a ring game table. That way, you can continue with your free poker games.

PokerStars Team ProBarry Greenstein joins the action of free Texas hold'em games on PokerStars very often.

As an American player, Greenstein can't play real money poker in the US. So he often shows up at the play-money tables over at PokerStars.

To play free poker games with Barry Greenstein, you'll need to work yourself up to the highest play-money stakes and grow a bankroll able to survive those limits.

Play free poker games on PokerStars:iTunes, Google Play, and Desktop; free.

888poker

888poker is another behemoth in the poker scene. They too offer both real-money and free poker games.

The free poker practice mode helps you familiarise yourself with the poker rules and learn how to avoid all the most common mistakes beginners make.

To play free poker games on 888poker:

  • Register a gaming account (it's free)
  • Head to the 888poker Practice Play Lobby

If you qualify for their welcome bonus, you can also play free online poker games to win real money.

Just for registering with 888poker, you get a free $8 instant bonus to play free poker games and an additional $80 free bonus as you collect status points.

888poker is where you get non-stop cash games, giving you the ultimate freedom to decide when and for how long you want to play poker online.

With the number of players who have signed up for 888, free games for play money are always on offer. You never have to wait long to play a play money cash game or free poker tournament.

And, when you're finally ready to stretch into real-money games, you can take your first deposit, get 888poker to double it, and gain entry into nine free tournaments.

Play free poker games on 888poker:iTunes, Google Play, and Desktop; free.

partypoker

Partypoker also allows you to play online poker free and for real money. These games allow you to explore your ability, strategy, and luck.

If you're serious about playing, you can jump right into a free game in the 'Play Money' tab or even go to the free poker school to learn about how to play online.

New players can receive a money bonus for when they decide to step up their game and try real-money poker.

On Partypoker, you can track your progress, take free poker missions for rewards, and grab free poker promotions for a wide variety of prizes and tournament offerings.

Like on 888poker and PokerStars, there are plenty of players on the free partypoker client, so you should never be bored. Free poker awaits!

Play free poker games on Partypoker:iTunes, Google Play, and Desktop; free.

Best texas holdem sites for us players

Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker is still a force to be reckoned with.

While it's not the poker site it once was, you can still play on your favourite software against players from all over the world.

Full Tilt now uses the poker platform of PokerStars, but the avatars and other perks of the site are still alive and kicking.

https://omgpurple.netlify.app/red-flush-casino-bonus-code.html. Playing free poker on Full Tilt is as easy as it can be.

Like the other sites, they offer play money games so you can give poker a try without risking any of your hard-earned money.

Go ahead and give the play money games a try; it's a lot of fun.

  • Register a gaming account (it's free)
  • Choose your free poker games and play

Like almost all the other real money free poker sites on this page, Full Tilt gives you the option to transition to real money play — if you want to.

You can do so by making a deposit and choosing any of the real money games on the platform, or by going for one of the many freeroll tournaments available.

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Don't you know what a freeroll tournament is? Great. You just qualified for the next chapter of this free poker guide.

Play free poker games on Full Tilt Poker:iTunes, Google Play, and Desktop; free.

Free Poker vs Freeroll

Freeroll tournaments are online multiplayer events that cost nothing to enter.

The difference between these free games and the ones with play money is that these are the event where you can win real money.

Texas Holdem Sites

No other free poker event let you win real money for free. That's why freeroll poker tournaments are hugely popular with beginners.

Play is often reckless on these free poker events, so you have to be patient and smart about it.

Free Online Poker FAQ

What is the best free online poker site?

According to our latest survey and market data, the best all-free online poker site is the World Series of Poker mobile poker app. In terms of hybrid sites (those where you can choose to free and real money poker games), the world's best poker site in 2020 is still PokerStars.

Can you play poker online for free?

You can play free poker games in various forms. You can use a no deposit bonus to play real money games and tournaments (e.g. the one at 888poker), open an account on a hybrid site to combine play money and real money games (e.g. PokerStars), enter a freeroll tournament, or download a free mobile poker (e.g. WSOP Poker).

In what states can you play online poker?

As of January 2020, the only states where you can play online poker in the United States for real money are Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

To know what operators offer legal online poker games in these states, check our pages dedicated to PA Poker Sites and NJ Poker Sites. Also, you can follow the legislative process and know when more states are likely to regulate online poker via our US Poker Map.

Best Texas Holdem Free Online

The WSOP Poker app is legal in all US states.

Best Online Texas Holdem Poker

Additional Readings

Best Online Texas Holdem Game

  • PokerStars freeroll events (PokerNews-exclusive): full list of online, free poker tournaments available only to the readers of PokerNews.com.
  • The best poker app in 2020: a complete overview of the top free poker apps available today with tips to play the best games of Texas hold'em, Omaha, and more.
  • Best online poker sites in 2020: all the top websites to play online poker in 2019, ranked from the most beginner-friendly to the hardest ones.

This article was originally published on Feb. 17, 2017. Last update: November 28, 2019.

Best Online Texas Holdem Sites

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Free Online Texas Holdem Poker Sites

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