Many people have preconceptions about the game of poker, viewing it as a seedy gambling game. However, in the past 10 years we have been witness to the rapid growth of the online poker rooms which have become a multi-billion dollar industry. To give you an idea of the scale of the sector; in 2009 the largest online poker site, Pokerstars, made more profit than Facebook. Contrary to what some people believe, poker is in fact a game of skill and there are many cases of young online poker players who have made millions of dollars simply by playing a game of their computers. This article will give some basic tips for those wishing to get started in online poker.
Which site to choose.There are many online poker sites so deciding which one is right for you can be baffling for a newcomer. All the sites seem to, on the surface, offer very similar first time deposit bonus's, usually agreeing to match 100% of the first deposit. So if you deposit 500 dollars you get 500 dollars free from the poker site. Sounds great doesn't it? However, there is, in fact, a huge difference between the different sites' offers if we look below the surface. You see in order for you to get your free money you must earn Frequent Player Points or Loyalty points in order to release your bonus in increments. There is also a time limit on how long you have to clear your sign up bonus with the least generous sites giving you a mere 30 days while the larger sites give you far more time. Full Tilt Poker gives you 120days and Pokerstars give you a whole 6 months to do it in.
RakebackThis is a term many people new to online poker will be unfamiliar with but it is incredibly important. 'Rake' is the fee charged by the poker site for playing on their site. Unlike casinos or bookmakers with a poker room or poker site the customer does not bet against the house, instead the customer bets against other players and the poker site just takes a cut of every transaction. This makes the rake extremely lucrative and is where the term "raking it in"comes from. Did you know, however, that when you sign up for a poker site you can get a deal where you get a33% of you rake back. You only get these offers when you first sign up for a poker site so make sure you get a Rakeback account if you can (this is especially important on Full Tilt Poker).
With this knowledge in hand you should now be able to go out an conquer online poker.
Which site to choose.There are many online poker sites so deciding which one is right for you can be baffling for a newcomer. All the sites seem to, on the surface, offer very similar first time deposit bonus's, usually agreeing to match 100% of the first deposit. So if you deposit 500 dollars you get 500 dollars free from the poker site. Sounds great doesn't it? However, there is, in fact, a huge difference between the different sites' offers if we look below the surface. You see in order for you to get your free money you must earn Frequent Player Points or Loyalty points in order to release your bonus in increments. There is also a time limit on how long you have to clear your sign up bonus with the least generous sites giving you a mere 30 days while the larger sites give you far more time. Full Tilt Poker gives you 120days and Pokerstars give you a whole 6 months to do it in.
RakebackThis is a term many people new to online poker will be unfamiliar with but it is incredibly important. 'Rake' is the fee charged by the poker site for playing on their site. Unlike casinos or bookmakers with a poker room or poker site the customer does not bet against the house, instead the customer bets against other players and the poker site just takes a cut of every transaction. This makes the rake extremely lucrative and is where the term "raking it in"comes from. Did you know, however, that when you sign up for a poker site you can get a deal where you get a33% of you rake back. You only get these offers when you first sign up for a poker site so make sure you get a Rakeback account if you can (this is especially important on Full Tilt Poker).
With this knowledge in hand you should now be able to go out an conquer online poker.
