What is Online Poker?

Online Poker Guide

Poker is one of the most interesting and widely played games today. Poker can be played either in the casinos or on online venues.

Online Poker definitely refers to the game played over the internet. It has been responsible for a remarkable increase in the numbers of poker players worldwide.

According to the research group River City some 1.5 million people play poker online regularly for real money and that the number is growing by 100,000 a month.

Online poker is not something that you play by yourself. Although you may be sitting at home all alone, you're connected to a game server via the internet. Every Online Poker Game has at least two real people, while most have eight to ten. The larger tournaments have several thousand people all playing at once (at different tables, of course).

When you play Online Poker, you aren't playing against the "house". You don't make bets with the poker site. You make bets with the other people playing poker. The house (that is, the poker site) makes money by collecting a small fraction of each pot before awarding it to the winner. The house never gambles at all. This is very different from an "online casino", where the player and the casino are natural enemies. In the case of online poker, the house is a neutral third party.

Here's how it works. The ingredients are:

the poker web site - where you can find information about the games hosted by the site, the rules, promotions, upcoming events, and the place from which you download the poker client.

the poker client - the program you install on your own PC. It has a graphical display of the poker game showing the players and cards and has buttons you use to bet and fold. When you run it, it connects to the poker game server.

the poker game server - the central computer that hosts the poker games. The game server runs a computer program that acts as a dealer (shuffling and dealing cards and awarding pots), floorman (helping you find a seat) and cashier (handling chips and money). The game server ensures that all rules are followed correctly. The game server is the hub for all communication with and between the players.

the players - the people who are playing poker with each other. Each person is sitting at their own computer, running their own copy of the poker client, connected to the poker game server via the internet.

You can play online poker for play money or real money.

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