How to Play Online Poker – Guide for Beginners

Either because you have only played in-person poker or because you have never played poker at all, it is normal to wonder how to play it online. We have created this detailed but straightforward beginner’s guide with everything you need to know about bets, rounds, possible winnings, and even bonuses! Prepare to learn how to play poker online in record time!

How to Start Playing Poker?

Before starting the actual game, you need to know where to play and what rules apply so that you may enjoy the best of any room you enter.

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Find a Reliable Website

Your priority before playing poker online is to understand that you need a trustworthy website in which your odds are realistic and your winnings can be withdrawn. We have already sorted out the best online casinos in the Philippines, and we ranked them according to many parameters useful to start playing:

  • Safety and valid licensing for offering games like online poker.
  • Variety and quality of the games.
  • Attentive and qualified support.
  • Reliable terms and conditions.
  • Responsiveness and good user experience.

While you could screen different websites by yourself, it makes more sense to make good use of the reviews we have here. After you learn how to play poker, sign up to play on 22Bet!

Choose a Poker Variation

There are many different variations, and your choice has an influence on how you will play each poker game. While the rules differ only a little bit when you compare the most popular table poker games, there are other possibilities.

For example, you may gamble on live casinos, which means automatic rounds and paying attention to the timer. Otherwise, if you choose video poker, it is an entirely different game in which you try to create combinations of poker hands while sorting them like symbols in slots.

If you want to learn more about each variation before learning how to play poker, check out our page on online poker games.

Get Bonuses

One of the perks of playing poker on casino websites is to have bonuses, free chips, and other rewards available. Once you learn how to play poker, make sure to check for promotions before you even place your first bet. Sometimes you need to activate the casino bonus for it to take effect, and you do not want to lose that opportunity!

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How to Play Poker Online?

Finally, let’s detail how to play poker for beginners, focusing on the different stages that a regular poker game has. Notice that these apply to the most popular variations that are not too different from the traditional, like “Hold’Em” poker. After all, that is the most relevant format of all, and the one applied in most tournaments and individual games.
  • Place Your Bet
As soon as you open any poker game, you can select the chips and place bets by tapping on the table. Depending on the format and your position on the table, you are entitled to place a small or reasonable bet, to begin with. That is your entry. In games in which you play alone, you have nothing to worry about. When there is a full table of poker players online, you may place ante bets like everyone else or be required to place a blind bet, which is bigger, if you are next to the dealer. Once the bets are completed, you receive two face-down cards. Each player has the opportunity to raise the bet or let another player do it – the “check”. If you believe you have a hand that is too weak and do not intend to bluff, you may fold and recover part of your bet.
  • Community Cards
The first three community cards are dealt once the first round of bets is over. Those cards, as well as the other two that will be dealt on the table later on, can combine with your two cards to form a five-card poker hand. This is the first moment when you truly realize the capability of your hand when it comes to winning the game or not. At this point, everyone has the chance to make the same possible decisions again.
  • The Turn
The turn is the round in which the fourth community card is dealt and shown to all the players. There will be one extra card, so make sure to compare your hand with the four cards available so far and see if the chances of a big hand are relevant. Players take another round of decisions before the next final step, which has the showdown and decision afterward.
  • Final Hand
The fifth community card, called “river”, is dealt, and now everyone knows how relevant their possible hands truly are. Remember that you need to use your cards and community cards to form a five-card hand. It is still time for another round, and some players decide to fold at this point if they are not full of hope.
  • The End
It is time for the showdown, in which players who decide to stay end up showing their hand and what they form with it. The highest combination of cards according to the ranking of poker hand winds. Now, you know how to play poker!
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Play Poker With Bonuses

Unlike slots, favored by free spins and most casino welcome bonuses, poker does not always have available offers. It is more common to find tournaments with free entries or a promotion that gives you free chips to play live poker in a draw or competition.

“Whenever you find a bonus that applies or seems to apply to poker, you must check its terms and conditions before playing. The most important of all is to confirm that the wagering requirements accept poker bets, or else you will not be able to complete them.” – advice by Jason Anque, an expert casino writer at LuckyStarts.

Furthermore, because poker is not a game of chance but a game of skill in most variations, finding bonuses will remain rare.

Put Into Practice: Start Playing Poker

You now know how to play a poker game, from finding the right website to the rounds it is divided into. With time and experience, you can figure out how the poker rules that change from one variation to another may impact your decisions. For now, start with the traditional version on an online casino that you can trust!

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FAQs

No, you only need to learn the poker hand rankings by heart and make the best decision every round with what you have got.

Anyone who learns how to play poker can become a champion one day because it is based not only on luck but on skill as well.

There are websites specialized in offering those. On 20Bet, you may enter poker rooms and even participate in satellite events.

Yes, you may play poker for free. However, whenever we play a casino game for free, we are not entitled to any winnings.
Only if you receive a free entry with free chips, which will possibly come with wagering requirements that will require a deposit later on.
You only need to follow the steps shown here with real money!
Make a deposit on the casino website in which you wish to play and use those funds to place your stakes.
Find the “live casino” section of the website you chose. There, you will find several different rooms to play it.
You need to qualify for it by playing satellite tournaments and accumulating points.