Real Money Online Poker

To stay competitive in a tough market, online poker sites are offering a better selection of real money games than ever before. There are dozens of online poker websites, and everyone recommends a different one. The problem is, how do we know which site is best for you? We don’t know what types of game you want to play, what stakes you want to play for, or if you prefer cash games or tournaments. Are you trying to win a seat into a WPT event? Does the VIP program matter to you? We can’t answer these questions for you, but we can help you figure out the types of sites that will suit you best.

How to Find the Best Real Money Poker Websites

Every online poker website is different. Some have a wide selection of sit & go tournaments, but are weaker in cash games. Some offer a great selection of Texas Hold’em cash games, but lack the traffic for a good PLO (pot limit Omaha) game. Some have great VIP programs, but lack the games you’re most interested in. To find the best poker site for you, think about what has drawn you to the game before you start to bet online. Is it the potential to play in the WSOP Main Event? Are you looking for low stakes cash games for a little night-time fun? Are you a professional player looking to improve your win-rate? Just because your friend prefers site A doesn’t mean it’s the ideal site for you. The content below is intended to help players find the best real money poker sites for their specific preferences.

Real Money Deposit & Withdrawal Options

First & foremost, consider how you want to make your deposits & withdrawals. If you don’t have a Visa credit card, think about how you want to move your money in & out of the site, and look for rooms that offer that option. Fortunately, most online poker rooms offer a wide selection of real money deposit & withdrawal options, including direct banking options, ewallets, and a variety of credit cards. Paypal is also popular with a lot of players, and accepted at a growing number of poker rooms.

Poker Game Variety

What games do you want to play? If you’re strictly interested in low-stakes Texas Hold’em cash games, they can be found almost anywhere. However, if you’re interested in medium-stakes, high-stakes, or non-Hold’em games, you’ll need to search around. Also, just because a site has a good player base for your preferred game doesn’t mean they’re the ideal site for you. How is the competition level? Some sites have weaker players than others, which can greatly impact your bottom line. In general terms, the bigger the site, the fishier the players. This is because big sites bring in a constant stream of players who are new to the game.

If you’re looking for 7 Card Stud, Omaha, Razz, H.O.R.S.E or another game, read through our poker room reviews to find sites that excel in those games.

Real Money Poker Tournaments

There is such a huge variety of poker tournaments now available that players can look around for those that best suit their style. There are all sorts of blind structures, starting stack sizes, and buy-ins. If you like short-handed tables, 9 or 10 handed tables, multi-table, or tournaments with thousands of players, they can all be found. There are also satellite tournaments for a lot of WSOP, WSOPE, WPT, EPT and other live tournaments as well.

Real Money Sit & Go Tournaments

Since sit & go poker tournaments are so popular, almost every poker website is offering something unique. Players can find bounty, double-or-nothing, deep stack, short stack, slow blind structures, fast blind structures, heads-up, short-handed, multi-table, all-in or fold, steps, and other varieties of sit & go tournaments. Tournament fees also vary, usually 5 – 10% of the buy-in. If you play a high volume of sit & go tournaments, you should be shopping around for the lowest fees.

Large Tournaments

For players looking to turn a small buy-in into a large payday, you need to be playing in tournaments with a large number of players. Needing huge player volumes, you’re more limited in the number of poker sites to play at. Some of the biggest real money poker sites have weekly tournaments with guaranteed prize pools of £250,000 +. Many of them have buy-ins of £100 or more, but also offer satellite tournaments for as little as £1.

If you’re looking for big online poker tournaments, rule out the smallest poker sites & networks. Essentially, you want to be playing at sites that everyone has heard of, or on a large network of sites.

Satellite Tournaments

As mentioned above, most online poker websites offer satellites for big, live tournaments. If you’re interested in winning a seat into a WPT, EPT, or WSOPE tournament, satellites can often be found for as little as £2. Satellites can be found in steps sit & go formats, multi-table sit & go’s, and large-field tournaments as well.

At most poker sites, when a player wins a seat into a live tournament, they receive the buy-in for the tournament, plus travel & hotel accommodations. For example, a seat into the $10,000 WSOPE Main Event would normally have a total prize value of $12,500 – $13,000. Some sites also offer their satellite winners fun bonuses like entry into exclusive parties & free poker swag.

Real Money Cash Games

Real money cash games come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but it’s important to find the right room for your preferred game. New players don’t realize the difference there can be between one room and another, potentially costing them a lot of money over the long-run. The quality of players at a room obviously matters, but there are other things to consider as well.

Cash Game Rake

To make money, online poker websites take a percentage of each pot. However, the way they collect the rake, and how much they take is what matters. For example, most rooms now have a no flop-no drop policy. This means that no rake is taken if the pot is won pre-flop. Since this has become industry standard at most of the big sites, there’s no reason to play at a site without it. Most sites also have their own way of taking the rake, with different ‘drops’ depending on the pot size. This means that one website might collect more rake when a pot hits £10, while another waits until £12. The later the drops, the more money the players get to keep. Over the course of thousands of hands, this can really add up.

The other thing to pay attention to in regards to rake is the percentage the house takes in the stakes you play at. At most real money poker sites, the exact rake percentage varies at different stakes levels. For example, site A might have a 10% rake on games up to £5/£10, but only 5% at a £10/£20 and above. Site B might have a 10% rake up to their £25/£50 games or even higher. Also, most sites have a cap on the rake, meaning the maximum rake they can take on any single hand is capped at something like £3 or £5. This is extremely important to know if you play medium to high stakes cash games.

VIP Programs & Points

Once again, most new players are unaware about VIP programs and how they can translate into money in your pocket. The first thing to know is, VIP programs aren’t just for high-stakes players. While high-stakes players do earn VIP points faster than low-stakes players, everyone can earn them and benefit from them. Almost every online poker site has some form of VIP program, but there is a wide variety in the benefits from one room to another.

Some poker websites only allow players to use VIP points to buy logo-covered junk from their poker store, while others allow their players to redeem points for cash or tournament tickets. Also, the speed in which points are earned, and the number of points needed to redeem prizes is different everywhere. So, it’s important to read the details about each VIP program if you’re going to be playing a lot of cash games. Why earn £1 per hour in VIP points if you can earn £4 per hour somewhere else? In medium and high stakes games, the VIP program alone can amount to thousands of dollars earned per year.