How Many People Play Online Poker?

Poker is a popular card game played worldwide, and the statistics are staggering. To provide some insight into how many people play poker, the World Poker Tour (or WPT) states that from online poker alone, there are 100 million online poker players worldwide, with 60 million in the United States alone. In the UK, online poker is prevalent, although exact figures aren’t available. Online casinos offer a massive selection of poker variants, from Texas hold ’em poker and Caribbean stud poker to five-card draw. With virtual and live dealer options available, poker fans can play against the computer or professional live dealers in high stakes tournaments.

Playing Poker for Free And at Real Money Casinos

Playing online poker for money and for free both have pros and cons. At most reputable real money casinos, you can win significant sums of money if you’re lucky and play well, and you can use a welcome bonus and gain loyalty points when you play. However, many players show their true colours by bluffing in a game where cash is involved; moreover, you stand to lose money if you have a bad break or make a mistake. With free poker, you get a risk-free environment where you can practice and improve your skills. You can try different poker variations that you might not be familiar with and enjoy a laidback approach to poker. However, it’s impossible to win money prizes, except for a freeroll tournament.

UK Poker Market Regulator

UK Gambling Commission is the regulator of all online gambling activities in the industry. The regulator is responsible for streamlining sports betting, games of chance, casinos, and poker. The commission was founded in 2005 to regulate online gaming policies. Initially, the online gaming policies weren’t that effective as websites needed a physical location to get the UK Gambling Commission license. This motivated companies to move to tax havens like the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, and Malta. With this in play, the commission could not tax the companies. That essentially made it harder to resolve any disputes that would arise. With such hurdles, the commission changed the regulations in 2014 to include dispute resolution issues and taxation. That prompted companies operating in the UK to have a gaming license.

Popular Real Money Online Poker Games

Bonus Poker: Bonus Poker has been a casino staple for ages. You initially get five cards, and then you get to keep any or all of your cards, or you can choose to discard all of them. Once you select the cards you will be supporting, press draw, and you get new cards to add to the ones you saved.

Deuces Wild: The Deuces Wild option is typically available at any real money video poker casino in the UK. It’s easier to get a strong hand when you’re holding a deuce or multiple deuces.

Jacks or Better: is a popular poker game, and fun to play. You get five cards, and you need to hold as many as you feel necessary, then can be replaced by new cards later.

Deuces Wild: Deuces Wild has deuces that act as a wild card that replace all the others to create winning combinations. While the pay tables aren’t as generous, it’s famous for its fun, plus the different winning combos you can get through wild cards.

Double Bonus Poker: The game is also similar to Jacks or Better, and it functions on the same basic principles. However, one can enjoy the advantage of the pay tables, which offer higher payouts for getting four-of-a-kind. The game comes with a higher variance; however, your wins can be explosive whenever you land four aces.

Joker’s Wild: It’s not surprising that this is a game you can enjoy using an additional Joker card. The reason you’ll enjoy it is that the Joker is the Wild that can substitute all the other cards, thereby boosting your payout for winning hands.

Real Money Online Poker Tournaments And Mobile Poker Apps

Poker tournaments are exciting real-money competitions that online casinos provide for members. You can play by game type, buy-in options, and the number of participants. You’ll find online casino poker tournaments with guaranteed prize pools, low buy-in fees, large starting chip stacks, and robust blind levels. It’s by far the best strategy beginners can use. Poker apps are available at many UK online casinos. You can download and install the poker software to access your favourite titles and tournaments in one place. You can play no-download online poker on a mobile phone or tablet for real money instantly from a mobile web browser. Most online casinos work smoothly for Android and iOS users.