Best online poker sites of 2023 - pokerlistings

Play Online Poker Here

Still looking for a legit online poker site? You've come to the right page. On this site you will find honest, accurate reviews of all the major poker rooms online today. Our experts have played at every site you see reviewed here so we can give you an unvarnished take on each one. We also keep our blacklist of scam sites that you should avoid at all costs. If you're new to the game, we'll teach you how to play poker, too, so really this is the only online poker site you'll ever need.

Best Poker Sites 2023

18+ | Play Responsibly | T&C Apply

Our Poker Site Reviews

More Poker Rooms

Our team has played at every major poker site around and written up firsthand accounts of their experiences. If you want to read about specific features (like , or ) or compare multiple rooms at once, use the following list to navigate our extensive database of poker site reviews.

_

casino free credit no deposit

What Is the Best Online Poker Site? - Our Pick:

The best poker site for you depends upon which kind of player you are. If your main concern is finding the softest games and the biggest pools of beginners, for example, our online poker rankings might be different from someone looking for the most challenging games and toughest competition. All the top online poker sites in 2023 listed above offer plenty of those as well so there is no single "best" poker room. Each one caters more towards one type of player than others though. If you're not sure which one is right for you check out our guide below or click the "Play Now" link on this page to open up a completely free poker account and explore the software yourself. It takes basically no time to open an account and you can always add money later if you like it.

The Best Online Poker Sites Are:

When we rate the best online poker room for real-money players we look at a number of factors including overall reputation, player traffic, software security, software features, customer support options, payment method options, regulatory oversight, promotions and bonuses, loyalty rewards, game variety and many other factors. No one online poker rating system is perfect but ours is based on decades of experience playing internet poker online for real money. We would encourage you to sign up for more than one poker room to take advantage of sign-up bonuses and find the games and play style that you prefer. There are simply too many variables when it comes to skill level, game formats, stakes and personal preferences to say without a doubt that one poker room is clearly better than another.

Best Real Money Casinos in USA (2023) - Top US Casino Sites

As you may have noticed, online poker is not illegal everywhere, either. In fact, tons of countries allow residents to access online poker rooms and even compete in national or international tournaments. As long as you’re of legal age and not a total moron about covering your tracks, pretty much everyone can join the fun. Just make sure you know what the laws are where you live before getting started. If you're in the US, don't sweat it - it's fully legal and regulated in many states. See our pages about online poker in California, Florida, Texas and New York for more info on state-specific laws.

 Top Sheet - Summer 2023

The following list details some of the key points of information we use to compare online card rooms and rate them accordingly. This is by no means a comprehensive list but rather a “top sheet,” the information we use to do our initial comparisons of various operators. When we review an operator in full we dive into the details of each bullet point. For the purpose of comparing card rooms at a glance, however, this top sheet works quite well.

• - Reputation of the company and safety of the site
• - Traffic levels compared to competitors
• - Number of ring games, MTTs and sit & go’s offered
• - Tournament variations (regular, turbo, hyper turbo, heads up, etc.)
• - Speed of play (if applicable)
• - Quality of competition
• - Average skill level of competition
• - Softer competition (play money players, micro stakes, etc.)
• - Features such as rebuys, bounties, shootouts, etc.
• - Average pot size across all tables
• - Size of highest pots (biggest wins)
• - Rake on cash games
• - Rake on toursnaments
• - Effective outs rake (bad beat jackpots, etc.)
• - Total rakeback % given back to players
• - Bonus offered to new players
• - How often bonuses roll over ([how many x the bonus before withdrawable])
• - Loyalty rewards outside of rakeback ([VIP trips, WSOP seats, etc.])
• - Software features offered (four color deck, betting sliders, etc.)
• - Customization options for layout/graphics/etc.
• - Automatic Top pair or better only ([APT]) option on tables
• - Automatic Straddle ([Blind straddle)] option on tables
• - Anti-collusion software used
• - Average delay in withdrawals
• - Methods available for withdrawal
• - Customer service options ([email, phone, live chat]))
• - Availability of customer service ([24 hours a day?]]
• - Regulatory agencies that license the card room
• - Licenses on display and easily accessible on site
• - Added segregation of player funds from operating capital
• - Promotions offered besides sign-up bonus ([Freerolls, Step tournaments,] etc.)

Best Online Poker Sites Ranked - PokerListings

There are certainly other aspects to consider but these bullets serve as a good starting point for comparing card rooms and figuring out which ones are worth creating an online poker account for. We’ll be using this list and more as we continue to review the top online poker rooms for real money players.

Check out our individual reviews to see how we score each poker card room in all these categories and more. Or just head straight to the best online poker sites below:

 How to Play Online Poker

Playing poker online for real money is very similar to playing in a land-based casino or a home game. The goal, obviously, remains the same. The rules are pretty much the same, too, although there are some subtle differences between variants. Learn more about all the different . Basically, though, you're trying to make good poker decisions, manage your stack (or profit) well and, hopefully, be standing when all the chips are counted.

Below we've laid out a beginner's guide to getting started with online poker. If you're already familiar with the basics of the game you can probably just skip to step #4.

Step 1) Choose a Poker Room - There are a ton of great online card rooms out there. All the major ones (and even most of the minor ones) are safe bets, malware-free and offer a nice welcome bonus. We recommend signing up for more than one to compare and take advantage of different playerpools. Check out our online poker site reviews to get a feel for each one's strengths and weaknesses and remember you can always add money to your account after you register for free.

Step 2) Create Your Account - It takes basically no time at all to set up an online poker account. Most sites will ask you to provide some sort of government-issued ID (driver's license, passport, etc.) plus some utility bill to verify your address. This is all standard Know Your Customer (KYC) stuff to prevent fraud and underage gambling. Most sites will also ask you to choose a user name. Don't be an idiot and choose an obvious password. You might lose all your money.

Step 3) Make a Deposit - To play online poker with real money you're going to have to put some in. Most sites will match your deposit with a bonus of some sort so it's worth taking advantage while you learn the ropes. There are lots of different ways to fund your account but credit cards and electronic transfer are usually the easiest. It may take a few days for your first deposit method to clear so plan accordingly.

Step 4) Pick a Game - Most new online poker players start out in the lowest stakes Texas Hold’em cash games or tournaments. That’s cool. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. In fact it’s the smart move since Hold’em is generally considered the easiest poker game to play well to make a profit and there’s nothing wrong with starting small. That said, if you’re looking to learn quickly you may want to try a simpler variant like PLO or even peer6 (the closest you’ll get to heads-up War).

Step 5) Learn the Controls - Every poker client is slightly different but they all have pretty intuitive interfaces nowadays. Generally you just use left-click to make selections (fold, call, raise, etc.) and right-click to bring up a text box for chatting. If you’re not sure what something does hover your mouse pointer over it. Most clients will display a tooltip explaining what it is. If you get stuck most sites have tech support available 24/7.

Step 6) Find a Table - One of the nicest things about online poker is being able to survey all the game options at once. Most clients display a graphical table selection screen of some sort where you can see all the open games arranged however the software designer saw fit. Look for games that fit your criteria (size, format, blinds, etc.) and click “buy in.” Some sites will default buy-in amounts so you can just click straight “join” buttons.

 Tropicana Casino Review NJ ✔️ Bonus Free Spins 2023

Step 7) Have Fun! - Playing poker online for real money can be stressful but it should still be fun. Remember why you started playing in the first place. Set aside some money you can afford to lose and try to stick to it. Embrace the dealers shuffling and dealing the cards at random. They’re not doing it to hurt you. Neither is the . Embrace the swingy nature of the game and enjoy the ride. If you're winning, withdraw some profits and call it a day. That's called "quitting while you're ahead." It's a good idea to practice that often more than not in poker. 

Types of Real Money Poker Games

One big difference between live and online poker is the variety of games you can play. While you might only see Texas Hold’em, Omaha and maybe some Stud spread at your local card room, you’ll find dozens of different online poker game variants at any hour of the day or night online. Here’s a quick rundown of the most popular types of poker you can play on the Internet with real money.

• Texas Hold’em - By far the most popular poker variant online, Hold’em is a game of betted community cards. Players make their best five-card hands using any combination of their own two hole cards and the five board cards.
• Omaha - A game closely related to Hold’em, Omaha requires each player to be dealt four hole cards rather than two. Players must make their best two-card hand using exactly two of their hole cards. Most forms of Omaha are also played as “Hold’em” in that the best five-card hand uses three of the community cards.
• Omaha Hi/Lo - Also known as O8 or Omaha 8/19, this is a game with both a high and low best hand. To qualify for half the pot as the low hand, a player must have two cards five or less and none higher. Many forms of Omaha Hi/Lo use a Joker to represent every suit as the true low ball value.
• 7 Card Stud - A game with individual holes, 7 Card Stud sees players develop the strongest five-card hand they can from seven cards. Players are dealt two hidden cards (called hole cards) and one face-up card. Additional face-up cards are dealt in subsequent streets along with one more hidden card.
• Razz - Technically the third poker variant on the WSOP Main Event ballot, Razz is the lowball version of Seven Card Stud. Players attempt to make the lowest possible hand and straights and flushes do not count against you.
• 5 Card Draw - A poker variant primarily found in freeroll tournaments, 5 Card Draw is a non-positional game in which players have one shot to bluff or not after they draw new cards. Popularized in movies and TV, 5 Card Draw is quickly falling out of favor online due to its high level of skill vs reward.
• Mixed Games - Not a single poker variant per se, mixed games are composed of several different poker forms. Popular mixed games include HOSE (hold’em, Omaha, 8-or-better Stud and 5-Card Ride), Dealer’s Choice (where a single player acts as the dealer, choosing a game from a rotating menu) and 2-7 Triple Draw (a difficult triple draw game with limited action after draws.).
• Fast Fold Poker - Not necessarily a variant, fast fold poker is a technological innovation that lets players fold their hand and immediately be moved to a new table and seat with a fresh hand and new opponents. Popularized by Tabless Pternge, fast fold poker variants are available at almost every major poker site today.
• Short Deck Hold’em – A newer variant, short deck hold’em is the same game you love but with all twos, threes, fours and fives removed from the deck. It’s sometimes called “6 Plus Hold’em.”

Tournaments

In addition to cash-game options (heads-up to 9-handed, 6-max and full-ring), most variants are also available in multi-table and single-table tournament formats. Sit-and-go’s start as soon as nine players are seated at the table while Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs) have a scheduled start time and thousands of players.

Most online poker sites also feature weekly or monthly online championship events with huge guaranteed prize pools. The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is the granddaddy of them all but Independent Poker Network (IPN) rivals runs highly respected weekly championship events of their own. The PokerStars EPT tour also offers frequent online Championships satellizations for.

Read More:

Freerolls

A is a poker tournament that doesn’t cost anything to enter but offers real money prizes. Typically used as loss leaders to attract new players to an online poker site, most freerolls have a very large field and slim prizepools. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play them, though.

Not only is it impossible to go into negative equity when you’re not risking any money but many freerolls offer tickets to bigger tournaments as prizes. Winning a $10 freeroll might not seem like a big deal but if that $10 gets you into a $100 tournament where you win $1,000, that’s solid result.

Many freerolls are also restricted to certain demographics (depositing players, VIPs, etc.) but most poker sites run daily or weekly free tournaments that are open to anyone.

Related Reading:

Sit & Gos

are the yin to the tournaments’ yang. Whereas tournaments have a set buy-in and start as soon as a full table’s worth of players have registered, sit-and-gos start as soon as nine or ten players have clicked “register.” Most sit-and-go’s are single-table events but you can also find multi-table sit-and-gos (with a max. of 270 players) and Sit-and-Go Jackpot (SPINS) games with just three players per table.

All sit-and-go’s play to a fixed number of paying positions. Common payouts include top 3, top 5 and top 7 payouts but you can also find some that pay down to sixth place or even bubble sort style (first place only). Turbo and Hyper-Turbo sit-and-go’s have rapidly increasing blind levels to speed up the action (and reduce the duration) of the tournament.

Read More:

Guaranteed Tournaments

Also called , this form of poker tournament is essentially a hybrid agreement between the poker site and the players. The poker site guarantees the tournament’s minimum prize pool (often times 2x the number of buy-ins) (eg. If 100 players buy into a $20+$2 satellite at $22 each, the prize pool will be at least $2,200).

If more players register than the guarantee, the overage goes to boost the final prize pool. Satellites typically award tickets to larger buy-in events but may also offer cash prizes or even a mix of cash and satellite tickets.

usa online casinos real money

Related Reading:

Free Poker Online

No money poker online isn't hard to find as the vast majority of real-money sites also offer tons of free games to play. From to treasures beyond measure, you could literally spend years finding all the freeroll poker online.

That said, most freerolls are very tough these days as many professional and amateur players grind the free games for real money in bigger fields. Still, it can't be argued that freeroll poker tournaments and cash tables are at least a good way to learn the game and pick up some tactics and strategies from others.

Another good source for free poker online lessons is integrated poker coaching tools like PT4's Equilab. These training tools let you replay actual hands from your database and then run simulation to see how professionals would have played them.

Read More:

Poker Tournament Entry Fees

Entry fees for online poker tournaments tend to be much lower than their live counterparts for several reasons. First off, there are no rentals, food or travel expenses. Secondly, online poker sites don’t have the same amount of money tied up in infrastructure, staff, licenses, etc. as brick-and-mortar casinos and corporations like the WSOP.

That said, mega online poker tournaments like PokerStars WCOOP and iPoker RSV are quickly closing the gap on the big Live tournaments with buy-ins in the $10,000-$25,000 range. Satellites are, of course, available for a fraction of that.

Read More:

Poker Bonuses

The best online poker sites understand that they have to work for your business so they offer lucrative sign-up bonuses to incentivize new players. Almost all real-money poker sites online offer a matching sign-up bonus on your first deposit (typically 100%).

That means if you deposit $50, you get $50 in free bonus money. That bonus will then roll out over a certain number of hands, months or years depending on the weighting scheme.

Weighted ratings systems mean you need to play (or pay) more often large hands or months to unlock the full bonus. Flat ratios give you instant credit for hands, play or months but usually only roll out the full bonus within the first couple months.

Play-Through Requirements

Regardless of the rating scheme, you will almost never receive your sign-up bonus up front. Even the best online poker sites make you earn it through some form of play-through requirement.

The industry standard play-through rate is currently 10X but some poker sites have lowered that to 3X or 5X to remain competitive. Play-through requirements dictate how many hands, raked games or raked dollars you need to play/pay to unlock 100% of your bonus.

For instance, if you received a $50 sign-up bonus with a 10X playthrough you would need to generate $500 in rake (hands you played in which you paid some to the house) or $500 in raked dollar of play (flat rating). Most players view flat rating as the most fair because it allows experienced players to instantly unlock their bonuses.

New players who are unfamiliar with rake should be wary of rake-based schemes as they may unwittingly unlock their bonuses in a matter of hours or days only to get raked away the remaining value over the next year.

Read More:

Freerolls as Sign-Up Bonuses

Another common sign-up bonus is the freeroll. Rather than grant instant access to a new poker room, many sites instead opt to grant access to free tournaments. These tournaments are technically freerolls since there’s nothing to purchase in the first place.

These are excellent opportunities to sample a new poker site and, potentially, walk away with some real-money poker online winnings. Keep in mind that if you like the site and the software enough to make a deposit, there will likely be more freerolls available to you as an added bonus.

Casinos Owned by Trump That You Didn't Know He Had a Hand in

Read More:

Referral Bonuses

Referral bonuses allow you to grab a little extra change for your poker site troubles. If you enjoy promoting your favorite rooms to friends, families and strangers on the internet, referral bonuses can put a few bucks in your pocket when they sign up and make a deposit.

Exactly how much money you get for each successful referral varies from site to site but many offer as much as 20% of the first deposit made by your friend. That money is usually deposited directly into your account as soon as the friend hits the minimum deposit amount.

Some sites also require the friend to enter your username during the registration process in order to activate the referral bonus.

Read More About Poker Bonuses:

Tips for Choosing a Site

It can be overwhelming trying to choose a site to play online poker for real money but the truth is most of the major players offer a similar experience these days. That didn’t use to be the case but a decade of intense competition has forced smaller poker sites to improve their software and playerpools to survive.

So, if you’re looking for the best online poker sites, what should you actually look for? It depends what’s important to you but here are a few pointers to help guide your decision.

• **Where do players say is the best site to play online poker?
  • Overall, players cite a site’s player pools quality and size as the most important factor when considering whether or not to play there. Strong traffic equals more games at all limits and stakes, at all hours of the day/night. Other factors include software features, bonus payout, software stability, customer service, high-stakes MTT and cash-game effectiveness, overall value and the strength of the site’s recreational player base.
• What should I look for in a poker site?
  • Everyone’s situation is different. If you’re an elite SNG player, for example, you’ll want to find a site that has soft players and great selection of Spin & Goals. If you’re a novice Hold’em cash-game player, perhaps you should focus on a site with soft players and easy to beat casual players.

• Why are some poker sites not on the list?
  * There are lots of sites we can’t recommend for one reason or another. Some haven’t earned reaccreditation from the UKGC or another major regulator. Others have had serious security breaches or failed to pay players in a timely manner. Still others are white labels running on somebody else’s license without proper oversight. If a poker site isn’t licensed in any major jurisdiction, that should raise red flags.
  * We can’t speak to every online poker site in operation but we do stay up to date with most of the major players and a handful of the minor ones. Safety should be your number one priority and if we can’t vouch for a site’s credentials, we won’t risk our readers’ money by pointing you in that direction.

Read More:

25+ Best Casino Table Game Bets with Great Odds - View Payouts

Why Play Online Poker for Real Money?

Online poker has been around in one form or another for more than 20 years now but it’s hardly remained stagnant over the past two decades. The invention of the world wide web allowed for revolutionary changes like and multi-tabling, which transformed the game from a largely passive endeavor to a job requiring incredible feats of multitasking.

The advent of the smartphone has also brought about a revolution in mobile gaming, allowing players to get a quick hand or two in anytime, anywhere.

Best Poker Sites - Editor's Pick

18+ | Play Responsibly | T&C Apply

Convenience

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of playing poker online for real money is convenience. You can log on and play a few hands while waiting for your flight to take off or between meetings at work. You can even play poker online while sitting at a poker table in the casino.

Most people’s access to bricks and mortar poker venues is limited to annual vacations or road trips with friends. Even if you live in a poker hotbed like Las Vegas or Montreal, you’re limited to the number of games offered at a single venue.

boca raton casino

Live poker also requires significantly more effort and resources to participate in. Whether it’s the cost of travel, tipping the dealer, buying in for an arbitrary chip denomination or the constant pace of live play, live poker puts significant barriers to entry for those looking for a relaxing night in.

Variety

Online poker also affords players access to a much greater variety of games, tournaments and playing styles. Walk into almost any casino and you’ll be lucky to find more than Texas Hold’em and Lowball games. Online poker sites, meanwhile, dedicate hundreds of tables to lesser-known variants like Omaha, Stud, 32 Draw, Five Card Draw, Badugi, Pineapple and more.

Tournament players also benefit from the increased variety available online. A major poker site may host dozens of different tournament formats on any given day with buy-ins starting at $0.11 and scaling up to $10,000+. Good luck finding more than two or three Hold’em and Omaha tournaments inside a 100-mile radius of your house.

Soft Fields

Call us naysayers if you must but we think the quality of play online is generally considerably lower than you’ll find in a brick and mortar casino. That doesn’t mean every online player is worse than the average live player but it does mean the dumb fish/wolf dynamic is greatly amplified with all sorts of bad actors in the predator role.

First of and foremost, there are just more new players at the online poker tables. People from all over the world who might never have considered playing poker in a public setting are happy to give it a go from the privacy of their own homes.

On top of the new players, you’ve got professional poker players, sports stars, rich amateurs, bankroll challengers, simulated players and bots to fill out the fields of the average online poker tournament or cash game. Sure, there are plenty of excellent online players too but they aren’t all aggregated in one quiet hi lo game at the Trop.

Most Popular Slots in Las Vegas Casinos (and Online)

They’re scattered amongst the entire field, giving even lowly novices a chance to win some money.

Various Promotions

Real-money poker online is a competitive business and acquiring new players is expensive. To offset some of those costs, poker sites run a veritable buffet of poker promotions for their new and existing players.

From massive new player packages tofreerolls and leaderboard races, there’s always a chance to score some free coins without improving your fundamentals one iota. Most poker sites also offer relatively attainable bonus clearing goals and run frequent one or two week burst periods to push players towards unlocking the full value of their sign-up bonus.

Comp points race are another common promotion at most poker sites. Comp points are usually earned at a rate proportionate to how much rake a player pays. However comp point races flip that ratio on its head and award points based on how much play occurs in a given window. This encourages players to engage in more and varied poker activities rather than simply playing as much cash as they can.

Read More About Playing Free Poker Online:

Potential Downsides

Nothing in life is perfect and online poker is no exception. Though it has evolved dramatically since the turn of the century, online poker does still have a few drawbacks that separate it from the live game.

Trust and Security Issues

Unfortunately, trust and security issues are very real concerns for the modern online poker player. High profile incidents involving Absolute Poker, UltimateBet, Full Tilt Poker and account sharing have taught us that even the biggest brands can fall at the security hurdle.

Making matters worse, many online poker sites operate in a legal gray area or outright violation of local and national gambling laws. Because online poker games aren’t subject to the same degree of direct human observation as live games, it’s very difficult to root out cheaters, collusion and unfair practices.

Software advances like HUDs, seating scripts and tracking apps are also a double-edged sword that have increased transparency in some areas while muddying the waters in others.

Despite all this, we believe that reputable poker sites have far more stringent standards and protocols than shady ones. Working with trusted regulatory bodies like the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, Malta Gambling Authority and Panama Gambling Commission, legitimate poker websites offer more protection for their customers than ever before.

Players Can Appear Less Personable

This isn’t really a negative from a pure merit standpoint but it’s worth mentioning regardless. Due to the impersonal nature of online poker, some players feel less inclined to tip the dealer or talk to their fellow players.

We would argue that the chat functions at most major poker sites are perfectly adequate and it’s easy to find streams or recordings of hands you might have seen play out live. Plus, freerolls and other special promotions sometimes go a long way to making up for the lack of tips (a percentage of the rake generated by a player).

Ultimately, tips and conversations at the table are nice but they aren’t essential parts of the poker equation. Indeed, tips only go to the dealer and don’t punish poor play in any way. Engaging conversations with other players can be enjoyable but, again, they don’t do anything to improve your poker experience.

of The World's Biggest Casinos (Outside of Nevada) - Casino Consultant

More Difficult to Determine Integrity of Random Number Generation

We included this one under cons mostly because it’s such a contentious issue. When online poker first hit the scene, many players were skeptical the random number generation (RNG) algorithms being used could truly produce a random card every hand.

Third party companies were hired to test the RNG software and regulators began auditing poker sites to ensure everything was on the up and up. Today, it’s universally accepted that the RNGs used by major poker sites are truly random and in no way biased toward or against the house.

The introduction of raked pots and the inability of outsiders to see every card dealt to every player at all times have raised new questions about transparency in recent years but the RNG has stood the test of time and continues to function properly.

Read More About Playing Free Poker Online:

How to Choose Which Game to Play

With so many to choose from, deciding which poker variant to play can seem like a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be difficult, however. By asking yourself a few simple questions, you can narrow the field fairly quickly and find a poker variant you’re comfortable competing in.

What Do You Hope to Get Out of the Game?

Are you looking to challenge yourself with a more complex poker variant? Perhaps you’ve gotten decent at Texas Hold’em but you’re ready for a new challenge. Variants like PLO, Crazy Pineapple or 2-7 Triple Draw may be exactly what the doctor ordered.

Maybe you’re just tired of Hold’em and fancy a change of pace. Games like Badugi or Low Chicago might scratch that itch. Whatever your motivations, understanding what you hope to get out of learning a new poker variant is a good first step.

Do you want to expand your skills? Have fun? Impress your friends? Once you have an answer, you can begin researching poker variants that meet those needs.

Fanduel Casino Games You Need to Try in NY - Is Fanduel Gambling Good?

How Do You Prefer to Weight Your Decisions?

Every poker variant places different weights on different pieces of information. In general, poker variants that deal every player the same number of cards weight the pre-flop stage more heavily than flop-based games.

That makes games like 7-Card Stud and Razz more reliant on your ability to evaluate ranges based on upcards and your memory, respectively. Flop games like Texas Hold’em and Omaha put more emphasis on your reading of the flop and turns proficiency at running computer simulations in your head.

Games like Badugi and Irish Poker weigh all four or five cards dealt to you equally. Meanwhile, peer pressure games like Berzelius Putz weight the opinions of other players at the table more heavily.

Understanding where your poker skills lie can help you choose poker variants that complement your strengths rather than expose your weaknesses.

What’s the Social Component Like?

Depending on the social component of the game, you may interact with your opponents more or less frequently than in Texas Hold’em. In games like 7-Card Stud and Razz, there’s a natural ebb and flow to the social interactions at the table.

During the early streets of a stud hand or the door cards in lowball, conversation tends to flow naturally as players discuss outs, chances and prospects of victory. On the flipside, heads-up hands in flop games or the turn in a game like PLO or Badugi can be incredibly tense moments with little room for extraneous chat.

Poker variants that deal every player the same cards, like Discard games and draw poker variants, tend to have fewer moments of natural interaction. Instead, players will often wait until the end of a street to speak in order to reveal or discuss their hands.

Can You Adjust to Changing Scenes?

Not to get all hippy dippy on you, but are you a go-with-the-flow kind of person? Certain poker variants are more prone to swings than others. Any game that deals multiple cards or allows draws or redraws has inherently more variance than a flop game like Hold’em.

Discard games like Nine-Nine Limit No Peek and A-5 Lowball Triple Draw can be incredibly volatile thanks to players having to decide whether to keep or replace their initial hand. Drawn games, meanwhile, can see extreme swings due to players seeing multiple flops and getting repeated shots at