When it comes to “Playing for Keeps”, as many poker players call real money poker, there are certain things that poker players should be looking for in an online poker room.

First and foremost you need to play at an online poker site that offers the games and stakes you intend to play; you’d be surprised how many players join an online poker site only to learn they don’t have any Omaha 8 or Limit Holdem action!

Secondly you want a site with a strong player base, good promotions, a solid reputation, and quick reliable deposit and cashout options. Unfortunately there are very few online poker rooms that can meet all of the above criteria, but we have discovered three specific sites that we consider the best online poker rooms for real money play. To jump straight in at the deep end, check out our list of the best real money poker sites specific to your country. We have tested each of these sites with rigour to ensure they are worthy of a listing on our site.

Top Online Poker Sites For Real Money Play In United States

Playing At An Online Poker Room For Real Money

When players make the switch from play money poker to real money poker they have to understand one very important thing; the game is no longer for fun regardless of the stakes you are playing! Each
one of your opponents is trying to do the same thing: TAKE YOUR MONEY!

This is why when you play for real money you need to have all your ducks in a row, and make sure you are taking advantage of every opportunity like finding the deposit bonuses, the softest games, the best VIP Programs, and more.

By choosing one of the above mentioned online poker rooms you can be sure you are getting the best of it, and making sure you leave no stone unturned.

How To Play Poker For Real Money

Many players start out at play money poker, and end up yearning for the added excitement of playing poker for real money. If you think play money poker is fun, to be perfectly honest, you have no idea how much added fun that you are missing with real money poker.

Players who make the move from play money poker to real money poker never go back to the play money games. Once you get a taste of real money poker you will discover why for yourself. It’s a completely different experience when those pots you rake in are real cash. The thrill of winning real money at poker is on a different level completely from just winning play money.

There is a lot of variety to choose from in real money poker. You can play cash games, where the money on the table is real, or you can pay a fee and enter a tournament, where the top finishers win real money prizes. There are also two different kinds of tournaments to choose among, the larger ones which run at scheduled times and have more players in them and bigger prizes, and the sit and go’s which generally are just one table, get over quicker, and start whenever the table is full.

Players decide how much they want to play for, from the smallest amounts to some very big stakes. With tournaments, you buy in for a certain amount, which is often the most you risk at it, although there are some where you have the option to buy more chips if you wish. With cash games, the stakes are set by the blinds with no limit and pot limit, and the small and big bets in limit, which are twice the blinds.

There are numerous other variations to choose from, such as the type of game, for instance Hold’em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, and so on. The format of the game also can differ, meaning a certain amount of seats at a table, the speed of the game, and so on.

These are just some of the variations that are offered to real money poker players, and whatever you are looking for, you can find it pretty easily at the better real money poker sites. Poker sites also make it easy for you to find whatever types of tables and tournaments you want, with their detailed filters, where you just select your criteria and the software displays all of the available games and tables that fit it.

In order to play real money poker, you of course need real money in your poker account at your chosen poker site. So you will need to make an initial deposit, and then can deposit more as desired. You can also withdraw money from the poker site whenever you want to.

Poker sites will also pay you bonuses to try out their real money poker, which is a great way to collect extra money while you are trying out poker sites. Many newer players have been helped greatly with these bonuses, and when the choice is to play real money poker somewhere and get paid to do it, or play real money poker somewhere and not get paid at all, you don’t get much easier choices than this in life.

How To Choose A Real Money Poker Site

Given that players new to real money poker don’t have a lot of knowledge or experience with it, and may not have any in fact, it is very important that you rely on the knowledge of experts in online poker such as ourselves to guide you. The quality of poker sites differ quite a bit, and there are a lot of things that go into reviewing them, most or all of which you’re not going to be in a position to decide without assistance.

A lot of newer real money poker players think that you can just look at the bonuses that various poker sites are offering and just take the biggest one. There are so many other things that go into deciding which poker sites are best though, and as far as the bonuses go, well you don’t need to be picking just one and in fact can take advantage of several, provided that the ones you do take advantage of are worth playing at.

A good poker site needs to have enough traffic, meaning enough players playing there that you can easily get in a game any time you want. If a real money poker site doesn’t have enough players when you want to play, you won’t be playing, or may have to play something that you don’t want. For instance you may have to choose a format that isn’t your favorite, or play for stakes too high or too low, both of which are far from ideal.

This doesn’t mean that you only should be concentrating on this, and some players think they should always be playing at the real money poker site with the most traffic. This is a mistake, as there may be other sites which have less traffic but still more than enough for you, but the games are easier to beat.

This is another big consideration in measuring the value of poker sites, which is the relative softness of the competition at a real money poker site. This is especially important if you are just starting out at real money poker, as you don’t want to be playing against strong players when you could be playing against weaker ones. However this is a very important consideration for players of all skill levels, including experts like ourselves.

There are a lot of other things that go into the evaluation process as well, including such things as a real money poker site’s rewards program, their reputation and reliability, their level of security, their promptness of payouts, their promotions, their customer service, and so on.

These things all matter, and in order to decide all of this properly, you not only have to be very familiar with everything a particular real money poker site has to offer, you have to be familiar with what all of them have to offer, in order to be able to compare properly. You also need experience playing real money poker at all of these poker sites, and if you’re looking to try out some poker sites, you obviously haven’t played there before, so you’re really not in a position to decide about it of course.

So as you can see it certainly does make sense to rely on our expertise here to show you exactly where you should be playing. I’ve seen this make a huge difference time and again with the results players get playing at one real money poker site versus another, especially with less experienced real money poker players.

Opening A Real Money Poker Account

Once you are ready to try out real money poker, you will first need to register with your chosen poker site. Even if you have had a play money account at a poker site before, registering for a real money poker account is often a different process, as they often need more information from you.

However, the amount of information that you need to provide them is pretty minimal, such as your name, address, date of birth, email address, and so on. Completing this application is a very easy process in fact. You will also have to be old enough to play real money poker, which is 18 years of age or older.

You will often see a box where it asks you to put in a bonus code. However, we’ve arranged for you to receive the top bonuses that our recommended real money poker sites offer, and if there is a need for a special code here, we will tell you, but this is generally not needed.

The final step in the process is to arrange to make your first deposit with them, and while different real money poker sites have different options here, all of our recommended ones offer a nice selection, and they will let you know which ones you can use and guide you through the process.

There are three main types of methods for making deposits at real money poker rooms, which are credit cards, direct bank transfers, and internet wallets. If you are planning on playing real money poker, it’s definitely worth your while to set up at least one internet wallet, and while there is generally a bit of a wait to get the thing set up, it is well worth the time, as these options are very convenient for both depositing and withdrawing at real money poker sites. However, it’s up to you which option you choose, and they make it all easy for you.

 

Real Money Poker In The USA

Most real money poker sites do not currently accept players from the USA, due to the actions that the U.S. government has taken in the past. However, there are still some real good options for Americans to play real money poker, which we have for you. This guide should be a great starting point.

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Justice has recently changed their stance on online poker, and now no longer holds that the Federal Wire Act makes it illegal. So this is expected to really open things up there, and players should soon have more options for real money online poker. For now though there’s absolutely no reason not to get involved with real money poker if you are from the USA, with our help in guiding you of course.

Real Money Poker In The U.K.

Real money poker players residing in the U.K. have many more options. The regulation of real money poker in the U.K. in fact serves as a model that other countries aspire to, and it’s probably the most organized of any country in the world.

If you are from the U.K., even with all of the different poker rooms that you can play at, you still can greatly benefit from the right guidance here, and in fact, with so many more real money poker rooms to choose from, it’s all the more important.

Real Money Poker In Canada

Real money poker in Canada is considered a grey area as the government has taken a completely hands off approach. So Canadians can play at any real money online poker site they wish these days, with no interference at all.

I’m from Canada myself and have been playing real money online poker since it first came out, over ten years ago, and I’ve done very well over the years. Much of my success is due to playing at the best real money online poker sites out there, and I’m always glad to share my experience and knowledge with newer players, or those looking to make sure they are getting the most out of their real money online poker experiences and in particular, doing as well at the game as they can.

Real Money Poker At Casinos

Land based casinos often offer live poker, and if you live in an area that has one, or a land based poker card room, you might want to check out the real money action there. However, real money online poker has several advantages over land based real money poker.

Real money online poker sites offer lower rake, which means that the house takes less money from pots, more convenience, a much bigger player base, no need for tipping, no travel involved, and more.

So all real money online poker sites have all of these advantages, but once again, it really does matter to be playing at the best ones, and that’s why we’re here, to show you the way. So all you have to do is select from among our list of the best real money online poker sites, and the rest is easy.