Poker and Casino Guide to respected online poker and casino websites

Poker

Online poker first started in the late 90's with IRC Poker played over the IRC chat network, soon after Planet Poker launched the first real money version. That saw a boom in online poker with numerous sites launching and hundreds of thousands of players joining in the action. In 2005 revenues from online poker were estimated at over US$200 million per month, or US$2.4 billion annually and still growing! It's never to late to join the fun, choose a site below, use the bonus code and jump right in.

Casino

The first online casino was launched in the late 90's along with poker, 888.com were amoung the first to offer real money gambling. The online casino industry has seen an even bigger boom in online gambling than poker with an annual profit of over US$5 billion. With all the major players in the industry now giving away sign-up bonuses 'bonus tarts' are now finding it more enjoyable as they have more dollors to play with. Grab your bonus code below to get started.

Hold'em – A Quick Look

Poker Books

Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variation played around the world. If you're just starting out, this is the easiest game to learn. Play in Texas Hold'em goes through four rounds of betting: pre-flop, on the flop, the turn and the river. Each of these rounds is described below in a separate section and we focus on limit poker. No limit has unlimited number of raises per betting round and the amount of the raise is also unlimited.

To start the hand, the deck is shuffled, the blinds are posted and each player is dealt two cards face down, called hole cards. Read more

Apart from knowing the rules and hand rankings you also need to learn about poker strategy, pot odds, implied odds and more. Read a few poker books while playing at the lowest stakes you can find. As your game improves increase the limits you play at.

The more you know the less you will loose, and then eventually you can become a long term winning player.

This selection should help you get started. Read More

7 Card Stud

7 Card hi/lo

7 Card Stud used to be the most popular variety of poker, until Texas Hold'em took its crown. It is quite different from both Texas Hold'em and Omaha and it requires a certain amount of patience. However, it's an exciting game that can be very rewarding!

Before a game starts, each player must post an 'ante', a mandatory amount that ensures there is some money in the pot. In stud poker games, there are no community cards. Instead, the dealer begins by dealing clockwise until each player has three cards. The first two cards are dealt face down ('hole' cards), the third face up (the 'door' card). Read more

7 Card Hi/Lo is very similar to 7 Card Stud, except the pot is split between a high hand (the same as in 7 Card Stud) and a low hand (which is based on five cards that start at eight or below - see our Rank of Hands page for more information).

Before a game starts, each player must post an 'ante', a mandatory amount that ensures there is some money in the pot. In stud poker games, there are no community cards. Instead, the dealer begins by dealing clockwise until each player has three cards. The first two cards are dealt face down ('hole' cards), the third face up (the 'door' card).
7 Card Stud hi/lo is divided into five rounds of betting, and the betting moves clockwise around the table. Read more

Omaha

Omaha hi/lo

In Omaha players receive four 'hole' cards that only they can see, and five 'community' cards are dealt that everyone can see and use. Each player must use two of their hole cards, as well as three of the community cards, to make their hand. The game is divided into four rounds of betting, and the betting moves clockwise around the table. Betting starts from the position next to the dealer button, which moves one place to the left after each hand. In online games including Omaha, the dealer button replaces the 'real' dealer. Read more