Online Poker is a card game played on digital platforms and offers a wide range of game options. Players compete for chips and participate in promotions to win real money. Many choose to play for fun and practice good sportsmanship, while others are professional players. The game requires a significant time commitment and can be very expensive if the player is not careful with bankroll management. Choosing a trusted platform with high security measures and user-friendly interfaces is recommended.
Online poker is a multi-billion dollar industry with numerous companies offering a wide variety of services. Players can play from a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. The software is easy to install and will run on even the slowest Internet connections. Most sites offer an option to download the full client or a “lite” version which has a much smaller memory footprint and is ideal for older computers.
Most online poker sites offer a variety of games but Texas Hold’em is the most popular. Some also offer other poker variations such as Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. The software also has different formats such as cash games, tournaments and Sit ‘n’ Go’s (smaller, faster tournaments). Players can usually find these in the lobby which is categorized by games types, stakes and other criteria. Most online poker sites also offer beginner tables which allow players to be seated with other players who have classified themselves as beginners.
Previous research has explored aspects of online poker play using qualitative methods such as interviews (Foss 2011; Jouhki et al. 2011) and self-report scales such as the ESP Index (Harris and Griffiths 2015). Other studies have leveraged the large datasets available through online poker by using novel tasks to explore poker expertise (Liley and Rakow 2010; Linnet et al. 2010; Seale and Phelan 2010).