Top 5 Real Money Online Poker Sites 2019 (+ Casino.org Freerolls)

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Online poker sites review by our experts - get winning tips and strategies to make the most of your
gaming experience.

Our experts have reviewed the best online poker rooms so you can make your first deposit with confidence.
Read on to get key tips, learn the game variants (from real money Texas Hold'em to Pot Limit Omaha) and
start playing stakes from mere cents to thousands of dollars. And the best part? With online poker, you can
play at any time from the comfort of your home.

The Best Online Poker Sites

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Win Rate:
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Support:

Up to $5000 welcome bonus

24/7 online customer support

New tournament events every day

Progressive slots up to thousands

$4500
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97.81%
Win Rate

1-3 days
Average Payout Time

$2000
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97.64%
Win Rate

8 days
Average Payout Time

Slots.lv Casino

Casino.org’s Weekly Freerolls

Most obviously, it’s possible to win significant sums of cash if you play well and/or get lucky

Offers a risk-free environment in which you can practice your skills

You can make use of a welcome bonus and earn loyalty points while you play

Try out different variations of poker that you may not be familiar with

Many players will only show their true colors, by bluffing for example, in a game where cash is involved

Enjoy a more laidback approach to poker, maybe making a few friends along the way

Get a bad beat or make a careless mistake and you stand to lose real money

Impossible to win any real cash prizes, with the possible exception of freeroll tournaments

Obscure variants might not have as many tables available for play as you would like

Since there’s no cash on the line, players won’t necessarily behave the same way as in a 'real' game

How We Choose the Best Online Poker Rooms

To determine what makes a great poker room, all sites we review are subject to the following strict criteria:

Trustworthiness

A poker room that takes an overly high rake or has a poor reputation for fairness will immediately raise red flags with us. Poker is no fun if the odds are unfairly stacked against players, so we’ll never recommend a site that we don’t believe is worthy of your trust.

Freerolls & Bonuses

Bonuses and other 'added value' promos, such as freerolls, can go a long way towards padding your bankroll and helping you to stay in the action for longer. We look for sites that regularly offer great bonuses and extras, for players both new and old.

Range of Games & Tournaments

Although Texas Hold'em is the bread and butter of many online poker sites, we’ll always check to make sure that they have other options available, and that they offer tournaments with a range of buy-ins and blinds that make it possible for everyone to take part.

Mobile Play

Playing poker on your smartphone or tablet might not be as essential to you as it is to some players, but an effective mobile offering (whether that takes the form of a dedicated app or a slick mobile site) is indicative that a poker room keeps up with trends in modern technology.

Payout Speed

There’s nothing worse than landing a large cash prize and having to go through a lot of back and forth trying to get the site to pay out. If you’ve won it fair and square then you should be able to cash out quickly and easily. We’ll never recommend sites with a poor reputation for paying out.

Popularity

Traffic is really important when it comes to online poker rooms. Without a steady flow of players, you’ll end up playing at half empty tables or potentially struggling to find any games at all. We don’t want that to happen, so we always like to check if a site has plenty of players for you to challenge.

The Overall Performance

Our highest-ranking sites have scored well in all these sections - they’re safe, have plenty of well-frequented tables available on mobile or laptop/desktop, and pay out in a timely fashion. They are, at least of those poker rooms we’ve come across so far, the best places for players to hit the tables.

View our recommended casinos

Study your opponents - online poker is about playing people, not cards

Although physical tells are eliminated in online poker, carefully watching your opponents’ betting habits will tell you a lot.

Multi-table to increase your play volume, and your winnings

Poker fans know that folding is something you’ll do a LOT. Playing at multiple tables keeps boredom from setting in, just don’t take on too many at once!

Play at micro-stakes for just a few cents - you can't do that in live casinos

Enjoy all of the thrills of real money poker and hone your skills without the pressure of a high stakes game.

Use our exclusive Casino.org freerolls to boost your bankroll at no risk

You rarely get something for nothing, but if you get lucky in one of our freeroll tournaments, you can win a cash prize!

Arguably the most popular form of poker in the world, it sees players using two hole cards and five community cards to construct the best hand they can with several rounds of betting.

Players try to make the best hand possible using five cards, with the option to replace some of their cards in a draw phase. This variation is the basis for standard video poker games.

In Omaha High/Low (or Hi-Lo as you may see it listed), players combine two of their four hole cards and three of five community cards to make two separate five-card high and low hands.

Once as popular, if not more popular, than Texas Hold'em, this stud poker variant sees players
creating the best five-card hand from the seven cards ('two down, four up, one down') they’re
dealt.

Much like Seven Card Stud, players are dealt seven cards and must make a five-card hand from them. Here, however, the aim is to create the lowest hand possible.

A multi-game form of poker, HORSE is constructed of cycling hands of Texas Hold'em, Omaha High/Low, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud High/Low Split-Eight or Better.

Poker Hands

If you're looking to play real money card games online, Texas Hold'em is where you should start. But what
are the key things that an aspiring World Series of Poker champion needs to know? Let's have a look at some
tips to get you started.

Starting Hands

You'll only get two cards at the start of a hand, so make sure they're both strong. It's much easier to play
a pot with a strong holding, particularly when you're starting out, as it negates any chances of getting
into sticky situations. If you know you're beat even when holding a good hand, you shouldn't be in the hand
- simple.

Even a new player can make a lot of money from micro and small-stake games online by playing a tight, solid,
ABC game. If it's a good hand and a good situation, play it. If you know you can't win and the other player
isn't going to fold, just muck your hand to fight another day.

So, what's a good starting hand?

Obviously, high pairs like A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J and 10-10 are worth raising with, particularly in late
position.

A-K, A-Q and A-J, all suited, are more examples of strong hands you want to raise with pre-flop.
They're also good hands for making Continuation Bets with, i.e. if you've raised pre-flop and have
hit a flop that doesn't really help you (say, the three cards are all below yours) you may want to
lead out with a bet to portray strength.

Next come the medium strength hands, like K-10, Q-10 and J-10, and medium pairs like 9-9, 8-8 and
7-7. They're all good raising hands, depending on position and the dynamic of your table, but can
also be called with in an aggressive pre-flop betting round.

Finally, marginal hands like 2-2, 3-3, and A-9 are all decent hands for calling with pre-flop if in
late position. You may disguise your hand by hitting trips (three of a kind) on the flop, then you
can start to be aggressive.

The beauty of online poker is that no two tables are alike. If you have a particularly tight table
you can mix things up by expanding your starting hand range to exploit weakness. For most beginners,
however, a solid game with strong starting hands is sensible, if a little dull to start off with.

Learn Pot Odds

For example, let's say you hold a pair of fours at the start of a hand. To hit another 4, making a set, on the flop your odds would be around 7.5 to 1. You know this because there are only two other cards you need (2 out of 52), you hold two yourself, and the other players hold two apiece.

If you're not going to make more than 7.5 to 1 on your bet by playing, it's not worth playing; the 'pot odds' are not good enough for you to call. So, if the pot had $25 in it, and you had to bet $5, your pot odds would be 5 to 1: not enough to make the call.

Let's say you make the call anyway, and the flop misses you entirely, coming J-K-2. Your chances of hitting that 4 just went up, as there are fewer cards to come out. However, the action gets a bit crazy post-flop and you're being offered around 10 to 1 on your money to make a call, knowing that your hand odds are about 9 to 1. Now you DO make the call.

Think your starting hand is all that stands between you and a juicy pot? Think again. Poker is all about
where you're sitting in relation to the action, and Texas Hold'em is no different.

Late Position

If you're in late position (as in the last or near last to make a betting decision) you will get a good
chance to see what everyone else does before you. Half the table may have folded their cards, or a
couple of players may have just called a bet. If you're last to act you may want to punish such
passiveness with a raise.

Play strong hands in late position, but mix it up with marginal hands like Q-10, J-9, A-9 and so on in
an unraised pot. Plus, your aggressive play before the flop can add credibility to any strong play you
might want to use on the next round if a garbage flop falls and you want to try a steal. Be ready to
fold your high pair if you get a lot of action with a threatening flop.

Early Position

Conversely, if you're in early position, such as after the big blind or next to them (Under the Gun, or
UTG+1), you should stick to playing with strong hands that will hold up to raises. It's all well and
good raising A-10 UTG but what if a player re-raises you from late position - what are you going to do
now? And if you call, you'll be first to act after the flop has been dealt. You will have no idea what
the player in late position is going to do after you.

Some players advocate not even playing ANY hands in early position, but if you do, make sure they're
decent.

Advanced Tips

You could spend a lifetime mastering poker, but many experienced players will be able to read other
players' moves - especially online - and call out bluffs just with well-timed aggression.

Online poker lends itself perfectly to the improving player as there are so many resources out there
for Internet gamers. You also get to play more games and see more hands than live players do, which
really accelerates your learning.

Playing Multi-Table Poker

If you're looking to play seriously, learning to multi-table poker online is a key element of your online poker career.

Multi-tabling simply means loading up your screen with as many real money poker tables as you can possibly
manage at once. Many pros will play between 16 and 24 online poker games simultaneously - whether they're cash
games, Sit 'n' Gos, or tournaments - as this allows for faster play, more volume and a higher ROI (return on
investment). Also, if you've signed up to one of our recommended poker rooms with a deposit bonus, multi-tabling
will ensure a faster play-through of any real money bonus you want to activate.

Learn Good Bankroll Management

As much a vital tip with online poker as it is with live betting for cash, make sure you have your bankroll
sorted before you start playing for real money.

It's easy to have dollar signs appear in front of your eyes and want to dive into that $50 tournament or $5/10
cash game. But if you don't have the funds behind you if things go bad, you'll quickly go bust.

The best advice is to set aside a certain amount of money you're prepared to bet with. If you take a hit, drop
down the levels, build your bankroll back up, then make a jump up the stakes if you're comfortable.

As a rule of thumb, when playing cash games you should have 20-30 buy-ins set aside (especially if you're
playing more than one table). For tournaments, a bankroll of 50 buy-ins is sensible. This way you can handle the
swings and reload without any worries.

Invest in Tracking Software

Finally, and this is particularly for you cash game fans, consider buying some tracking software. Heads-Up
Displays (HUDs), such as PokerTracker 4, sit on your poker room's software and allows you to track other
players at your table. It's invaluable if you're planning on taking detailed notes on regular opponents.

Free Hand Rankings Chart

See the strength of your hand with our downloadable poker hand rankings chart. Quickly understand where
your hand sits within the game and whether you should raise or fold.

Click 'Get Your Chart' to download now - you'll soon know your royal flush from your full house, and be
able to make fast decisions based on the cards you're dealt. While this is perfect for online poker
fans, you'll find physical casinos and poker rooms frown on players having cheat sheets and guides on
the table when they are playing.

Get Your

free chart

to poker Hand Rankings!

Poker Glossary

Action

Player's turn to bet, raise, or fold

All-in

Committing all your chips in a poker hand

Backdoor

A draw requiring two connectors or same suited cards to complete

Bad Beat

An unlucky loss against the odds

Bankroll

Amount of money a player sets aside for poker

Big blind

Mandatory bet before cards are dealt (by player after two seats after button)

Blind

Mandatory bet placed before cards are dealt

Bluff

Bet or raise without the best hand in order to induce an opponent's fold

Board

Shared or community cards

Bubble

Player eliminated before the money in a tournament

Burn

The card the dealer discards before dealing community cards

Button

Seat where the dealer is sitting

Call

Bet the amount of another player's bet

Check

Choosing not to bet but stay in the hand

Continuation bet

A bet made post-flop by player who bet first pre-flop

Drawing dead

When a player cannot win the hand, regardless of community cards to come

Fish

An inexperienced or bad player

Fifth street

The final community card, or river, dealt out

Flop

The first three community cards dealt

Flush

A hand consisting of five cards all the same suit

Fold

Throwing away your hand

Fourth Street

The turn card

Full house

A hand consisting of three-of-a-kind plus a pair

Freeroll

A free tournament with no buy-in and a pre-determined prizepool to be won

Freezeout

A game without a re-buy option

Gutshot

Uncompleted straight requiring one card

Heads-up

A poker game between two players only

Kicker

A highest unpaired card in a hand used to break ties

Limp

To call the big blind pre-flop

Loose

A reckless or aggressive player

Monster

A very strong hand

MTT

A multi-table tournament

Muck

To fold a hand without revealing hole cards

Nuts

The best possible hand

Offsuit

Hole cards of different suits

Outs

The cards remaining in the pack that can complete a winning hand

Overpair

Holding a pocket pair higher than any possible using community cards

Play the board

Using all community cards to create hand

Pocket pair

A pair in your starting hand

Position

A player's turn in betting order

Rags

Terrible opening hand, like 7-2 offsuit

Rainbow

A flop consisting of cards of different suits

Raise

To bet more than the previous bet

Rake

A percentage of pot taken by cardroom

River

The fifth and final community card

Satellite

A tournament awarding entry into a larger tournament

Set

Three of a kind including a pair in the hole

Showdown

Two or more players revealing cards to decide a winning hand

Side pot

Extra pots contested after a multiple all-in

Sit and Go

A tournament that starts once all seats are filled (normally a single-table tournament)

Small blind

Mandatory small bet before cards are dealt (made by player seated after button)

Straight

A hand consisting of connecting cards

Split pot

An equally divided pot for tied hands

Top pair

A pair including a hole card and the highest community card

Trips

Three of a kind including only one hole card

Turn

The fourth community card

Under the gun

The first player to act before the flop

1998

The first online poker site, Planet Poker, is launched, with real money Texas Hold'em games available.

2003

Chris Moneymaker becomes the first online qualifier to win the World Series of Poker Main Event. He had qualified for $80 on PokerStars.com, winning his entry into the $10,000 showpiece.

2006

The US Congress passes UIGEA - the Unlawful Internet Enforcement Act - banning financial transactions to online poker sites.

2011

Black Friday - The Department of Justice shuts down the sites of five of the biggest Internet poker sites for money laundering. Many American online players lose their funds and some are still waiting for them to be returned.

2012

There is a huge boom in mobile gaming, which many online poker sites take advantage of. This means players can now play on-the-go for real money on their smartphone and tablet devices.

2013

The world's largest poker website, PokerStars, deals its 100 billionth hand. States in the US begin to launch their own intra-state online poker sites, with Nevada's Ultimate Poker the first to emerge.

2014

The first interstate poker compact is signed. This agreement allows online poker players in Nevada to play real money games with players in Delaware.

2015

Anthony Spinella wins the first ever online World Series of Poker bracelet.

2016

A platform migration takes place where Full Tilt Poker is merged into PokerStars, making it even bigger.

2018

Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey governments agree to allow player pooling. A three-state online poker compact goes live on May 1.

Casino.org Verdict

Poker is one of those games that might take just a few minutes to learn (well, some basic rules anyway) but, with so many different variants to pick up and quirky tactics being employed by other players, it can take much longer than that to master. It’s our hope that the tips and information above will stand you in the best stead possible when you play.

When you’re ready to jump in, maybe after a little practice in free play first, the sites we list on this page all represent great options for established and brand new players alike.

The best way to find safe poker sites on the web is to follow the links on this page. We recommend only the most highly regarded rooms on the net so you won't be left cheated out of your valuable funds.

As long as you've got a decent PC, Mac or smartphone you can easily enjoy real money poker
in 2019. You will also need a good Internet connection in order to avoid any issues
while playing.

Every poker site will provide a software client for you to download from their website.
Download the software, create a real money account and log in to start playing. Some poker rooms also
offer a 'no download' version so you can play on their site via your web browser, without
downloading big programs that clog up your hard drive.

Yes. Most good poker sites offer 'free to play' games where you can try out the various games for free before making a real money deposit. Most big sites also offer daily freerolls where you can win cash without paying to enter the tournaments. Casino.org also hosts a number of exclusive weekly freerolls for its visitors.

Yes. Mobile gaming of all kinds has exploded in 2019,
and you can now play poker via your smartphone or tablet on many major poker sites. The graphics may
not be quite as good as your desktop, but you can't beat it for convenience and poker on-the-go.

If a poker variant has been invented, chances are you can play it online. While Texas
Hold'em is the most popular poker variation out there, Omaha and Stud are catching up in terms of
popularity. A lot of online rooms will also offer games like Razz (a type of Stud where the lowest
hand is the winning hand), 4-max, 6-max and Heads-Up Hold'em.

In tournaments you'll receive chips to play with. In a freezeout tournament, when you've run
out of chips, you are out. Rebuy and re-entry tournaments are becoming more popular. They allow you
to re-enter or rebuy your place (with real money) back in if you run out of chips.

Cash games
allow you to sit down with a minimum or maximum amount, and you can leave the game whenever you like
. The blinds remain constant throughout.

In No Limit games, there's no maximum bet that has to be placed - as long as you have chips in front of you, you can raise as much as you want. Limit games prohibit betting above a set limit at any time. Pot Limit games, most notably Pot Limit Omaha, allow you to raise only the amount of the total pot at any time.

Originally attached to the 2006 Safe Port Act, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) prohibited the means to place bets online. This meant financial transactions to online poker sites - although NOT the actual playing of poker - was banned.

While there have been many cases of cheating and collusion in online poker, major sites in 2019 are above-board and totally legit. The biggest rooms are independently audited and regulated to safeguard players' funds and provide a risk-free playing environment.

It's often said that for beginners, poker is 70% luck and 30% skill, with those figures reversing for skilled pros. While luck plays a big part in online poker, there's an incredible amount of skill in making money at the game, in betting strategy as well as psychology, bluffing, and aggression.