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To play at a casino site should be fun and entertaining where several online casinos have as objectives to make you smile. One of the casino sites that really have succeeded in this is Playojo.
The great thing about online poker is that it is accessible to all levels of players all with different budgets. From recreational players who like to play a few hands to wind down at the weekend to professional players who are out to win at high-stakes tables and tournaments for life-changing amounts of cash.
If you want to discover everything you need to know to get started playing online poker games you’ve come to the right place and you’ll soon understand why it’s loved all over the world.
Maybe you have played poker before with friends or even at a land-based casino, there are some noticeable differences between the online and brick and mortar games and we’ll discuss them further.
Online poker is the same as the standard card poker card game offered live but played on the Internet. It’s extremely popular and there are a large number of online poker sites to sign up and play at. Playing online you have the choice of a wide variety of games and betting stakes.
Poker is a game of skill and offers thrilling intellectual stimulus that other casino games such as slots and bingo don’t satisfy. Learning the basics is relatively easy and then you can go as deep into the game as you like, as you can play for low stakes playing online can be a great platform for gradually immersing yourself in the game without a huge bankroll needed.
Online poker casinos cater to both desktop players and those who use mobile devices such as iPhones, Smartphones, and tablets.
There are plenty of online poker sites that you can UAE poker enthusiasts can sign up to and play at but if you pick the wrong one at the very least you could have poor user experience with substandard or low-quality games and worst case you could lose your money. To save you time and any unhappiness our team of poker experts has found the best poker sites for 2020.
Our Poker experts judge the best sites on the following measures:
Totally legal and safe
We expect any internet-based poker site to be encrypted so that the player’s personal information and deposit are 100% safe. The site also should be licensed and regulated by trusted authorities. We expect the site to have a number of common payment methods to deposit and withdraw with. We expect top-notch customer service ideally 24-7.
Excellent User Experience
There is no excuse for a bad poker experience due to software or a slow loading website. The online poker sites we recommend are fast and offer a great experience to their players with excellent graphics and sound quality.
Great Game Selection
A rich variety of poker games is something we expect with different variants as well as real money low stake and high stake games. a single version of Texas Hold’em isn’t enough these days, when we play poker we expect plenty of choices.
Generous Bonuses and Offers
Online gamblers expect the best bonuses these days and won’t hang around if the bonuses or promotions don’t look impressive enough. For that reason, we always check the welcome bonuses and ongoing promotions and offers that they are offering.
Listed below are the Best Online Poker Sites for UAE Players in 2020
As with most gambling games, the history of poker goes back many centuries and there is no one theory of its beginnings. But the online game of poker does have roots that we can trace back as it has a much shorter history.
In the mid-nineties with the Internet first appearing in people’s homes, the first chat rooms were set up using Internet Relay Chat or IRC and it was Todd Mummert who In 1994 wrote the code for the first large-scale poker client. This was before the days of secure servers and online payment systems so the games used virtual money so essentially were the first free to play online poker games.
The first online card room to offer real money poker games was Planet Poker in 1998.
In 2003 Chris Moneymaker, an amateur poker player managed to qualify for the World Series of Poker Main Event through an online tournament and ended up winning $2.5 million. After this rags to riches tale, online poker started to see an upswing and with ESPN showcasing live poker tournaments and the continued technical innovations appearing online it soon caught up and overtook their land-based rivals. While the brick and mortar live casinos are still popular, online poker is the preferred method to play worldwide.
The actual rules of poker don’t really differentiate between the online and offline versions but there are some marked differences in other areas.
While there are many live poker diehards who wouldn’t dream of playing online, many of today’s poker players will play both online and offline and enjoy what both have to offer.
The quickest and easiest no-fuss way of playing poker is to play online, as long as you have an internet connection wherever you are in the world you are minutes away from being able to enjoy a game. There is no need to dress up or before in a certain way, you can just relax on a sofa and enjoy playing poker.
Playing online can be better for those on a budget, playing live at a casino will always entail extra unwanted expenses and you don’t get the same promotions and rake backs that you do online.
Online poker gives you much more choice in variations of games and betting limits with blinds of just a few cents and tournament buy-ins as low as $1.
Of course, there are downsides to playing online, the social atmosphere isn’t the same and you don’t get to see other players tells. Watching the mannerisms and behavior can often give clues to how they are going to play their poker game.
If you’ve played at a live casino or seen it played on TV at one of the big poker tournaments you’ll be shocked at how fast the pace of the game is online, it’s pretty fast! At a live casino, there is plenty going on to slow down the game, the cards being shuffled, chips being counted and so on. The online game is obviously slicker and for that reason, while a live poker game might be played at a rate of 60 hands per hour, online it can easily triple that amount.
As you have the ability to play so many more hands at online poker you can have a higher win rate. Especially as you are not tied to just the one table online and can be playing multiple hands at the same time.
Many people are under the illusion that there would be fewer distractions when playing online but in fact, it’s quite often the opposite. At home, there can be all sorts of distractions, friends and family interceptions, phone calls needing answering the list is endless. You could also fall for the fallacy that you are great at multitasking and watch TV or surf social media while you are playing which will be the biggest mistake of all. With the fast and furious pace of online poker, it’s very easy to mess up if you take your eye off the game.
If you go to any online poker site you will always find Texas Hold’em this is the most popular of all the poker games. If you master Hold’em then you can easily transition to other types of poker without much effort.
For this reason, we are going to teach you the basic rules of Texas Hold’em followed by the poker hand rankings that you’ll need to know.
If you haven’t signed up to an online poker site yet, then scroll up the page and choose one [or more] from our recommendations. This will ensure that you get to play at a trusted site with the best games and free bonuses.
Signing up shouldn’t take long, you just need to decide on a username and ensure that you have a strong password. Once on the site, you’ll need to add your personal details. You’ll want to spend some time coming up with a great screen name as this will appear when you are playing in poker games and you’ll regret it later if you do not give it a bit of thought.
Most poker sites will offer free games and real money games but you’ll need to make a deposit if you plan on playing for cash. All the best poker rooms will have plenty of options for depositing so choose the one most suitable for you. Once your funds are available you can then use them for real money games and tournament buy-ins.
Don’t forget to claim any welcome bonuses or promotions as this will give you extra bankroll to play with.
Take your time navigating around the poker room, maybe play a few free games or choose the sit out option and watch a few real games in action. Once you are ready to play for real money start off with the low limit poker games and increase your budget as your skills and confidence grow.
The most popular poker game in the world online and offline is Texas Hold’em if you’re new to the game or you haven’t played for a while and want to go over the basics then you’ve come to the best place. While it will take more than this article for you to master the game you can understand the basics fairly quickly.
The aim of Texas Hold’em is to win the chips from your rival players. To do this you need to either have the best hand or make all the other players fold. Using a combination of five community cards and two hole cards your goal is to make the best five-card hand possible.
Before any cards are dealt in Texas Hold’em the big and small blinds must be posted, these forced bets encourage further betting and get the poker action started. The big blind will usually be twice the size as the small blind. So if the small blind was $10 then the big blind would be $20.
When you are playing poker online you will see a disc with a D on it this is the dealer button, the player that is to the left of the button is the small blind and the player to the left of them is the one who must place the big blind. This button is important as it establishes the order of play moving clockwise around the poker table after each hand. This ensures every player gets to post the blinds.
After the blind bets have been posted the players are dealt two cards each, these are called ‘hole cards’. These two cards can only be seen by the players.
Betting Options
Texas Hold’em consists of four rounds of betting but before we explain them let’s discuss the actions you can take for each round.
Fold – When you fold you throw away your hand and quit the game and wait for the next poker deal.
Call – This is when you match the current bet of the previous player
Raise – You increase the bet
In this first round, the player to the left of the big blind starts the betting using one of the three options, fold, call or raise. So he can match the current amount of the big blind, raise or fold his cards and sit out until the next deal.
A further three cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the poker table, these cards are known as the flop. Once these cards are dealt there is a second round of betting, the next player can take the usual options to fold, call or raise or he can check. When a player checks they are taking no action for that moment if another player decides to bet the first player will then have to decide if to call, raise or fold.
On the third round, another community card is added to the table making a total of 4 cards, the betting continues the same as the previous round so players have the option to call, check, raise or fold.
The fourth round and a fifth community card is dealt followed by a final round of betting.
After all the excitement of the different rounds, the finale takes place and the players reveal their card hands. The player with the best five-card hand ranking combining his two hole cards and three of the community cards wins the pot.
Next up we are going to take a look at all the hand rankings in poker.
These are the poker hand rankings from high to low for the standard high-hand variations of poker such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud.
Royal Flush
This is an unbeatable hand in poker and is a straight flush made up of a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace all 5 cards must be from the same suit. This is an extremely rare poker hand and the probability of getting one is 0.0032%. If you ever get this poker score when playing for real money you’ll be celebrating for a very long time!
Straight Flush
This poker hand is five consecutive cards of the same suit and can only be beaten by a royal flush or another straight flush with a higher combination of cards. So a 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 straight flush would beat 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, irrespective of which suits were played.
Four of a Kind
In Poker jargon this hand is often referred to as ‘quads’. As implied by its name it consists of four cards of the same rank for instance 4 of clubs, 4 of diamonds, 4 of spades and 4 of hearts. If the poker game results in a tie then the player with the highest fifth card which is known as the ‘kicker’ will win.
Full House
This poker hand is made up of three cards of the same kind and a pair of the same kind. For instance Queen of Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs and Ace of Spades and Hearts. In the event of a tie, the stronger full house wins.
Flush
This is a poker hand of five cards from the same suit though they don’t have to run in sequence. An example of a flush would be 3, 5, 8, 9 and King of Clubs. The strongest hand would be an Ace-high Flush. If it comes down to a tie the flush with the highest-ranking card wins so 2, 6, 7, 9, Queen would beat 5, 6, 8, 10, Jack. If the players who tied have the same high card then it will be determined by the second-highest card rank and so on.
Straight
A poker hand that has five cards in sequence from different suits. Aces can be counted as low or high. So the lowest Straight would be 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace which is known as a ‘Wheel’ and Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten is the highest-ranking straight and is known as a ‘Broadway’. The cards can be from different suits but remember if you have them all from the same suit it’s a straight flush and is much more valuable.
Three of a Kind
As you likely guessed three cards that have the same rank and two side cards make up this poker hand. The strongest three of a kind hand in poker would be three Aces.
Two Pair
A pair of cards of the same rank and another pair of a different rank and a side card. For example Ace of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds, King of Clubs, King of Spades and a 5. This pair with two kings and two aces would be the strongest two-pair poker hand. In the event of a tie, the winner would be the player with the highest-ranked pair, if the players have the same pair it then goes to the second pair rank and finally the fifth card.
One Pair
This is a common poker hand and the probability of it appearing is reasonably high. It consists of a pair of cards with the same value and any three other side cards of different ranks. The highest one pair combination would be two aces and the lowest a pair of twos. If the situation results in a tie with the same pair then the highest denomination side card wins.
High Card
This is a poker hand that consists of five cards without any matching ranks, all the other poker hands above will beat it.
Be aware that different variations of poker will have different card values but if you are playing popular games like Texas Hold’em these are the ones to know. Next, we are going to take a look at some of the different variants of online poker available to play.
Badugi Poker – This is a fairly new draw poker game where the goal is to create the lowest possible 4 card hand with no two cards being of the same suit or rank which is known as ‘Badugi’. Aces are ranked as low so Ace, 2, 3, 4 from all four suits is the best card possible poker hand you can get in this variant.
Omaha Poker – Omaha is probably the most popular poker game after Texas Hold’em Poker and has many similarities. With Omaha, players are dealt four hole cards rather than just two as in Hold ’em. Though four cards are dealt only two of them are allowed to be used in combination with the three community cards.
Stud Poker – The main difference between stud and Texas Hold’em Poker is the lack of community cards, players are dealt hole cards face down and face down over a number of betting rounds. Stud poker has different variations, the most popular being 7-Card Stud. Others to check out are Mississippi Stud, 5-Card Stud, and Caribbean Stud poker.
Razz Poker – This is similar to 7-card stud, but your goal is to hold the best 5-card low hand possible from seven cards. Aces are low in this poker variation and the best possible Razz hand is Ace, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Horse Poker – You need to be a black belt poker player if you are thinking of giving Horse poker a try. This game mixes it up by playing each round with a different poker variant. Where does it get its name you might be asking? It happens to be an acronym that is made up of the first letter from each of these poker games, Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Eight-or-better.
Video Poker – One of the easiest variations of the game to play online is video poker. This is a simple combination of poker and slots usually played over two rounds with just the player against the dealer. The most popular version of video poker is Jacks or Better. The game is based on draw poker, you are dealt 5 cards and then given the option to hold any of the cards you decide to keep. A second-round is played and new cards replace those you discarded ideally making a winning final hand.
One of the most exciting games you can take part in online is a poker tournament, they have become increasingly popular with poker enthusiasts from all over the world. Poker tournaments can vary in size from ten players to thousands and with prizes in the millions.
There are various types of poker tournaments to play online
Freezeout – This is the most common type of poker tournament a player will buy-in and receives a stack of chips. If you run out of chips you are out of the game or on a positive note if you are the only one left in the tournament with chips then you win.
Rebuy – In a rebuy tournament you are allowed to buy chips during a certain period of the game usually the first hour. This is if your chip stake is at or below its initial amount. Some games will have an add-on time where you can rebuy even more chips if they are down. Rebuys can make the game a lot more fun as players are more willing to take a risk early in the game, the added funds from the rebuys can also make for a larger pot.
Satellite Tournaments – With this kind of tournament the prize is to get a seat in a bigger tournament this is how Chris Moneymaker got to win the World Series and come away with $2.5 million.
Bounty Knockout Tournaments – This is a really fun idea as long as you are the bounty hunter! When you buy into this type of tournament you pay a little extra and if someone gets knocked out of the game you receive an instant bounty in your chip stack.
Sit and Go Tournaments – Also known as SNG tournaments which only start once they have the required amount of players needed to join rather than a set time to start. These games are great for beginner poker players or for those who don’t have much time as they usually only last less than an hour.
Yes, most online poker sites will allow you to view games for free before deciding if to join in the game or not. It’s the perfect chance for a new player to gain knowledge by watching what other more experienced players do and also to get an understanding of the gameplay.
If you are going to play for real money you obviously want to be sure that your poker game isn’t rigged. All the best poker sites will be fully licensed, regulated and use RNG’s [ random number generators] to ensure fair and random outcomes when the cards are shuffled or dealt. If you scroll up the page you’ll see our list of the best poker sites available on the Internet.
This is what is known as multi-tabling and many poker players take the opportunity to play multiple hands so that they are able to play more hands per hour.
If you couldn’t we are sure it would be a lot less popular! How much you can win at poker will be down to the amount of skill and knowledge of the game that you gain as well as your tolerance to risk. We suggest to start with low stakes and get as much practice under your belt as possible. Having fun and winning real money is what poker is all about and that’s why it is the world’s most popular card game.
