Online Poker Guide

Online poker can be a daunting prospect for the new player. On the one hand you want to play online but on the other you are aware that it is an established beast with all sorts of software, games, language and etiquette that needs to be understood. Not forgetting of course that no online poker player wants to lose all their cash making silly mistakes!

The purpose of the Poker Sites.co.uk online poker guide is not so much to tell you how to play poker, but what to look for, to avoid even, and to make your chances of winning that much greater. Of course, in the guide you will also find books and online poker tool suggestions that will help you in your quest to become online poker king, but the primary aim is to let you compare poker sites, familiarise you with your surroundings and provide a “comfort factor” before you take your first forays into the online poker world. We also gibve you some basic online poker essentials and information on where to play online poker tournament qualifiers, including the World Poker Tour satellites and [WSOP] feeders.

This playing guide itself will not tell the experienced online poker player much more than they already know - but for the online poker newbie, there is some useful - in fact I’d say essential - information on the ensuing pages. There are currently 3 short, easy to read chapters in our online poker guide so delve in using one of the following links:

» #1 Online poker guide…
» #2 Online poker tips…
» #3 A Summary…

We have also launched a poker bonus section which highlights the highs and lows of the online poker signup bonus. It contains information for inexperienced players, plus pages on the biggest poker bonuses and the best poker bonus offers in terms of clearance criteria. The latest addition is an overview of poker sites that offer a flash poker room that you can play in your browser without the need to download online poker software to your PC - an option that may also appeal to poker players using Apple Mac computers.

» Poker bonus guide…

About Online Poker

In 2005, annual revenues from online poker topped the USD$2 billion mark for the first time. They continued to increase until October 2007 when the USA passed the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” which, while stopping short of banning online poker outright, put legislation into place with banks and online banking providers to make depositing at online poker rooms much harder for US residents. Online poker was originally played as far back as 1995 through IRC, before the glut of poker rooms appeared. It wasn’t long after that “Planet Poker” appeared, becoming the first online poker room.

And if you thought poker was a game of skill, think again! A high profile UK court case in January in 2007 decided that poker was classified as a game of chance.

Further information on the history of online poker can be viewed on Wikipedia’s online poker page.

If you’re looking for a particular type of poker site check our directory pages below to find the top sites in each category: