Best Sites to Learn How to Play Poker Online

We're lucky -- we live in an age where we can learn to play poker on our computers, sitting in the comfort of our homes. No hour-long drives to the casino; no smoky, booze-soaked cardrooms; and no smelly dudes sitting three feet away. We've got access to hundreds of different poker sites online. We can pick and choose where we want to learn. We don't have to abide by the tyranny of our local casino. That's all well and good, but with so many options, where to start? With so many poker rooms to choose from, how do we separate the good from the bad? And how do we know which sites are the best to learn poker on?

Is Learning Online Poker Easy?

I used to get intimidated by the enormous variety of poker sites online. What's more, I had heard all sorts of stuff about how online poker players were really good, how I'd have a hard time at the tables, and how I should just stick to play money games to avoid losing my house. Had I taken these things to heart, I might not have learned poker at all! But I took the dive, head-first, and am glad I did. Nobody is 'really good' online. I didn't have a 'hard time' at the tables. And I still have a roof over my head. Everything I had heard turned out the be the opposite of reality. Poker is an easy game if you play at one of the soft poker sites. The only hard thing about it is learning the rules, and even that only takes about five minutes.

Don't doubt for one second that you can easily learn to play poker. And take it from me -- you'll be much better off learning online as opposed to in a casino.

Why Learn to Play Poker Online?

For starters, you'll see more hands per hour online than in a brick and mortar cardroom. Online poker is inherently faster than live, because it's easier to click a button than to shuffle chips and read stacks. The faster pace means you'll be exposed to more poker situations in a shorter period of time playing online. This will make you a better player in the long run.

Second, playing poker on a software client is much more convenient than playing at a live table. In a casino, you'd have to memorize chip values and learn all sorts of arcane casino-specific rules. Online software displays bet amounts and stack values in plain-old number format -- so easy to read! I can't stress enough how helpful this is when you're learning.

Third, you've got all the resources you can find on the net available to you when playing online. You can keep a poker table open on one half of your screen, and a starting hand chart on the other half. You can search Google if you run into tough situations. You can vent about bad beats to your friends via IM. I could go on and on about all the benefits to playing online. But I'd end up writing an entire book. Suffice it to say that the best poker sites to learn poker online beat out the best casinos any day.

3 Important Factors: Easy, Appealing, and Fun

Once you've made up your mind to learn the game online, it's time to pick a site. This doesn't have to be hard, or intimidating. Just ask yourself the following three questions about any poker site you come across:

1. Does this poker site look easy to use?
2. Is this poker software visually appealing?
3. Does this poker site look like it's a fun place to play?

Factor 1 is pretty simple. If a poker site looks confusing or complicated, what's the point? When you're just learning how to play poker online, you don't need all sorts of fancy features to deal with. You just need a simple, sensible poker client that will help you ease into the game. I found 888 poker to be one of the easiest poker sites for me. Everything I needed to get started was basically available on one screen. I just downloaded the client, clicked the link to register for an account, and boom! I was done.

Factor 2 boils down to personal preference. You're not a professional grinder, so you don't need to put up with crappy software just because the games are 'good.' Pick a poker site that agrees with your aesthetic sensibilities. In this regard, I found Bovada Poker to be the clear winner. The table layout is very simple -- no distractions. Bet amounts are clearly labelled, action buttons are prominent and visible, and the games flowed smoothly. Bovada almost won me over with its well-designed software (I chose 888 though, in the end.) Try both sites, and see which you prefer.

Factor 3 is, again, a matter of personal preference. Does a prospective site look like fun to play on? If you aren't having a good time -- especially while you're learning to play poker online-- you won't want to stick with the game. So if anything about a site puts you off, try a different one!