Online poker is everywhere at the moment.
Whichever corner of the United States you live in, you’re likely to have come across the debate. Should online poker be allowed under improving legislation? Revenue is on the increase, and many states find that their tax income benefits significantly from providers setting up. Outside of the debate, you might have seen the build-up for this year’s World Series of Poker, which will feature on television screens or taken in the film Molly’s Game. There’s no doubting it; poker is mainstream again.
It is also seemingly all about money; how much you could win, how much a state could earn, how much a celebrity can stake. Somewhere amid all the hype, there’s a great card game that doesn’t need to be about the greenbacks but instead be fun to play. It’s a game of skill, affected by chance and luck, but one that challenges you and teases you and keeps you going back for more. When it has so much going for it, why bother with money games? Why not just concentrate on the fun?
That’s where these great free-to-play or freemium apps come into their own. There are plenty of options for playing poker online for free if you wish; you just need to know where to look. Lucky for you, we’ve got you covered.
Governor of Poker 3
Governor of Poker combines the fun of gaming with poker in a free-to-play environment. You start by playing in the dusty bar rooms of the Wild West and slowly work your way up to the high roller tables of Las Vegas. There are mini-missions to complete and daily challenges to meet, all of which reward you with coins. Fear not, if you bust out, you can buy extra coins to play, which makes this a freemium game; free to play, but you can pay to keep going. There is a PVP Poker Tournament World Leaderboard to watch, and you can play with friends.
World Series of Poker
This app is a tie-in with the famous tournament of the same name and therefore is a polished and interesting poker experience. It’s been designed by Electronic Arts, who are famed for their sports franchises, and you can certainly tell when navigating the slick menus. There’s depth here, too; most apps only offer Texas Hold’em, but the WSOP game also delivers Pot Limit Omaha for players, a less popular but no less fun variant. You can even win virtual WSOP bracelets and rings.
Zynga Poker
Zynga Poker was the original Facebook poker experience, and as such, it has a dedicated fanbase already. It was rebooted in 2015 to bring it into line with a more modern audience, but it is still one of the best free-to-play games out there. Zynga has a reputation for making addictive, playable social games for mobile devices, and they’ve nailed it with their titles using Texas Hold’em as the core variant. It’s one of the busiest apps available, so you can always find games packed with other players, and there is a Jump Poker mode, where you get a new hand every time you fold, that keeps the action fast and exciting.
If you do choose to play poker online, it might be worth your while brushing up on some of the wider pitfalls of being online, using our article ‘Dangers of the Internet’.