So you’ve decided to try our poker skills online, but what do you need to make it happen? To play online you will of course need a computer with an internet connection. Almost any PC with an internet connection will be able to handle the poker software, however the more powerful and faster it is the better. As there will be less chance of you system crashing. However any computer made away 1995 should be able to run the program without any problems. Internet poker should run fine on either dial-up or broadband, however as with the computer itself faster is better. This my all sound very obvious, even to someone how has never seen a computer, however its worth mentioning. The most frustrating part of the online experience is lost connections and frozen software. So if you can upgrade your system before you start, you will certainly be minimising your risk. Once your hardware is set up and ready to go you need to download the software. There are now hundreds of poker rooms on the net. With the majority of players playing in one of around twenty five poker rooms. For reviews on these room check out http://www.pokercasinorating.com and follow the link to the site of your choice. Once you get to the site of your choice you will normally me faced with a bright screen with lots of fancy graphic. Somewhere within the see of colour will be a button that says ‘download’. Some of the site will even have a pop up box which will ask you if you want to download the software, while you continue browsing the site. Whichever way your chosen site works, click on the ‘Yes’ to begin the download. You will then be prompted with various boxes asking you questions about were you want the software downloaded to and what you preferences are. Once you have completed the download your Poker room will automatically load and you are almost ready to begin playing.
Once you have registered you will be able to select an avatar that will represent you at the table and also set up any number of other preferences according to the site you have joined. Your avatar is a graphic which will sit in your seat on the table. Most sites have a wide rang of graphics to choose from and you can be almost anything from a dog to an alien or even a piece of cake. You will also me able to store you bank details, so you can make payments into your account and the click of a mouse. Which also works the other way and your winnings can be sent directly and instantly to your account. During the process you will be asked to select your online name. This is an important factor in online play, one which is often overlooked by players. Your online name can tell other players a lot about you. You can also use it to tell players false things about yourself too. One method of this is to choose a name which says that you are new to this such as Newbie or Fishboy or perhaps that you are an experienced player like Pokerpro or Tournamentgod. It just depends on what impression you want to make. Another method would be to hide your identity so if you are a 250lb lumberjack you call yourself UKsue1985. The best method is not to give anything away. False information can be easily found out and your true nature and playing level will come out in the long run. Choose a name which does not give away your playing level, age, location, gender, name or anything else.
Play for free first. I can’t emphasize this enough. You must lay the ground work first, you can’t expect to come into this and start winning on your first go. Play for free then start off small work your way up to the bigger games. Ease into it become good for free then start to take peoples money. The play money rooms on the sites will almost be a mirror for the real money tables. They will have the same types of poker hold’em, stud, no limit or limit. Whatever game you are going to be playing for real keep to this on the free money tables, most poker players will specialize in one form of poker, this is because different poker playing styles work best in different games. Once you have found your game stick to it then master it on the free tables. If you are thinking about playing in tournaments then most sites have free tournaments starting at various times throughout the day. Even though they are free to enter these tournaments still have small cash prizes and are a great introduction to tournament Now assuming you have taken my advice you should now find yourself playing for free, just remember that players in the play money games don’t behave like players in the real money tables. That’s because of two reasons first they tend to be fishes and second they have nothing to loose. You can’t bluff someone if they will not lose anything. Don’t let this put you off the free tables, they are a vital part of the poker road to glory, you must get to know a site before you can win on it!