Anyone can create a home setup for playing poker online. Only things you are required to do are a few clicks, a little of your time, and that is it. A well-organized home can be great fun. It does not matter if it is virtual; it cannot stop the winning spirit. In fact, you will have a number of options at your disposal, in fact, some of them can be really hard to set up in the physical world.
In this article we will be discussing how to play poker with friends online. We will be discussing two major platforms to help you set up after that we will discuss alternative ways to play poker online with your friends.
1. Select your Game Type and Platform
The very first and important thing you need to do is to select the platform if you are so keen to set up an online home game. According to searches, there are two major sites that offer this option: Pokerstar and 888Poker. Both of these are on the casino.org list of recommended online poker sites.
Both these rooms have good options for home gaming. Therefore, choose according to the preferences of you and your friends. Now before going into that part, you should consider the type of home game you would like to run. Select between a tournament and a cash game format type.
Tournament
Pros: It is Competitive
Cons: Players get eliminated
Tournaments are good fun to play as they bring out the competition spirit in you. Knocking out your friends from the game can be good fun. However, the drawback of the tournament is that people are bound to knock out; hence, the one who gets eliminated early will spend a lot of time not being able to play.
Thus, if you are not planning to play the second tournament, then it will be a really short evening for your friends who were elated to play with you. Therefore, you should look at setting up these tournaments as rebuys. At least for the starting levels. In this way, if someone gets eliminated early, they can get back in the game and play again.
2. Cash Games
Pros: Much fun if you are not experienced, you will never be eliminated.
Cons: Games are not taken seriously.
Unlike tournaments, cash games are best for online home gaming because you never get eliminated in them. Simply, you can buy in again once you get knocked out. So for especially newbies, it is a great way to play. On the other hand, if there is nothing to lose, it is ok if you cannot play proper poker. One way around this is you can give everyone a bankroll, if you are playing just for fun.
For instance, if you are playing, you are having 2000 chips to play with. And they can use them as they like it, maybe by topping up or rebuying when they bust out. However, after the whole 2000 is gone, they can no longer play. Obviously, all these issues are not relevant if you play for the real money.
3. Set up online game with friends
Once you know that if you are playing for cash game or tournament, it’s time to set up and start inviting your friends. As discussed, there are two main options you would consider, and we will briefly go through both.
Pokerstars home game:
Pokerstars home games are still the leader in all online poker games. Therefore, without any doubt it is the number option for the people looking to start a private online poker game for fun especially.
888Poker Private Games:
After pokerstars 888poker is the second best option to consider. Where you can set up private games for free and enjoy playing it.
Alternative Options for online private play (Best for mobile players)
No wonder these options we mentioned above are good, but the restrictions they come with can be barriers to fun in home playing. Many people will only play poker for fun, and many will do it on their mobile phones. Therefore, it is good to have some backups. Nowadays, there are many mobile apps that are completely free to use, and made for people who want to recognize their strengths in poker.
These are generally free-to-use apps that are user friendly and let people use them the way they want to. PPPoker is such an app. You can download it on your phone for free. Simply install it on your phone and set up all types of cash game tournaments. PPPoker is the app that allows you to play virtual poker with your friends.
Pros and Cons of Online Home Games:
In online home games, you cannot physically gather people in a room and enjoy the game. However, the biggest advantage is that you can do what you love to do and have fun even while keeping distance. Additionally, it is advantageous because you will have more freedom to organize things and set up the game. So accordingly, as per your convenience, you can decide what you would like to go for. All the best.
