How to Play Online Poker With Your Friends
A poker game at home can be set up by almost anyone, especially online. You'll be set to go with only a few clicks and a little amount of time.
Even though a home game is virtual, it may still be a lot of fun, and the winner still gets to gloat about their accomplishments.
You'll actually have a wide range of alternatives available to you, some of which would be challenging to implement in the actual world.
This is our guide to playing poker virtually with buddies. To assist you with the setup, I will quickly go over two popular poker platforms. After that, we'll talk about other options for playing online poker with pals.
Step 1: Select the Platform and Type of Game
If you're eager to start an online home game, choosing the appropriate platform should be your first step.
To the best of my knowledge, there are now just two well-known websites that provide this feature: Which room you and your pals like to play home games in will depend on both of your personal preferences. Both rooms provide decent selections.
However, you should first decide what sort of home game you want to conduct, i.e., whether to host a cash game or a tournament, before proceeding on to that section.
Option 1: Tournaments
Pros: Competitive
Cons: Players get eliminated
Playing in tournaments is a lot of fun because it brings out the competitive part of you. It can be a lot of fun to bust your friend out of the game, and it will add to the excitement.
After all, at home games, conversation is just as important—if not more so—than the actual play.
People will inevitably bust in tournaments, and those who leave early will find themselves unable to play for a considerable amount of time.
You don't want it to end up being a very short evening for some of your pals if you don't intend to start a second tournament later.
Thus, for the first several levels at the very least, you should consider making these tournaments rebuyable. In this manner, if someone stops playing too soon, they can rejoin.
That seems like a far better alternative in my opinion than having someone evicted after fifteen minutes and making them miss out on all the excitement.
Option 2: Cash Games Benefits
Pros: More fun if you’re inexperienced – you won’t ever be eliminated
Cons: Games aren’t taken as seriously
Cash games are great for online home games because you are never eliminated, unlike competitions. For many, especially beginners, it's certainly a better option because you can just buy-in again once you bust and continue playing.
Conversely, players are not motivated to play proper poker if there is nothing to lose (that is, if there is no real money at stake). When it comes to their chips, they can be careless, seeking to build up a large stack and keep reloading as needed.
If you prefer to play purely for enjoyment, one way around this would be to assign each player a specific amount of "bankroll."
For instance, in a game of 1/2, each player starts with 2,000 chips. They can use them however they like, replenishing or purchasing new ones when they run out. But after the full 2,000 are gone, they are out of the game.
Naturally, if you play for real money, none of these issues matter because, in the event that someone chooses to go all in, they only have themselves to blame.
Step 2: Invite Friends to Play Your Online Game
It's time to set up and ask your pals to join after you've decided if you're playing a cash game or a tournament.
As previously indicated, there are two primary possibilities that you should definitely investigate; I'll briefly discuss each of them.
Option 1: PokerStars Home Games
It should come as no surprise that PokerStars is the best choice for those wishing to host private poker games online, as they continue to lead the industry in all things poker-related.
This is how it operates:
- Make sure you and your friends have a PokerStars account. This is free to make, and you don’t need to deposit any money.
- When you’re ready to set your game up, navigate to the “Home Games” area in the PokerStars client and create your poker club.
- Then, go to the “Manage Games” section. From here, you’ll have access to a variety of options to organize a game that fits your particular criteria.
- Customize your game.
- Then invite your friends to join your club by sending them a unique ID. All those who join the club will be able to see scheduled games and play in them.
Head to the “Home Games” section of PokerStars to create your virtual poker game.
The good thing is that you can create both real money and free games. Real money stakes for cash games range from $0.01/$0.02 to $0.5/$1.
Therefore, you are free to set up a cash game with low stakes and something at stake to add to the entertainment value. Alternatively, you might just play for enjoyment and to brag.
Just as easy is the process to organize a competition. You have the option to set the buy-in and select from a variety of types and games, including Hold'em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, and more. And once more, to begin your poker game, simply send your pals your exclusive ID!
The inability to access PokerStars Home Games on a phone is the lone significant disadvantage. Your buddies will therefore need to use a desktop or laptop computer to join if they so choose.
Given how many casual gamers choose to play from their phones, this is obviously not a little issue, but you'll have to find a remedy.
Opinion 2: Private Games @ 888poker
Apart from PokerStars, 888poker is a noteworthy virtual poker room where you may create free private games and enjoy playing with your friends or a select number of them.
In some ways, the procedure is even simpler than the one at Stars:
- Just like with PokerStars, first you need to make sure you and your friends all have an account.
- Once you download the client and register your account, you’ll see an option to “Play with Friends”
- If you’re the one setting things up, simply use the link to set up a new game.
- You’ll be immediately taken to the screen where you’ll be able to set everything up the way you like it, be it a cash game or a tournament.
- Once you set up your event at 888poker, you’ll receive all the information you need to share with the people you want to invite. (Only those to whom you give this information will be able to join, so you’ll have full control over who plays.)
Select “Play with Friends” on 888poker to create your virtual poker game.
At 888poker, there is no requirement to establish a distinct club, which expedites the process.
However, if you want to schedule games more frequently and have a larger group of players, PokerStars is a little more convenient.
This function is only available on the desktop version of 888poker, for unknown reasons. So, this isn't the best option either if your friends would rather play on their phones.
To be honest, it seems a little odd that neither of these huge rooms would try to make sure the mobile gaming feature for their home games is supported, but that's the way things stand right now.
That's it: setting up a virtual poker game with your buddies is actually as easy as that.
Other Private Play Options Online (Best For Mobile Players)
Even while these two choices are excellent, they have significant limitations that might seriously harm your online home game.
A lot of people solely use their mobile phones to play poker for pleasure. Thus, if this is the case, it's a good idea to have a few backup plans on hand.
Over the last few years, there has been a significant resurgence of mobile poker. For those who want to start their own poker clubs and manage their own games, there are now a ton of free smartphone apps available.
In essence, these are free apps that don't follow the traditional rake model, allowing users to use them anyway they choose while app developers generate revenue from alternative means.
One such app is PPPoker. It is entirely free to download and install on your mobile device, where you may use it to organize a variety of cash games and tournaments.
PPPoker is an app that lets you play virtual poker with friends on your mobile device.
It is entirely up to you as the club owner to decide how much money players can take out for club games. Currently, the software is compatible with Hold'em, Omaha, and a few different forms of Chinese poker.
This app is designed for mobile users, as are a few others that operate on the same concept.
Those who prefer to play on their phones and tablets won't have any issues at all, even though you can also use them on your PC, which takes care of the problem of anyone not wanting to play on their phone.
Increasing the Level of Your Virtual Poker Game
You can go above and above to make sure that everyone has an incredibly unforgettable experience.
You can create an environment that will be just as fun as if everyone were gathered around a real table, enjoying snacks and beers while tossing chips about, with a little extra work and creativity.
Not only has online poker advanced significantly in recent years.
You can set up virtual meetings with several software programs that are ideal for this kind of situation. For example, you might invite all of your pals to a Zoom conference so that you can all play together on screen.
Although setting this up requires a little more work and you may need to persuade those who are more reserved, it will be well worth it when you see how much more fun it brings.
It will be nearly identical to being in the same room if you proceed in this manner. Like in a home game, you'll be able to see each other's emotions and converse, laugh, and yell!
While some poker clients are undoubtedly trailing behind, they have also begun to offer this kind of functionality.
You may anticipate a far better experience if you utilize third-party software to set up the communication if you want to do it correctly.
Online Home Games' Benefits and Drawbacks
There are drawbacks to playing games with your pals virtually if you can't get them together in person at the same time.
The most important one is, of course, that despite your physical distance, you can all still enjoy yourselves while doing what you love.
The fact that you'll have greater flexibility in terms of organization is another big benefit.
You most likely don't have all the necessary logistics if all you want to do is occasionally host games for your pals. It's possible that you don't have enough chips or that you lack tournament setup expertise, among other reasons. Everything about this can be readily resolved when doing business online.
However, there are drawbacks to organizing things in this manner.
To be honest, when there is nothing at stake, it can be difficult to play poker. Simply said, the game lacks the same charm. There is nothing wrong with playing poker; it was meant to be a game of chance with monetary prizes.
The only way to add this layer when everything is done virtually and play money is to get everyone to promise to keep their end of the contract.
Usually, this won't be a problem, but occasionally, someone won't follow through on the agreement. This fosters mistrust and can discourage players from playing the next time, even if the stakes are very little.
Regretfully, I am unable to offer you suggestions on how to stop this from occurring. You only need to exercise your best judgment when it comes to inviting people and establishing regulations if you are the one in charge of the game and are enthusiastic about it!
