Best real money online poker sites

The term ‘traffic’ refers to the number of players you’ll typically find online at a particular site.

Good traffic is the difference between waiting in an empty lobby and finding the game you want in an instant. It means more tables, a larger choice of stakes, bigger tournaments with better prizes, and usually a wider choice of games to play.

This includes the possibility of playing poker games other than Texas hold’em. While hold’em is the world’s most popular poker variant, and widely available, there are many other types of poker including Omaha, short deck and much more. Not all are available at every online poker site.

We also look for variety when it comes to tournament types, such as formats like mystery bounties, progressive knockouts and satellites to live events.

Great real-money online poker sites value your custom highly and will usually offer attractive deals for your first deposit, such as a matched bonus or free tournament tickets.

The best ones, however, ensure you keep coming back with even more deals, bonuses and perks. Whether it's your first deposit or a reload, you always want to get the most value for your money, which is why we always thoroughly check how poker sites treat both new and existing customers.

And that goes for loyalty programs, too. Many sites reward you with rakeback or other systems that scale benefits to your volume of play; what may work well for one player may not always be the best option for everyone, but we believe that all players deserve to be rewarded for placing their trust — and money — in an online poker site.

Then there are promotions, which can take various forms including big money tournament series, mini-games with extra prizes, freerolls or even the chance to qualify for major live poker events.

The best online sites will always have great promotions to give you even more reasons to come back and play.

A smooth and fully-functioning poker client is crucial to enjoying the online poker experience, and it shouldn’t matter whether you are playing on PC, Mac, desktop, mobile or tablet — you should be able to find your games quickly, navigate the lobby easily, and enjoy the entire process while you’re doing it.

If a site is hard to use, doesn’t offer every feature to every user, or doesn’t work just as we’d expect it to, we’ll be sure to let you know so you can make the best informed decision on where to play.

It’s important to know that your funds are safe, that the site where you play is completely fair and all games there are on the up-and-up. That’s why we only recommend sites that are fully legal, licensed and regulated.

For an online poker site to gain a licence it must meet high standards of financial security and game integrity. This generally means that player funds are never mixed with operational funds, but kept entirely separate so players’ bankrolls may be withdrawn at any time.

It also means that a site’s random number generator (RNG), the mechanism that ensures a fully fair and random shuffle in every hand, has been tested and evaluated by independent experts.

That’s why our site reviews focus only on fully regulated poker sites where you can be sure your money is safe and the games are fair.

It’s also important to know that sites do everything they can to protect the fairness of their games, including bans on real-time assistance, automatic detection of any bots or cheats, and transparency with their players.

Just because a site may be well-established doesn’t mean it is fully licensed, and likewise just because a site is new it does not mean it is not well regulated and trustworthy. We weigh up everything from a site’s official regulatory status to its wider reputation among poker players to bring you the best choice.

If you want to play online poker for real money you will need to be able to get funds on and off the site easily, and quickly.

When judging the best online poker sites, we test the speed and reliability of the cashier to ensure they meet the following standards:

1. Credit/debit cards Many players prefer to deposit via Visa or Mastercard. We test sites to ensure high acceptance rates for deposits and check that withdrawals back to cards are processed quickly without unnecessary delays.
2. E-wallets Digital wallets like PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller often offer the fastest withdrawal times. That’s why we look for operators that support a wide range of these services, giving you quick access to your winnings and an easy way to reload. 
3. Bank transfers Direct bank transfers are a simple way to move funds online. We make sure the right security protocols are in place and processing times are reliable, whether you’re topping up, managing a bankroll, or withdrawing winnings. 

We look for sites offering 24/7 live chat, responsive email support, and comprehensive FAQ sections to ensure you can resolve small problems with a minimum of fuss. For more complex issues, we look for sites that make it easy to communicate with customer service representatives who are ready and equipped to actually help.

For your safety, we only recommend fully regulated and approved online poker sites. As regulations differ across various regions, countries and states, different laws apply and as a result there are no regulated sites that offer online poker to everyone at once.

This may mean that, depending on where you are located, your options may be more or less than in other parts of the world.

This can be a particularly relevant issue if you are based in the USA or southern Europe, where players are more restricted in who they may play with than in many other parts of the world.

It’s important that if you need a break from online gaming you’re able to take one. From timed self-restrictions to deposit limits to marketing opt-outs and more, a number of responsible gaming measures are available to operators, and the options provided help us determine the best sites.

Taking responsible gaming seriously is one way an online poker site signals that they take their players seriously. And that’s something we can all appreciate.