If you’re looking to take your poker game to the next level in 2023, you’ll find this list of the best poker apps very useful. The list includes real money poker software, learning and training programs, and a few apps you can play for fun if you aren’t ready to dive into the deep end just yet.
We’ve included poker learning apps from some of the biggest names in all of poker, including PlayWPT, Pokerstars, WSOP.com, and Zynga poker. But we also highlight poker strategy apps launched and run by some of the most successful players in the world.
Whether you need an app to tell you to shove a certain hand with a certain stack size, or one that gives you one-on-one training with WSOP bracelet winners and WPT tour winners, this list delivers everything you need to take your game to the next level.
Apps to play poker for fun
Sometimes the best way to learn poker is to have fun and play for free. But you can’t always sit in on a private game, and may not have access to local cash games. That’s when fun poker learning apps are your best bet. See these top fun apps to learn poker to get your game face on.
PlayWPT
PlayWPT has long been the industry standard app for casual poker on the internet. The training website has provided players from around the U.S. with opportunities to play in the biggest WPT events on the planet, just by winning a freeroll tournament.
Hotel stay is included in those deals, and the players are often featured on the televised broadcast, giving them the true star treatment. PlayWPT is widely available in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and for PC. In addition to poker-playing software, the website also offers strategy videos and poker training.
Zynga Poker
Zynga Poker is one of the most popular and best poker apps in the App Store. It’s also available on Windows devices. Unlike many of those apps, Zynga has a deal with Facebook that lets players play poker with their friends.
This is one of the longest-running and most reliable apps when it comes to playing poker for fun with friends and foes alike. The app maker currently has a deal running where new players get 2 million in play chips to start. It’s one of the best casual poker apps to learn how to play poker.
Texas Hold’em Poker Pokerist
One online poker app that’s quickly gaining traction around the world is Texas Hold’em Poker Pokerist. This free app available on Google Play and the App Store lets friends connect no matter where they’re located!
The website also has some of the best graphics of any free poker app, and provides a unique playing experience for all users. This is one of the best online poker apps for people who are simply looking to play poker for fun.
Pineapple Poker
If you’re looking to play poker with friends, but you aren’t into No-Limit Hold’em, Pineapple Poker is a great free way to play open-faced Pineapple Poker. It uses the variant of 13-card Pineapple Poker, where the app takes care of the scoring for you. All you have to do is play your hand.
This is one of the best poker apps to play for free. There’s no money down, leaving it up to friends to determine their own real-money stakes per point.
Poker apps to play for real money
When you’re ready to play poker online for cash — real cash — the apps below will take you to the felt. These high-stakes poker learning apps are best used when you're at least an intermediate poker player.
Americas Cardroom
Options are limited for players who reside in America, but you can play real money cash games and tournaments on Americas Cardroom. Chris Moneymaker, the man responsible for the poker boom when he won the WSOP Main Event in 2013, signed on as a team pro last year, joining a roster of pros that includes Chris Moorman, Ebony Kenney, and Ana Marquez. ACR also offers some of the biggest tournaments you will find in the American market, specifically the Venom series, which recently ran a $10,000,000 Guaranteed Main Event. They also have a Online Super Series Cub3d, that rivals the Pokerstars SCOOP schedule, with tournaments at different buy-in levels.
PokerStars
PokerStars is by far the biggest name in online poker. They’ve led the online poker community for 20 years running, and continue to host the biggest online poker events in the world. However, Stars is still a great place for small-stakes players to hone their craft and work their way up.
With PokerStars, you can start out with micro real money cash game stakes or with their plentiful play-money options. You can play their SCOOP Events (with buy-in levels of Low, Medium, and High) or a collection of freerolls that you want to grind. Either way, PokerStars remains one of the best poker apps and the top place to play poker online for money.
WSOP.com
The biggest poker operator in the United States is undoubtedly WSOP.com, with operations in New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. WSOP.com is where the online World Series of Poker offers online bracelet events — some of the biggest online events held in the country in the last decade.
The online poker app offers high-stakes cash games at a level normally reserved for websites outside of the U.S. The operating software underpins the World Series of Poker Circuit Online poker ring events. Those events took place in 2021 while several casinos were shut down or running limited operations.
This is the best place to play poker online for real money in the United States. Because of federal regulations, it’s only available in N.J., Nevada, and Delaware.
888Poker
Outside of the U.S., 888Poker is one of the best apps to play poker online for money. The software offers No-Limit Hold’em, Omaha games, Stud games, and much, much more. 888Poker hosts several poker tournament series, too, including the XL Eclipse series that has become quite popular.
The 888Poker app supports a variety of ways to deposit and withdraw real money, including Bitcoin, which not every online site currently allows. 888Poker sponsors some of the biggest names in poker, including Chris Moorman, Dominik Nitsche, and former WSOP Main Event Champion Martin Jacobson. This is one of the best poker apps hands down.
GGPoker
GGPoker has been around for years. This poker company (and poker app) received a big push in the public eye when it partnered up with the WSOP to provide online bracelet events in 2021. GGPoker stands out from the field of real-money online sites thanks to its graphics and interactive player profiles.
Players can change their emoji reactions based on what’s happening at the table, expressing frustration, elation, relief, and more. Just like the rest of these sites, GGPoker also offers cash games at all kinds of stakes. It is also building quite a team of sponsored pros, headlined by Daniel Negreanu, Jason Koon, and Fedor Holz.
Poker training and strategy apps
When you’d rather not lose money, but you want to learn poker online, it’s time to cash in with poker training apps. The poker learning apps below will improve your strategy without busting your budget.
SnapShove
SnapShove is one of the best poker apps for people looking to improve their short-stack poker game. The app gives you a range of charts that show what hands you should be shoving for value at certain blind levels. The poker tips app, created by WSOP bracelet and EPT winner Max Silver, charges 4.29 euros per month for the base package.
There are two other packages offered, at 9.49 euros and 13.99 euros per month. For the money, this is one of the best poker training apps on the market. Poker pros use this app, so you can be confident that it’s reliable and packed with powerful learning opportunities.
Chip Leader Coaching
Chip Leader Coaching is one of the hottest and biggest growing poker coaching websites. Its poker strategy app was founded by high-roller regular Chance Kornuth and features a roster of coaches that have won more than $46,000,000. One of the more recent coaches is GPI #1 player in the world Alex Foxen.
This cutting-edge poker coaching app offers a 10-week course that, according to its site, “focuses on completely rebuilding the mindset, mechanics, and strategy necessary to win modern No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournaments.”
PokerGO
It’s often said that the best way to learn something is by watching the best perform the craft themselves. If you agree, PokerGO is the poker app for you. The app runs high-roller events virtually every week in the PokerGO studio. Buy-ins range from $5,000 all the way to $300,000 in the case of the Super High Roller Bowl.
Or if you’re looking for a stroll down memory lane, you can check out the archive to see years of WSOP broadcast footage. That includes the famous 2003 WSOP Main Event, where Chris Moneymaker shocked the poker world, changing the game forever. This is among the best poker apps to supersize your skills.
RunItOnce
RunItOnce is one of the newer poker apps for players who’d like to improve their online poker game, from understanding playing position in poker to deeper game theory. This poker software was created by online poker legend Phil Galfond, and the app only operates for poker training in the United States.
Players hoping to improve their Pot-Limit Omaha game will find many of these videos beneficial. RunItOnce offers full-length training videos to its subscribers, along with premium coaching courses on a variety of topics, including MTTs, PLO, Sit n Gos, and general poker tips. This is one of the top websites to learn new poker strategies and take your game to the next level.
ShareMyPair
ShareMyPair is one of the most popular poker apps for players to share various hands they’ve played. Some players use it to share their great plays — either an incredible call or slick bluff. But many also post on the site to learn from their mistakes.
This is among the best poker apps when you want a simple, no-fuss experience. All you have to do is input your cards and the bets, and let the app show the hand from there. This is a great way to learn some poker tips by breaking down your own play and learning what you did right, and what you did wrong.
Upswing Poker
Another poker coaching training app that’s definitely worth looking into is Upswing Poker, founded by online heads-up specialist Doug Polk. Unique to Upswing Poker are the specific coaching packages linked to certain pros, starting at $999.
For example, you can take an advanced course talk by high-roller regular Nick Petrangelo, focus specifically on heads-up online poker play with Doug Polk, or hone your PLO skills with the course specifically built for that poker variant.
The website also includes three free courses: Preflop Charts, 3-bet Pots guide, and 10 laws of live poker. Whatever you’re looking for in your poker training, Upswing likely has it.
Apps for playing online poker with friends
One of the most fun ways to learn poker is to play with friends. But if your pals don’t live next door, you can still tap into this great, fun, and educational pastime with apps that let you play poker with friends online while you learn.
PokerStars Home Games
Looking to have a poker night with your friends, but don’t want to get everyone together under the same roof? PokerStars Home Games may be the place for you. PokerStars is mainly known for its real-money poker options, which aren’t available to U.S. players.
However, PokerStars still serves those players by letting them play money home games from the website. This is one of the best poker apps for home games, single-table sit-n-gos, and any time you want to play online poker with friends.
Poker Face: Texas Hold’em Live
If you enjoy playing online poker with your friends, but miss seeing them in the flesh to pick up on tells, consider using Poker Face: Texas Hold’em Live. It’s available on iPhone and Google Play, and this unique software lets players live stream their faces into the game.
With Poker Face, you can play online poker with friends and enjoy the lively chats and comradery at the live poker table from the comfort of your own home! This is a great way to play poker for fun. You won’t see this poker app’s face-time twist anywhere else, and it will certainly spice up poker night.
Easy Poker
Another poker app that lets you play poker online with your friends is Easy Poker. This software is free, with an in-app purchase upgrade that allows more players at the table and customized blind levels.
This poker app is a simple way to play for free online without a real money account. It’s a great way to learn how to play poker with people you know and love instead of with the unknowns at the casino or online at other sites and apps.
Best poker apps for learning and playing online FAQs
What is a good free poker app?
There are several free poker apps that you can download to play poker for fun, including the likes of PlayWPT, Zynga Poker, and Pineapple Poker. You can even link up with your friends and play online poker remotely. Real money apps like America’s Cardroom and 888 Poker are also free to download, but you need to bet real money to play cash games and enter live tournaments via the app.
Is there an app where I can play poker for real money?
Yes, there are lots of apps that you can download to play poker for real money. PokerStars is perhaps the best, having been running for 20 years. You will find a huge selection of cash games and live tournaments via the PokerStars app, while the app is easy to use and navigate. Other options include the WSOP app and America’s Cardroom – both of which are worth downloading if you want to play real money poker on a mobile device.
Is Zynga Poker for real money?
No, Zynga Poker is not a real money poker app. Rather, it’s a free poker app that you can download to play poker for fun. Zynga is integrated with Facebook, making it easy for you to link up and join online poker games with your friends. So, if you’re keen to play poker for fun, Zynga is a great option, but you can’t win real money on the app.
Is there a way to play poker for free?
Yes, you can play poker online for free or via the apps introduced in this article. The likes of PlayWPT, Zynga, Texas Hold’em Poker Pokerist, and Pineapple Poker are all free apps that you can download on your phone to play free poker. This is a great way to learn more about the game and to practice different varieties of poker before playing for real money. It also allows you to play poker without gambling any of your own money.
Is the PokerStars app free?
Yes, the PokerStars app is free to download. However, PokerStars is a real money poker app, so to enter tournaments and play cash games, you will need to deposit funds and make real money bets. If you want a 100% free poker app, see our top list of the best poker apps for fun, as introduced above.
Featured image source: Flickr by Marco Verch Professional Photographer used under CC license
