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What Should You Pay Attention to When You Start Playing Online Poker for Real Money?

There are a number of criteria on which the best online poker sites can be judged. The reliability of a site is probably one of the most important factors when playing online cash poker. Trusting new poker sites with real money is quite a difficult choice, given that shady brands exist. It is therefore important that the website is secure and handles personal information and deposits properly. Reading poker site reviews can help to separate the good ones from the bad.

In addition, it is important that a site actually fairly distributes the profit to its customers. We recommend playing at the best online poker sites that are trusted and have proven their reliability over the years. Amongst the top choices are PokerStars, PartyPoker, 888 Poker, bwin, Betfair, and Unibet. All of them are known to pay out winnings without any troubles and charge a reasonable amount of rake. The rake recently increased a little bit on some of the above-mentioned platforms. Nevertheless, they are still the non-plus-ultra when it comes to the best poker sites. Since we've done our homework, you can be sure that you have a chance to make real money when playing on any of these poker platforms.

Good Choice of Deposit Methods

The best online poker for money sites offers many options for depositing and withdrawing money. The most commonly used variants are credit and debit card transactions. These are easy and quick to implement. There are also several poker sites that accept PayPal and other e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller. E-wallets are particularly popular with seasoned players and can be found on all top poker platforms.

In order to make the most out of your money, you should have an eye on possible transaction fees on deposits and withdrawals. All the previously recommended sites allow players to cash in and out completely free of charge with most payment methods. For that reason, it’s a good idea to stick with them. After all, transaction fees can add up quickly when you play at less established poker platforms and passively lower your winning potential. 

Can I Be Sure the Poker Site Will Handle My Money Well?

All brands on our list of the best real money poker sites have been chosen for the security they ensure for their customers. We want to make sure you are safe when you play the best online poker for real money. As such, the recommended platforms are secured by state of the art SSL-encryption to protect all customer data and transactions. Furthermore, the brands are licensed under reputable gambling jurisdictions. This ensures fair gaming and a transparent and reliable cashback for all players. 

Where Do I Get the Best Game Selection and Tables?

In our opinion, you can find the best tables on PokerStars. On this website, you can find the best online poker tournaments with the biggest prize pools. They also have tons of options when it comes to cash games and SNG tournaments. As you can imagine, zoom poker tables gained a lot of popularity recently. On the zoom tables, you will be transferred to a new table immediately after you folded a hand. This is great fun as you can play poker hands much quicker and with next to no downtime in between.

PartyPoker has a similar concept, called Fast Forward poker. It’s equally entertaining and also a high-quality product. The only downside is that there is less traffic on the higher stakes, which can slow down the action. To make up for that, the rake is a bit lower, depending on the stake you are playing, compared to PokerStars.  

Best Online Poker for Real Money - Conclusion

There are a lot of sites for real money poker out there. Yet, not all of them can provide you with a complete package. We recommend sticking with big brands like PokerStars, PartyPoker, 888 Poker, or Unibet. They are reliable, have a solid player base, and offer the best game and table selection. All of them have deposit bonuses for new players and recurring promotions. When it comes to VIP programs, loyalty schemes, and rakeback, PokerStars is probably the weakest of them. Still, the site makes up for that in other areas. For instance, when it comes to tournaments and transaction speed for withdrawals, they are miles ahead of the competition. Hence, it doesn’t come as a surprise it’s still the most popular poker site in the world.

Andreas Schmidt
Andreas Schmidt
Last Update: 12 May 2023
Andreas is our go-to guy for anything related to poker or in-depth guides. He's not only a former professional poker player, but he's also been working within the iGaming industry itself since 2014. Casino, Poker and Sports Betting are his main areas of expertise, in addition to anything and everything related to payment processes at online casinos.
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