If you've never played online poker, we first recommend setting aside a minimum of $50 USD with which to play. This will be your "bankroll" - money that will be treated as your poker bank account, which we'll look to grow throughout this guide. The more money you can devote to your bankroll to begin the better - but don't put up any money that you can't afford to lose!
For this guide, we're going to start with $100 USD. You can follow this guide with less, as well as more, but we recommend $100 USD.
With over 20 rooms to choose from, most players don't know where to start. Our goal is going to be to look for poker rooms that offer:
1) Low Stake games - So we don't risk our entire $100 on a single hand
2) Easy bonus completion requirements - We want to complete this bonus as fast as possible, so we can earn our SavvyPoints and move to the next room.
Our recommendations for your first room:
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SavvyPoints: 400
Bonus: 100% deposit bonus up to $600!
Code: SAVVY
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Full Tilt Poker
Pros:
- 100k+ Player Pool
- Play with the Pros
- Tons of WSOP qualifiers
- Excellent software
- Supports Mac users
- Competition makes Full Tilt a great place to hone skills
Bonus Requirements:
- Deposit at least $50
- earn 375 Full Tilt Points.
Since launching in July of 2004 Full Tilt Poker has been an unavoidable name for any poker fan. Having attracted an impressive number of poker pro endorsements, this is a poker room with big ambition and, more importantly, big standards to back it up. A combination of the best selection of games on the internet, Huge player pools, High quality customer service, and generous bonuses make Full Tilt one of the elite online poker rooms today.
Players earn FTP Points the fastest via Sit N’ Go Tournaments - at a rate of 7 FTP Points / $1 tournament fee paid.
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SavvyPoints: 600
Bonus: 100% up to $500
Code: SAVVY
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Party Poker
Pros:
- 60k+ Player Pool
- Easy to use software
- Tons of bonuses and Jackpots
- Friendly players
- Easy bonus to clear
Bonus Requirements:
- Deposit at least $25
- earn 100 Party Points. (Users from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, or Lithuania must earn 250 Party Points to complete this bonus.)
With 60,000+ players online at any given time, Party Poker is most certainly the biggest online poker site around! With hundreds of tables to select from, and every game from 7-card stud to Pot Limit Omaha, there's never a dull moment at Party Poker.
Players earn Party Points the fastest via Sit N' Go Tournaments - at a rate of 2 Points / $1 in tournament fees.
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SavvyPoints: 1000
Bonus: 100% up to $400
Code:
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888Poker
Pros:
- Soft competition
- Excellent New Software Updates
- Good First Deposit Bonus
- Good Selection of Lower Limit Games
Bonus Requirements:
- Deposit at least $50
- earn 250 888Poker FPPs (400 FPPs required for Eastern Europe residents.)
If the personality of each online poker site could be represented by a different poker pro then 888Poker’s would undoubtedly be along the lines of an Amarillo Slim or Doyle Brunson. A stalwart of the industry surpassed in many ways by younger competitors yet still very much capable of enduring success. Shaky software, haphazard game set-up, and decidedly unspectacular looks make 888Poker unlikely to be at the front of the race for new recruits in the continuing poker boom, although it does have one major attraction that makes it a room well worth visiting: soft targets and plenty of them.
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