When you play poker online you have a huge range of stakes to choose from. You can play for free or for the smallest amounts of money possible (literally pennies) or you can win satellite entries into some of the world’s biggest live tournaments. You can play on desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones and tablets, and you can even find multi-player tables that allow you to play against friends.
The first thing to do before playing poker online is make sure the site you are using can be trusted. This means checking that the site is licensed by a legitimate gaming commission and that it uses the highest level of encryption for your financial information. It is also a good idea to read reviews about the site to see what other people have experienced.
Once you’ve signed up with an online poker site you will need to create a user account, and then deposit some cash into your bankroll so you can start playing for real money. Some sites may ask you to upload documents for verification, but this is usually a painless and quick process.
To be successful at poker you need to understand the game’s fundamentals, including hand selection, position and pot odds. The best players spend just as much time studying the game as they do playing it. They sign up for training programs, take notes on opponents and use tracking software like a heads-up display (HUD) to analyze their own play and the play of their competition.