Playing Cash Poker Games Online, Making the Transition from Play Money

Making the Transition
from Free Play Poker
to Cash Tables

After learning all of the
fundamentals of poker play,
you can start to improve your
strategy by taking advantage
of your position when your on
the button or the blinds. As you
play more, you will become
more comfortable at the poker
tables.

Playing Online Poker for Cash
Making the Transition from Free
Poker

The very first time I wanted to play online poker for real cash, I remember
being fairly nervous and asking myself a series of questions. Which poker
room should I choose to make my first deposit? Do they offer a deposit match
bonus? How do I earn my bonus after I make a deposit? Is it safe to gamble
online? Here are some guidelines that I used to determine when is the right
time to start playing for cash and where to play online poker.

The very first online poker experience that I had was at a free poker site,
which name I can not remember. They had a limited number of tournament
tables running at any given time, and it was a challenge to get signed into
the tournament quick enough. I remember that a lot of players would make
foolish calls, and raise all in with no hand. Of course this is going to happen
once in a while when you are playing in free tournaments simply because
there is nothing at stake for any of the players. Even with the looser play at
free poker tables and tournaments, you will learn all of the fundamentals of
playing online poker. You will learn about the big and small blinds and the
betting structure of a Texas Holdem poker game. After learning all of the
fundamentals of poker play, you can start to improve your strategy by taking
advantage of your position when your on the button or the blinds. As you
play more, you will become more comfortable at the poker tables.

One of the first online poker rooms that I decided to make a deposit at was
PokerStars. I decided to download the poker software and I signed up as a
new player. Before I added any funds to my account, I played in freeroll
tournaments, free table games, and browsed PokerStar's home page for
testimonial on their poker room. I felt that a poker room like PokerStars
would be a safe place to make a deposit. They actually hold all deposits "in
escrow" in a bank account, they have 24/7 customer support if you have any
questions or problems, and they offer so many tables and poker tournaments
to play in with buy-ins from pennies to hundreds of dollars. There is always a
tournament available to play for free, and they offer cash prizes for some of
their freeroll tournaments. After playing for a few weeks for free, I really
became accustomed to the software and look of PokerStars, and was
satisfied by talking with other registered players that it was a good poker
room to make a deposit into. They offered me a 25% deposit bonus which
had to be earned by accumulating points based on play. It was paid in
installments of $5.00 as they were earned.

I played in the penny rooms for a while, and sometimes would venture into
the nickel or dime tables. I would play in a lot of freeroll Texas Holdem and
Omaha tournaments, and would also buy into some tournaments. After a few
months of playing, I finally had enough money in my account to make a
withdrawal. It was an easy process, and I received my money by check within
the promised time period.

I have since played at numerous online poker rooms, many that I liked. I was
fond of Full Tilt Poker, due to the fact that they have poker professionals
playing in their poker rooms and they offered a 100% match deposit bonus.
Unlike many other poker rooms that claim to have real pros playing at their
site that you never see, at Full Tilt Poker, the pros would play and chat all the
time. I was once in a Stud poker tournament at Full Tilt Poker, and Andy Bloch
entered the tournament. It was only a $5 buy-in, yet he was playing with us,
talking about strategies and answering our questions. I have seen pros on
Full Tilt play in low buy-in tournaments and cash tables on a regular basis.
They also play each other in high stake cash poker games that you can
watch. I have played with Hoyt Corkins, Jennifer Harman, and Andy Bloch,
and have chatted with Chris Ferguson, Perry Friedman, John D'Agostino, Allen
Cunningham, and Phil Lederer. There is no other poker room like Full Tilt
Poker where you can really interact and play with professional poker players.
I still have an account with Full Tilt Poker today and plan on keeping it. One of
my favorite games to play is razz, a low hand poker game that offers a lot of
betting action. Not many poker rooms offer razz, so there is yet another
reason why I will keep an account at Full Tilt Poker.

Recently, I was offered a promotion at poker.com. I performed my usual
review of the software and their website. I liked the fact that the number of
tournament participants was relatively low compared to PokerStars. I think
that the software at Poker.com is by far superior to any other poker room
online. Most poker rooms use some type of avatar or character to represent
a player. Poker.com is simple, and feels and appears like a real poker room. I
also like that they offer freeroll tournaments to first time depositors, and for
earning bonus points just for playing on their site. I am offered a coupon for
free entry into the $4,000 Texas Holdem poker tournament almost every
week and regularly earn entry into the $10,000 tournament. No other poker
room has offered such lucrative freeroll tournaments just for playing at their
poker room. The players at Poker.com are friendly, and are from all over the
world. I am often the only player from the US at a poker table at Poker.com.

After you play at a number of online poker rooms, you will decide for yourself
which features you enjoy the most. I would highly recommend that you visit
PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Poker.com for a great poker experience. I can
assure you that you will not be disappointed.

100% Signup Bonus
Download the Full Tilt Poker software and enter bonus code: POKERPLAY

You can play for fun at Full Tilt Poker and still enjoy all of the features
that they offer, including watching and chatting with all of the professional
poker players.

Where the Pros Live, Full Tilt Poker