The Poker Room

Go to free Online Poker School at the Poker Room

Get Answers to :

• How does my position affect my strategy

• When should I bluff?

• What if I get an inside Straight draw on the Flop? Should that hand always be folded?

• What starting hands should I play?

• What are broadway cards, the nut broadway, the nut flush and a bicycle straight? And why do they use these two words: river and turn?

• .... more

Does it cost anything to play?

There are both real money and "play money" games available. There is a real money rake at the real money tables.

How do I play with real money?

Just log in at our secure deposit page and upgrade your account to be ready for real money. You can then deposit money, for example with FirePay or Neteller, at the deposit page.

Please see our step-by-step instructions page for deposits if you are having problems depositing real money into your account.

How do I play with "play money"?

The "play money" tables are located under the real money tables, so you must scroll down in the table list to find them.

How can I get more "play money"?

If you are running low, please go to our refill page where players can refill their own accounts.

What happens if I'm disconnected in the middle of a hand?

Should your Internet connection break, you will become "All In", which means that your cards will stay in the game and participate in the Showdown, but you will not be eligible to win more than what was in the pot when you last made a move. The same thing happens if you run out of money during a hand.

Not acting in time while connected will however automatically check/fold your hand. Our system detects if a player has an actual connection problem or if he/she simply isn't acting in time.

How much is the rake?

The house rake is 5% of the pot up to a maximum of $3. This rule applies regardless of whether real money is used, to make the game more realistic.

The maximum rake also varies depending on the number of players. Please look under "Table info" in the game menu for rake information about each table.

What should I do if a dispute or other problem arises?

Write down the number of the hand in question (shown in the top left corner of the game window). Then submit your description of the problem and the hand number using the form on our support page. The problem will then be investigated and handled by our staff.

Why won't the game start? All I get is a gray square.

Your browser needs to be compatible with Java 1.1. All the latest versions of Netscape and Explorer are. If you can, you should download an upgrade. If not, see if you already have some other browser on your machine that might work better. You can also test your browser for Java compability.

How do I get it to work on a Macintosh?

Two things are required:
The Macintosh Runtime for Java (MRJ) 2.0 or later needs to be installed on your computer. Do a file search for "MRJ" and see if it turns up. If not, you can download it from Download.com or Apple.
Your browser needs to be configured to use the MRJ to run Java applets. This is done from the "Java" controls in the "Settings".
In recent systems, like MacOS 9, this is already taken care of.

How come it says "Password does not match ID"? I know my password is correct.

Please note that your password is case sensitive. If your password was typed in lower case when you signed up, then it must also be entered in lower case when you log in.

Why does the game keep saying "The server does not respond" when I try to log in from my office?

You are probably sitting behind a so-called "firewall". It's a safety measure that protects your company network from unauthorized access. Among other things, it limits the communication with the outside world to a few standard channels -- and the PokerRoom client-server solution is apparently not on the approved list.

What are player points?

Player points is something you earn by playing with real money in our games. Player points will give you deposit bonuses, but can also be used as buy-in in the upcoming Player Points Tournaments - and soon other promotions!

You can see how many player points you have at the top of the main PokerRoom page. Player points are earned according to the following schedule:
Texas Hold'em game
1 point is awarded for every raked real money hand where the rake was $1.00 or more. 0.5 points are awarded for every raked real money hand where the rake was less than $1.00.
BlackJack
0.01 player points are awarded for every betted real money dollar in BlackJack.
Tournaments
5 player points are awarded for every paid real money dollar in entry fee.
Please note that you can not earn player points in the Baccarat game.

How does the deposit bonus system work?

Get 20% in deposit bonus on your first deposit! Just deposit money and play and you will earn the bonus. In order to get your deposit bonus, you must first earn player points by playing. When you have enough player points, you will automatically get the deposit bonus transferred to your PokerRoom account.

The bonus will be 20% of the deposited amount. However, the bonus may never exceed $100 (i.e. all deposits up to $500 will give you a 20% bonus - all deposits higher than $500 will give you a $100 bonus, regardless of deposited amount).
You will get the bonus when you earned all the player points the bonus is worth. A bonus requires ten player points for every dollar. For example, a deposit bonus of $20 will require 200 player points. When you have earned all 200 points, the bonus will be transferred to your PokerRoom account. See above for more information on player points.
The points are earned starting at the time when the deposit is made. You can not use previously earned points to speed up the bonus payout.
Deposit bonuses are limited to one deposit per player.

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