Still stuck in your house with quarantine and lockdowns? Do you miss that weekly or monthly poker night with your buddies? Whether you want to play Texas Hold ‘em for real cash, Omaha for fun, or 7-Card Stud, we detail the most popular services available. So ante up, pour yourself a beer, and get fired up for some of the best online poker experiences out there.
Quick Overview
Trying to re-capture the thrill of game night with your pals? We review the top poker sites for quarantine here.
Need help accessing your favorite poker non-cash games outside the US? We’ve got you covered, with VPN recommendations to help you splash the pot from anywhere.
Best VPNs for Poker
Best FlashRouters for Online Poker?
And, if you’re looking for the optimal playing experience, upgrading your wireless network router will ensure a game free from timeouts.
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What are the Best Online Poker Sites?
Get a Royal Flush on PokerStars
One of the most well known and easiest to use services is PokerStars, which has been around forever. Set up a Zoom with your poker night buddies and settle in with some Texas Hold ‘em. You can even host your own tournaments with PokerStars, and there is heavy customization available for different poker variants, from Omaha to Stud.
Hit The Inside Straight at 888 Poker
With the pandemic in full swing, 888 Poker released their mobile app in June 2020, making it even easier for friends to play. 888 Poker also allows you to play private games with friends for real money or for free. While it has less customization available than PokerStars, that means it’s actually much easier to set up.
Fully Customize Your Game on Donkhouse
Donkhouse is a really fun service with lots of features you wouldn’t find elsewhere. You can suggest zany ideas to implement, like double decks so you can end up with suited aces and funny flushes as well as customizable hot-key taunts. Donkhouse even allows you to completely customize the game so you can actually do whatever you’d like. Want to discard part of your hand? Go ahead, create that game! While there is no cash on the site, you can just set it up yourself between you and your buddies using Venmo!
Get Your Friends in the Club With Partypoker
Also catering to the “stuck-at-home” crowd in 2020 was Partypoker. They introduced Clubs, which lets people play cash games against each other from the comfort of their own homes. Reclaim your weekly poker night with your friends and add some excitement to your lockdown life! Partypoker is another service that has been around forever, letting people play online on the internet since 2001.
Texas Hold ‘em Timeout?
You don’t want to lose your turn just because your network quality is bad and you lost your connection. Thankfully, FlashRouters is here with top of the line, DD-WRT flashed routers to ensure you can bluff or check at your leisure.
What Are the Best Routers For Online Poker?
Check out some of our most popular FlashRouters for game night:
Asus RT-BE88U WiFi 7 Merlin FlashRouter
$599.99
- Upgraded with Custom Merlin Firmware.
- Next Gen WiFI 7 Update of Asus favorite model.
NordLynx WiFi 6 Router – Privacy Hero
$249.99
- Perfect for Medium Homes
- Perfect for 20-30 Devices
Asus RT-AX88U PRO Merlin FlashRouter
$459.99
- Perfect for Max Wi-Fi Coverage
- Recommended for 15+ Devices
Best VPNs for Online Poker With Friends
While having a great router is a start, sometimes you need a little more security when playing games online. Using end-to-end encryption, your data will be safe with a VPN, keeping hackers and intruders away from your information. You can use a VPN on Donkhouse with no issues, as they are a non-cash site.
While generally, it is ok to use a VPN to access non-cash games, some services like PokerStars and 888poker could ban your account and not let you withdraw funds if used in a real money game, so take care to make sure you only use them for free games. Always check with the terms and conditions of a poker web app before using a VPN to make sure it is ok to use them.
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