How to play poker online: from choosing a site to your first withdrawal

To play poker online, you pick a site that’s legal where you live, open an account, verify your identity, make a deposit, choose a low stake to start, play your first session and, when you want your money, withdraw it. Seven steps, and the whole thing can start with a $10 deposit and a $2 buy-in at the lowest cash tables.

This guide walks through each step in order, with what to expect and the mistakes that cost new players money. It assumes you know how a hand of Hold’em is played; if not, start with our Texas Hold’em rules and come back.

Check where you can legally play

Online poker is regulated country by country, and in the US state by state, so the first question isn’t which site is best but which sites are allowed for you. The table sums up the main markets during our check in November 2026.

A few details matter in the US. Several of the six states share player pools: WSOP links Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and PokerStars has run on FanDuel since 1 April 2026 with one pool for New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Maine passed an online gaming law in January 2026, but no poker site had launched there during our check.

Elsewhere in the US the options are offshore sites, licensed outside the country and not overseen by any state, and sweepstakes poker. Sweepstakes sites have been banned by law in California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Montana, Nevada and Maine, with more states following in 2026. Our guide to the best poker sites shows which of the big sites accept players where.

Don’t use a VPN to play from a place a site doesn’t accept. Regulated US sites check your location every session, and international sites ask for proof of address before your first withdrawal. Accounts opened from excluded countries can be closed with the balance kept.

Choose a poker site

Once you know which sites are open to you, four things separate them for a new player:

• Licence. It tells you who checks the site and where you can complain. A Malta, Isle of Man or UK licence comes with stronger player protection than an offshore one.
• Traffic at your stakes. A busy site has tables running at $0.01/$0.02 at any hour; a small one may have none at the time you play.
• Rake. The fee the site takes from each pot, usually around 4–5% with a cap. At micro stakes it’s a big part of what decides whether you win. Our guide to rake in poker shows how it adds up.
• Welcome bonus, in rake per $100. Compare bonuses by how much rake each needs to release $100, not by the headline. Among the five sites we’ve reviewed it ranges from $300 to $1,000.

Check the software too. GGPoker, PokerStars and WPT Global have clients for Windows and Mac and apps for iOS and Android. ACR runs on Windows and Mac, with a web app for phones instead of a store app, and CoinPoker also works in a browser. If you plan to play mostly on your phone, make sure the site’s mobile version carries the games and stakes you want; some formats are desktop-only.

Our reviews of GGPoker, PokerStars, ACR Poker, CoinPoker and WPT Global go through each of these points, including which countries each site accepts.

Create your account

Signing up takes a few minutes on any site, and the steps are much the same. GGPoker’s process is a typical example.

1. Download the site’s client or app from its own website or the official app store. Some sites also run in a browser.
2. Register with your real name, date of birth and address. They have to match the documents you’ll send later, so don’t use a nickname or an old address.
3. Choose your screen name. Other players see it, and on most sites you can’t change it later.
4. Turn on two-factor login if the site offers it.

If you want a specific bonus, read its terms before your first deposit: some need a code at the cashier, others apply automatically. Our step-by-step guide to signing up on GGPoker shows every screen.

Verify your identity

Every licensed site has to confirm who you are, a process called KYC (know your customer). Some ask straight after sign-up, most before your first withdrawal. Expect to send:

• a photo ID: passport, driving licence or national ID card, front and back;
• proof of address dated within the last three months, such as a bank statement or utility bill;
• sometimes a selfie holding your ID, proof that the payment method is yours, or the source of your funds for large amounts.

The name on your payment method has to match the name on the account. Deposits from a partner’s card or a friend’s e-wallet are a common reason for frozen withdrawals.

On regulated US sites there’s one more check: geolocation. A small app or browser plug-in confirms you’re physically inside the state each time you play, so you can only play while you’re there.

Checks usually take from a few hours to a few days. Sending documents early, before you need to withdraw, saves waiting later. Our guide to GGPoker verification covers what gets documents rejected.

One account per person, always. A second account, even to claim a bonus again or to play with a friend’s details, breaks every site’s terms and usually ends with both accounts closed and the money kept.

Make your first deposit

Most sites take deposits from $10, though some bonuses need more: ACR’s starts at $25. The usual methods are cards, e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller, bank transfer and, on many international sites, cryptocurrency. What’s available depends on your country.

Check two things before you pay. First, fees: some methods cost extra. At GGPoker, for example, a Skrill deposit carries a 3% fee, so $100 costs $103. Second, the welcome bonus: it’s attached to your first deposit, so the amount you choose now decides how big it can be.

A first deposit bonus is released as you pay rake, so a bigger deposit only helps if you’ll play enough to release it. Our guide to the first deposit bonus explains how to size it, and funding GGPoker walks through a cashier step by step.

Pick your first game and stakes

Online poker comes in three main formats, and each suits a different way of playing:

• Cash games. Chips are real money, you can sit down and leave whenever you like, and the blinds never rise. The best format for learning, because sessions can be as short as you want.
• Tournaments (MTTs). A fixed buy-in, rising blinds and a prize pool paid to the top 10–15%. Cheap to enter, but a deep run can take hours, and results swing much more.
• Spin-style sit & gos. Three players, a random prize and fast blinds. Quick and fun, but with a big luck factor and a fee built into every game.

For a first real-money session, a cash game at the lowest stake is the easiest place to start. The usual guideline is to have 30–40 buy-ins for the stake you play, so a bad run doesn’t wipe you out. Here’s what that means in money:

One more choice comes up in the lobby: regular tables or fast-fold. Fast-fold pools, called Zoom at PokerStars, Rush & Cash at GGPoker and Pace at WPT Global, move you to a new table with new opponents the moment you fold. You play far more hands per hour, but you never see the same players for long and can’t learn their habits. Start on regular tables; switch once the basic decisions come without thinking.

You also don’t have to buy in for the full 100 big blinds. Most tables accept less, often from 40 big blinds, but a short stack leaves you fewer options after the flop, so a full buy-in is simpler to play while you learn.

Tournament players need more buy-ins, often 100 or more, because most tournaments end without a cash. Our MTT guide covers why. Freerolls, tournaments with no entry fee, are a way to try real-money play without a deposit; our guide to poker freerolls lists where to find them.

No-Limit Hold’em is the game with the most tables. If you’d rather try something else, our guide to types of poker compares the alternatives, and the starting hands chart tells you which hands to play from each seat.

Your first session

The biggest change from live poker is speed. A live table deals around 25–30 hands an hour; online, one table deals roughly 60–80 at full ring and about 90 at six-max. Decisions come every few seconds, and a time bank runs out if you think too long.

That speed is why most experienced players give new ones the same advice for the first sessions:

• One table. Add a second only when the first feels slow.
• Set a stop-loss. Decide before you sit down how many buy-ins you’ll lose before ending the session, two or three is common, and stick to it.
• Use the play-money tables first if the site has them, to learn the buttons, bet sliders and time bank without risk.
• Set deposit limits. Most sites let you cap deposits per day, week or month in the account settings.

Turn off anything that rushes you: auto-muck, pre-action buttons you click by accident, extra tables opening on their own. Keep the hand history on, so you can review big pots after the session.

Review your three biggest pots after every session, win or lose. Ten minutes with the hand history teaches more than another hour at the tables.

Losing sessions will come even when you play well. Our guides to tilt and how to win at poker cover how to keep a bad night from turning into a bad month.

Withdraw your winnings

Cashing out works through the same cashier as deposits, and usually goes back to the method you deposited with. The order is the same on most sites:

1. Finish verification, if you haven’t yet.
2. Request the withdrawal in the cashier. Check the minimum; it’s often $5–$10.
3. Wait for processing. The site reviews the request, often within a day; WPT Global’s terms allow up to 72 hours after verification.
4. Receive the money. Crypto and e-wallets arrive fastest, often within hours; cards and bank transfers can take several days.

Speeds differ a lot between sites and methods. By the sites’ own payment pages, ACR’s crypto payouts usually arrive inside an hour, CoinPoker pays USDT withdrawals within minutes, and WPT Global says most payouts land within 12 hours. Cards and bank transfers are slower everywhere, and the first withdrawal is often the slowest because the documents are checked then.

Two rules catch new players. Many sites charge a fee or refuse a withdrawal if you deposit and cash out without playing; and withdrawing during an active bonus can cancel the part you haven’t released yet. Our guide to withdrawing from GGPoker shows a typical process with times and fees.

Play online with friends

If you’d rather play with people you know, private games are the way. PokerStars Home Games lets you create a club, invite friends and run your own cash games or tournaments. Several other sites and apps offer private tables or clubs.

A home game online needs the same thing as one at a kitchen table: agree the stakes and the rules first. For the rules of the games you might pick, see our guides to Texas Hold’em and other types of poker.

Mistakes new online players make

Most of these come from the speed and the comfort of playing at home, and all of them are easy to avoid once you know them.

If poker stops being fun or you spend more than you planned, our responsible gambling page lists independent help lines.

How to play poker online FAQ