Online poker takes the familiar game of cards that has been around for decades and cranks it up a notch. It can be played for free or for the smallest stakes imaginable (literally pennies), and it can also be used to play satellite entries into the most amazing live tournaments in the world. Players can use a desktop computer, laptop or mobile phone to log in and participate. And they can do it all from the comfort of their own home.

The first step is to download the poker software from an approved site and create a user account. Once you’ve done this most poker sites will then let you deposit money with a variety of methods including credit and debit cards, e-checks and third party eWallets.

Once the funds appear in your player account you can start playing. The rules of poker are the same whether you play in a casino or an online cardroom. And all major sites have a section of their websites where you can play for fun without risking any real money, learning the software and improving your game at the same time.

One thing that’s different about online poker compared to live poker is that when you sign up you often get an initial bonus that can be worth quite a bit of cash. This is a way for the site to invest some of its own money in new players and this is a large part of why the industry has grown so rapidly.