Online poker has taken off in recent years with the advent of new digital technology that makes it much easier for players to join games. As a result, live poker has declined in popularity while online poker has continued to grow. In this article, we explore some of the basics of playing online poker and look at how it differs from the live version.

The first step is to determine your level of experience. This is important because experienced players will have different needs when choosing an online poker site. For example, they may be looking for a site with a variety of poker games, a high win rate or a large number of available promotions and bonuses.

Other things to consider include the quality of the software and how easy it is to use. A good user interface is often overlooked, but it can make a huge difference to the overall experience of playing online poker. If you are forced to grind long sessions on unintuitive software that constantly crashes, it will inevitably affect your winning rate.

In the United States, there are currently six states that offer regulated online poker, including New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. As more states move towards legalizing online poker, it is likely that more operators will enter the market. In order to keep up with this trend, it is important to understand the current state of online poker regulation and how it will change in the future.