How to try poker for free

Poker on Social Media

VKontakte offers dozens of applications to play poker. Among them: World Poker Club, Pokerist and Poker Bongo. To find an application on the social network, you need to:

1. Log in to your VKontakte account.

2. Open the “Games” tab.

3. Type “Poker” or “Poker” in the search bar.

World Poker Club leads in number of users, with 11,000,000 players. It's followed by Pokerist with 1,000,000 users. 

You cannot change the appearance of tables in WPC

World Poker Club. Offers the chance to play No-Limit Texas Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha. There are no exotic poker variations on WPC. The selection includes: cash and Sit&Go. Once a week, the World Poker Tour organises a tournament. The number of players at the tables contrasts with the total number of users. At the time of writing, the cash tab attracted 300 people, a modest figure given the 11,000,000 total. 

The developers have overloaded WPC’s interface with details. The table design is outdated. There are hardly any settings. When a player enters the application, they receive 10,000 gold coins. 

Pokerist. The platform offers only No-Limit Texas Hold'em. You can play cash and Sit&Go tournaments. Pokerist also holds a large weekly tournament. An online counter speaks in favour of the application. At the time of writing, 25,000 people were playing on Pokerist. The downsides of the platform include technical issues. It took 4-5 attempts to launch Pokerist. There were also connection difficulties. The application interface can hardly be called modern. Tables and lobby elements look outdated.

Poker on Mobile Applications

Poker applications are popular on smartphones too. Catalogues on Google Play and App Store offer dozens of platforms for free play. Zynga Poker is the most downloaded, having been installed over 50,000,000 times. Mobile versions of World Poker Club and Pokerist have been downloaded 10,000,000 times each. To find an application in a catalogue, go to Google Play and type “Poker” into the search bar.

Zynga Poker. The platform includes: NL Holdem, PLO and Short Deck. The list of disciplines covers: cash, tournaments, Sit&Go and Spin&Go. The enormous number of app users means you can find opponents at any time of day. Among competitors, Zynga Poker stands out with its table and lobby design. The interface is on par with real poker rooms. Upon entry, newcomers are given free chips. Their amount can be increased by logging into Zynga every day.

Zynga Poker meticulously recreates the experience of playing in a real room. The app even has its own loyalty program

PPPoker. Offers play in: Hold'em, Omaha and Chinese poker. The cash, Spin&Go and tournaments tab is located at the bottom of the app. The platform also offers fast poker. Settings allow you to convert stacks into big blinds and set standard bet sizes. You can also change the appearance of the table and cards. Interest in the game is boosted through competitive rankings between countries and players. For each level, users are rewarded with in-app currency: upon moving from level one to two, players receive 1,000,000 gold coins.

Poker on PC

The leading free project on computers is Governor of Poker 3. The game supports: No-Limit and Limit Texas Hold'em. Blackjack adds variety to the poker selection. At users' disposal: cash, tournaments, Spin&Go, Sit&Go and Heads Up. Governor of Poker 3’s interface recreates the Wild West era. The game's goal is to make your way from local saloons to Las Vegas casinos. At the start, novices are given 30,000 chips. Governor of Poker rewards additional virtual currency for daily logins. The game can be downloaded on PC from Steam. There's also the option to play in a browser.

The application's interface is overloaded with details

Governor of Poker supports Russian and occupies 500 MB on the hard drive. Notably, the application's system requirements are modest. To play normally, a computer with 1 GB of RAM and Windows 7 is required. 

Among other free games, Vegas Infinite is notable. It was initially developed to promote poker in VR. Later, Vegas Infinite was adapted for regular computers. You can play: cash, tournaments, Spin&Go and Sit&Go. Vegas Infinite creates the atmosphere of a real casino. To achieve full immersion, a VR headset is required. Regular computer users may not be impressed by the cartoon style. The game can be downloaded from Steam. 

Vegas Infinite's graphics cannot be called advanced. Yet the app supports voice chat

The system requirements for Vegas Infinite are as follows:

• at least 8 GB of RAM;

• at least 7 GB on the hard drive;

• a graphics card from NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 480.

Poker as a mini-game can be found in large-scale projects. For example, in Red Dead Redemption 2 or GTA 5.

Free Play in Real Rooms

Several real poker rooms offer free play. Among them: PokerOK, PokerStars and 888Poker. Play with play money attracts beginners to the platforms, many of whom later start playing for real money. 

PokerOK. The industry leader added play money in 2023. To download the room's software, open the official website and click Download. You can try poker without risk in various cash variations. Play money tables are available in sections: All-in or Fold, Rush & Cash, Holdem, PLO, Short Deck. You can also play Spin&Go with play money. Virtual currency poker is placed in a unified list with real money games. Free tables are separated by a horizontal line. Initially, users receive 10,000 chips. 

PokerOK placed the tables with free games at the bottom of the list, separated by a line

PokerStars. Play with virtual currency has been in the room since its launch in 2001. Download the PokerStars client from the official site. To switch the software to free play, click one button in the lobby. You can play “play money” as both cash and tournaments. Newcomers to PokerStars receive 35,000 play chips.

Free play is also available on other platforms. Including: TigerGaming, PokerPlanets, Winamax Poker.

Playing with play money is not the only way to try poker without risk. Most industry rooms organise free tournaments with real prizes. They offer money or tickets to other events. These tournaments are called “freerolls”. To participate in free tournaments, you need to register an account on the room’s website. The most expensive freerolls are held by:

• PokerOK. Once a week, the brand raffles $100,000.

• MTT Sports. On Sundays, the room holds a tournament with a prize pool of 1 Bitcoin. At the time of writing, 1 BTC equals $90,000.

• Stake Poker. The platform organises 3-4 freerolls daily with guarantees of $300-$400.

More about free tournaments is discussed in a separate article on FunFarm. 

Why It’s Better to Get to Know Poker in Real Rooms

Poker on social networks, mobile applications and individual games share the ability to buy play chips for real money. Users are usually offered mountains of virtual currency for a modest fee. However, players cannot make a reverse exchange. Internal currency cannot be converted into real money. 

For real money, players are sold: internal currency, table designs, additional time bank, exclusive emojis 

Most real rooms don’t trade play chips. They earn on commission from real money tables. Other advantages of poker platforms include:

• Higher Level of Opponents. Many beginners come to poker for entertainment. Hence, social networks and mobile applications have many fans of the “all-in every hand” strategy. Without risking money, amateurs disrupt others. In real rooms, people play more seriously, which brings play money poker closer to real conditions.

• Quality Software. PokerOK, PokerStars and other brands constantly improve their software. Therefore, their lobbies and tables significantly surpass free app analogues. Professional rooms allow users to customise the software “to their liking”. Social networks and mobile applications have considerably fewer options.

• Adaptation. If a player plans to switch to real money games, it's better to start in a full room. Take PokerOK for example. After a deposit, users continue to play with the same account on the same software. The player won't need to adapt to new table or lobby designs.

• The Opportunity to Start from Scratch. Many online poker rooms offer money in free tournaments. They allow starting a career without a deposit. Viktor “Limitless” Malinowski, Alexei “Avr0ra” Borovkov, and other industry stars started from freerolls. 

After getting to know poker, people understand how complex and multifaceted the game is. To win, regular learning is necessary.

How to Learn Poker

Poker can be learned through: books, videos, software training, sessions with a coach, and watching professionals play live. Let’s discuss each method.

Books. Ideal for learning the rules, forms and disciplines of poker. At the start of a career, we recommend reading “Poker Math Made Easy” by Roy Rounder and “The Mental Game of Poker” by Jared Tendler. The first book teaches quick out and pot odds calculations, the second discusses game psychology and the dangers of tilt. More useful materials are considered in the article “Top 5 Poker Books for Beginners”.

Videos. YouTube offers a multitude of poker videos. In just a few minutes, you can find a suitable video on any topic. Technological progress has removed language barriers: modern browsers translate videos in real-time. We regularly post useful content on the FunFarm channel. Subscribe to not miss interesting videos.

Software. Reviewing personal errors is one of the best learning methods. Players have access to: calculators, trackers, solvers, trainers, multitabling programs and other tools. Each helps find strategic gaps or enhances gameplay comfort. Read more about software in our guide.

Try each learning method to choose the most effective

Discussion with Other Players. Self-analysis helps find obvious errors. Less obvious gaps in strategy are harder to identify. Therefore, an outside perspective is beneficial. Hands can be reviewed both in a chat with colleagues and on a dedicated poker forum. 

Streams. Top players often broadcast sessions on Twitch or Kick. Many do not just press buttons but also comment on their actions and answer questions. Getting free advice from a strong player is invaluable. FunFarm coaches also host live sessions. Subscribe to our channel.

Individual Coaching. Many professionals coach other players. A coach will review the student’s hand history, identify strategic gaps and provide advice on how to address them. Choosing the right mentor is not always easy. A number of questions arise during the search:

• how to assess the coach's skill level;

• does he teach current techniques;

• will his teaching style suit you.

The task is complicated by the high cost of classes. Nobody wants to exchange hundreds of dollars for outdated knowledge. The FF Start program addresses the issues of finding a coach and paying for sessions. Our free course will introduce you to poker fundamentals.