Online poker has become massively popular since an amateur named Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003 through a $40 tournament on the internet. He single-handedly revolutionized the game, leading to more people playing it than ever before.
There are now many real-money poker apps available for smartphones and tablets that you can use to play online. Some have an integrated wallet where you can store and transfer your winnings. Others allow you to deposit and withdraw using a variety of different methods such as credit and debit cards or even web wallets. Some sites also accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as payment.
Most of these poker apps are free to download, although you may be asked to create a user account and provide some basic personal details before you can start playing. The requirements to run online poker are fairly minimal so most modern laptops and desktops with a decent amount of processing power will be able to handle it. The apps are available for most major operating systems including Android and iOS.
You can choose to play for free or for the smallest stakes possible (literally pennies). Then you can progress to tournaments with satellite entries into some of the biggest live events in the world. Or you can grind it out for big money at the highest stakes imaginable. Most online poker sites offer some kind of bonus to attract new players. This could be in the form of free cash or extra frequent player points that can later be redeemed for more money.
