When the lockdowns forced people to stay at home, many experienced increased stress and boredom. To solve these problems, many of us rediscovered the joy of playing games at home, whether that meant dueling with friends in online word games, diving back into favorite fantasy games on a console or PC, or anything else of the sort. Along these lines, many around the world also found themselves diving back into poker –– a game that never seems to fade from the public consciousness, even if its popularity can ebb and flow from year to year.
This has caused something of a poker resurgence of late, and for those who are still interested in picking up poker for the first time in a while, we thought we’d explore some good platforms that can help you get back into it.
Daniel Negreanu’s YouTube Channel
If you are having a hard time remembering the basics, there are plenty of articles and videos that do an excellent job of explaining the rules of poker in its various forms. When it comes to developing your own strategy though, it’s also wise to trust the professionals.
Daniel Negreanu is one of the best-known pros in the world, having amassed an estimated net worth of $65 million or more through the game. And it just so happens that he also maintains a very successful YouTube channel where he uses his extensive experience to assist players trying to get better at poker. Some of his most popular content revolves around analyzing different hands from the World Series of Poker.
Prominence Poker
If you stopped playing poker but kept consuming story-driven games during the pandemic, this might just be what you need. Prominence Poker –– a game you can access via Steam –– gives you the opportunity to take the role of a poker newcomer, and build up your career as you face sketchy competitors, all while being guided by a mysterious figure.
The game also gives you the chance to play against players from all around the world, competing in tournaments and building up rankings against one another. So while it’s appealing as a sort of contained, narrative-style poker career game, it also has a competitive aspect that will speed up your improvement.
Playing Without Real Money
As you start remembering the rules of the game, you may feel ready to test yourself against other people in a more traditional poker environment. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily ready to start making bets with real money, as a couple of consecutive losses could be enough to ruin the game for you.
When you’re at this stage, it’s best to look to some of the apps that are freely available to you. Zynga Poker, PlayWSOP, and PlayWPT came up in a beginner’s guide to the rules of poker specifically on the grounds that they’re among the best options for playing without real money. Though there are differences between them, these apps dole out free, in-game chips that essentially allow you to simulate real-money poker without any risk. This makes them ideal both for general entertainment and to practice if you’re working your way toward the “real thing.”
Virtual Reality Poker
One thing a lot of poker players looking to get back into the game miss is the atmosphere that comes with it all. Nothing beats sitting at a table in your favorite casino or even at a friend’s house, and playing for hours while engaging in fun conversations with other players.
One great way to get some sense of that atmosphere is to find a VR game to play. And believe it or not, there are some good ones in the poker space already. Pokerstars VR has earned strong reviews, and Poker VR is just about as good. These games help you to simulate the experience of sitting back at those live poker tables against real opponents, and do so in a way that feels surprisingly realistic.
Look to these games and platforms, and you’ll be right back into the thick of the poker world.