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It may have been a while now since the great “poker boom” of 2003-2006, but make no mistake: The Beautiful Game has never been bigger. With so many emerging markets around the world, more players than ever are learning
If you still haven’t joined the online poker revolution, now’s your chance. Getting your seat at the table has never been easier; we’ll show you how to get those cards online at Ignition Poker, and we’ll even give you some valuable tips for how to play Texas Hold’em, the game that started the poker boom.
How to Play Online Poker
Texas Hold’em isn’t the only game in town, of course. Ignition Poker is also proud to offer Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, two highly entertaining games that will challenge your poker skills. But if this is your first opportunity to join and play online poker, Hold’em is the right place to start – and Ignition is the right place to be.
The basic rules of Hold’em are simple enough. You start with two hole cards, dealt face-down so that only you can see them. As the hand progresses, up to five community cards will be dealt face-up in the middle of the table. The general idea is to make the best five-card poker hand; you can use three, four or all five of the community cards, along with two, one or none of your hole cards. Standard poker hand rankings apply, with the Royal Flush at the top of the list, and High Card (no paired cards, straights or flushes) at the bottom.
Here’s the thing: You don’t actually need the best hand to win. You can also win by getting all of your opponents to fold their cards and surrender any claim they have to the pot. There are four betting rounds in Hold’em, starting with the pre-flop round when you get your two hole cards. Then there’s the flop (the first three community cards), the turn (the fourth card), and the river (the fifth card). All four rounds give you a chance to bet, and a chance to win without having to show your cards.
The trick to winning at Texas Hold’em is to find a balance between betting for value – when you have a good hand and you want your opponent to call – and betting as a bluff. If you bet only for value, your opponents will eventually catch on if they’re paying attention, and they’ll stop calling you. If you bluff too often, your opponents will respond by calling more, taking your money in the process. Selective aggression is key when you’re playing poker at Ignition.
Ignition Poker’s Special Features
Learning online poker strategy is important if you want to get good at poker, but don’t put the cart before the horse. Poker is all about having fun, and the special features at Ignition Poker ensure that you’ll be fully entertained and engaged while you’re at the tables. Here are five of the many features you can look forward to:
Anonymous Tables
You don’t have to worry about professional players using tracking software to take advantage of you when you play at Ignition Poker. Your identity is kept hidden at our anonymous tables, so you can play any style of poker you want from session to session without fear of getting exploited.
Zone Poker
Tired of sitting around waiting for the next hand to be dealt? Zone Poker is the answer. Our fast-fold variant gives you a new table and a fresh set of hole cards the instant you muck your hand.
Quick Seat
Getting your seat locked down is even easier with the Quick Seat function. Choose which game you want to play (Hold’em, Omaha or Omaha Hi/Lo), the betting structure (Fixed Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit), and the number of players at the table (two, six or nine). Then choose the stakes you want to play, and you’ll be shown your seat in a matter of seconds.
All-In Percentages
The showdown is the most exciting part of any poker hand. If at least one player is all-in before the river, and there’s one caller who has them covered when the betting is done, the cards are turned over, then the remaining community cards are dealt and the winner declared. Our All-In Percentage feature will show you the chances of each player winning as board runs out.
Rabbit Card
When all five community cards have been dealt and the hand is over, it’s always tempting to see what the next card off the deck would have been. This is known as “rabbit hunting” in poker, and the popular Rabbit Card feature will let you do just that.
Ignition Poker Tournaments
No one beats Ignition Casino when it comes to online poker tournaments. Ever since the World Series of Poker went nuclear in 2003, people have been flocking to the tournament tables, hoping to turn a small buy-in into a giant payday. Ignition Poker is home to the greatest of the Sunday majors, the $100K Guaranteed, where you can win your share of six figures for a $150 buy-in. Even better, you can play a satellite tournament and win your seat at the $100K Guaranteed for as low as $1.10.
Ignition Poker is also home to a jam-packed daily schedule of poker tournaments. There’s something on the menu for everyone at every buy-in level; Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo tournaments are all waiting for you, including our very popular Knockout tourneys, where you get a special bounty prize for every player you eliminate. Tournament poker is one of the best ways for new players to get their feet wet at Ignition – especially the Sit-and Gos, which are mini-tournaments that begin as soon as the predetermined number of players (ranging from two to 27) have signed up.
How to Play Mobile Poker
Online poker isn’t just for your desktop anymore. As long as you have an internet connection and a working device, you can play at Ignition Poker on your tablet or smartphone – even when you’re on the move. You don’t even have to download the Ignition Poker client to play; just log into our homepage and you’ll be taken to the poker lobby, where you’ll have access to the full range of cash game tables and scheduled tournaments.
For the best mobile poker experience, we recommend Zone Poker for cash games, and Jackpot Sit-and-Gos for tournaments. Zone Poker lets you get in as many hands as possible at a single table, while Jackpot Sit-and-Gos are 3-player Hyper Turbo tournaments that take only a few minutes to complete. With the prize pool selected at random, you can win up to 1,200 times your buy-in. You couldn’t do that on your phone in 2003.
Now that you’re up to speed on all of the games available at Ignition Poker, and how to get the most out of your Texas Hold’em experience, it’s time to take your seat at the table. Sign up for your free Ignition Poker account if you haven’t already, try some Play Money games for free, then make your first deposit at Ignition (there’s a special 200% Casino & Poker Welcome Bonus waiting for you, or deposit via Bitcoin and receive a 300% up to $3,000) and start playing real money poker – the greatest game in the world.