Online poker is the game of poker played online. Due to the growing availability of online poker websites, the number of poker aficionados across the world has increased substantially. In 2005, revenues generated by online poker players were estimated at as much as US$200 million per month.

As opposed to traditional, land-based poker rooms that are very expensive to operate, online poker rooms have much smaller overhead expenses. Many poker players consider online casinos to be more player-friendly and less intimidating. For instance, the gaming software may remind a player when it is his turn to play. In addition, Internet poker rooms do not require players to invest great sums of money, and often charge no entry fee, which is very attractive for beginner players.

Although online gaming destinations are more vulnerable to all sorts of fraud schemes, like collusion between players, they have sophisticated detection tools that are not in use in brick and mortar casinos. For instance, online poker room security staff can go through the "hand history" of the cards previously played by any player on their gaming website, which makes it easier to detect patterns of behavior. While at the same time, in traditional gaming establishments, colluding players can just fold their hands without anyone ever knowing what their cards were.

Prominent online poker rooms usually boast attractive features to entice new players. One feature commonly used by online casinos is called satellite tournaments that provide players with an opportunity to participate in real-life poker tournaments. For example, Chris Moneymaker, a famous figure in the poker world, won his entry to the 2003 World Series of Poker via a satellite tournament held on online gaming website PokerStars.com. As many as four other players in the WSOP final table got there through an Internet poke room.

Today, online poker gaming is legal and regulated in many countries. In the U.S., however, its status has for ever been unclear. In February 2005, the North Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill to legalize and regulate online poker in the state. The legislation required that online poker companies would physically locate their entire businesses within state borders. Nevertheless, the measure was rejected by the State Senate in March 2005 after the U. S. Department of Justice contacted the North Dakota attorney general Wayne Stenehjem arguing that online gaming "may" be illegal, and that, if passed, the bill "might" violate the federal Wire Act. In response to the Senate's rejection of the bill, North Dakota Rep. Jim Kasper, its author, said that he would not abandon his efforts to legalize online gambling in the state and introduce the legislation in the 2007 session of the North Dakota legislature.

Since, as already mentioned before, there is legal grayness when it comes to online poker, many financial institutions, such as banks and different credit card companies, refuse to directly transfer money to Internet poker rooms. The situation has prompted new electronic money transfer companies to open. The advantage of services provided by these businesses is that they serve as online intermediaries, thus, facilitating the transfer of funds from a player's bank account to the poker site.

Online poker sites usually make most of their profits via two methods. The first one is the rake. A rake is a fee poker rooms charge players. Most often, it is a percentage of the pot. The second one is pre-scheduled multi-table and improvised sit-and-go tournaments, that require players to pay an entry fee of around 10%. These are also the two primary methods traditional poker operating casinos make profits from.

Many online poker gaming critics challenge the integrity and fairness of online poker rooms, suspecting that some of them may be engaged in fraudulent actions.

Combing online discussion forums on Internet gambling, you can find many players telling stories of how they fell victims to non-random card dealing, playing against "bots" (poker playing software disguised as a human player), or to giving multiple players good hands to increase the wagers and the rake. Nevertheless, there is little proof to such claims, and others even maintain that the casinos' rake is large enough that such abuses are simply unnecessary.

In general, since the online gaming industry is flourishing and educated projections speak of further development for this sector, Internet casino operators make enough money operating completely fair games. It is also easy to assume that reputable online poker rooms have much more to gain by offering fair games than by deceiving their customers.

There are certain important differences between Internet poker gaming and conventional gaming ar B&M casinos.

The most obvious difference between the two types of play is that, when playing online, the opponents are not gathered in one room but play from across the globe, which prevents them from reading each other's body language. Instead, Internet poker players usually learn to focus more seriously on wagering patterns, reaction time and other behavior signs that have nothing to do with physical expression.

Another important difference, though less obvious than the first one, is the number of hands played per hour. In traditional casinos, the dealer has to collect the cards, then shuffle and deal them after every played hand. Due to this and other delays prevalent in brick and mortar casinos, the average rate of play is approximately thirty hands per hour. Contrary to offline casinos, Internet gaming websites lack such delays. The dealing and shuffling are instant, there are no counting chips delays, and the play is more rapid due to "auto-action" buttons. Therefore, it is not uncommon that an online poker table sees an average of sixty to eighty hands per hour.

In addition, online gaming websites have a another advantage over the offline gaming venues. Internet poker rooms usually offer beginner players poker schools to teach them the ins and outs of poker strategy, which significantly speeds up the novices' learning curve. Many prominent online casinos also feature free money play so that newcomers can practice their poker skills in a range of poker games and limits without the risk of losing their money.

While traditional gaming venues attract and reward their customers by offering them free meals, hotel rooms, and merchandise, Internet poker rooms usually boast rich deposit bonuses given to players when they fund their accounts. The bonus adds either a percentage, or a set amount of chips to the value of the player's deposit. In addition, some poker sites also develop different VIP prgrams to reward players who visit them on a regular basis.