Whether you’re an aspiring pro or just a casual player, there is no better time to play poker online than now. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many live venues have closed and players who would normally choose to visit a casino or local card room have instead turned to their favourite poker sites online. The traffic numbers have increased dramatically and many operators are reporting double or even triple their usual volume of play.

One of the best ways to get started is by downloading a real money poker client from your favourite poker site. The software is not taxing on your computer and it should only take a matter of minutes to download even on the slowest internet connections. Many poker sites also offer no-download versions of their software for those who don’t want to deal with the installation process.

Once you’ve downloaded the client, create a user account with the poker room of your choice. You will then be required to provide some personal information including your date of birth and address. This is to prevent anyone underage from playing at their site and it’s important to make sure you choose a reputable poker site to avoid any issues.

The key to success in poker is to play smart and make small improvements every session. Poker is a game of skill and the top pros spend just as much time studying their games as they do playing. This means keeping up with training videos from the biggest names, networking with successful poker players and brutally analyzing their play after every session.