Online Poker Guide

Our goal at Big Edge Poker is to be the most complete guide to internet poker rooms and online poker games available. We understand that this is a big goal, but the big goals are the only ones to get excited about.

If you're interested in deciding where to play poker online, read the reviews of the various poker rooms. They're linked from the top of the site menu at the left. We've tried to provide enough detail about each internet poker site that you can make an educated decision about where to play. If we've left out any information, or if you feel like something should be added, we welcome your constructive feedback and comments.

Soft Poker Sites - The Easiest, Cheapest Online Poker Websites

One of the aspects of internet poker play that we focus on here is whether or not a particular site is "soft". If you're a little new to internet poker, that phrase might not mean anything to you, so here's a quick explanation of what a "soft" poker site is.

If you're playing poker with a full table of nine or ten players, and they're all at exactly the same skill level that you are, then over time you'll break even. (Actually, the rake will make sure that you lose a little bit of money over time.) But if you're better than a lot of the other players, you make fewer mistakes, and you win more often when you're in a pot, then over time you'll win money.

A soft poker site is a website where there are a large number of poor players. The softness of a site can vary a lot based on which games and what limits you're playing. For example, almost all sites offer soft competition in the low limit games. Anyone who's good at poker isn't wasting their time playing for $1/$2.

On the other hand, you might find really tough competition at the $15/$30 tables on FullTiltPoker.com, while that game might be a lot softer on PokerStars.com. And keep in mind that anything said or written about the softness of these games varies according to when you sit down. You might be playing at the softest site in the world and just happen to sit down at a table full of really strong players.

Poker is about improving your odds of winning. There's no such thing as a sure thing, even when it comes to table and site selection.

Another aspect we look at for each poker site that we review is how cheap it is to play there. A couple of factors go into this. For one thing, the cheapest online poker websites, by definition, offer the best signup bonuses and the best frequent player programs. If I deposit $600 at Full Tilt Poker, I get a $600 signup bonus. That means I'm getting $1200 worth of chips for my $600. That's cheap. But if I found another poker site offering a 200% signup bonus, where they give me a $1200 bonus for a $600 deposit, then that site is cheaper to play at.

And the value of the frequent player programs and any kind of rake rebates have to be taken into account when you're looking for the cheapest poker too. These things might not matter to casual players, or they might only matter a little bit. But we've tried to include as much information about these aspects of the various poker websites as we could.

Internet Poker Websites and Poker Tips

One of our new goals for this site is to provide two new features. The first is a section dedicated to reviews of internet poker websites that aren't online cardrooms. For example, we think it would be helpful for a poker player to be able to read through a list of poker forums and poker blogs and read reviews of what each of those types of sites have to offer.The other feature we have planned is a poker strategy and tips section dedicated to providing strategy tips and advice for new poker players. While this will never be a poker school or training site, we do hope to be able to offer high quality strategy advice that's appropriate for the new Internet poker player. The editorial and writing staff here play poker as well as writing about it, so you can feel confident that the advice is given here is sincere (if not always perfect.)

It's a privilege to have an audience of intelligent poker players, and we have high hopes for providing you with the kind of unique, smart, and well-written poker content that will earn us your loyalty as a reader.

Good Tips for Playing Online Poker

Here are some tips for becoming successful in the online poker world.

Pay attention to your position at the table. You will have less information to base your decisions on in an online poker game than you would in a live poker game, so being in position against your opponents can make things much easier.

Be more decisive with your play. Some online poker sites have some very aggressive poker players, so don't give away too many chips by calling from out of position and just giving up on the hand.

Take breaks if you are losing. The games will always be running on these poker sites, but you can lose a lot of money very quickly if you are playing poorly.

Don't multi-table until you have learned to beat the game. You won't improve your skills very quickly by multi-tabling because you won't have time to really analyze each hand. Most poker sites will let you play up to 20 or 30 tables at the same time, but be sure to pace yourself.