The late 1990's brought with it the beginnings of what was to become one of the fastest growing phenomena of the twenty-first century. The beginnings of online poker started with the free poker games offered by IRC Poker. This was such a hit that Planet Poker soon made its appearance online with electronic card games that could be played for real money stakes.

Soon established casinos entered the market with their own websites and games to encourage and entice new players to try their luck with the cards. The biggest difference in playing online poker is the speed with which play continues. While at a real casino, one must allow for the time to gather and shuffle the cards and count the chips, online poker is dealt instantly. The average for a physical game is about thirty-three hands per hour. Online this can increase to as much as one hundred hands dealt and played in the same hour's time.

Many of the real casinos use their online games as advertising for their physical locations and often reward players with extra bonuses that can be used when they visit. The laws regulating real casinos are different from the laws that regulate online gambling and there are some places in the United States that online poker playing is illegal. Therefore it is provident for the new player to check with local and state regulations to assure that online poker is allowed in your hometown.

Funding your games of online poker is easy to do. Some banks and credit card companies refuse to allow transfers to online poker sites. Thus the emergence of virtual credit cards and intermediary online "wallet" accounts allow the player to transfer funds without having to be constantly connecting to their bank accounts or being denied the use of their regular credit cards for funding their online poker accounts.

The online poker establishments use a number of methods including IP address checking and automatic scanning for evidence of "robot" program patterns to keep their online poker games fair and above-board. With online poker being a multi-million dollar a month enterprise, they make tremendous effort to maintain a high degree of ethical behavior to assure their users that the games are run fairly and properly.

Although the chance of winning with such speedy play increases more with the ability to play multiple tables and games at one time, there is the loss of ability to watch your fellow players for body language and the subtle signs of a bluff. However, this is again offset by the fact that even the beginner, or person with a small budget to wager, can find a game of online poker that will fit their needs. While the stakes start high at real casinos, the online poker establishments allow games with bets as low as one cent so newcomers to the game can practice their skill while learning how to improve their performance and not be merely discouraged at an early loss.

Online poker is not limited to low-stakes or purely web-based play. Increasingly Championship poker tournaments are developing online games that allow a person to win the right to play in real casinos in international tournaments. It was through such a "satellite" online tournament that Chris Moneymaker won his seat in the 2003 World Series of Poker and ultimately became the winner of the real-life game as well.