Live Poker Sites

Want to play at the top live US poker rooms? If so, listen carefully because we've put together a list of venues that are recognized as America's most impressive. Regardless of whether you're interested in size, style, history or gaming options, our rundown of the best live USA poker rooms has got you covered.

1. Free Live Poker Sites
2. American Poker Sites Real Money
3. Live Money Poker Sites
4. Live Online Poker Sites
5. Live Poker Sites For Money

Bovada is a popular poker online location for people from the U.S. It has a lot of opportunities for real online poker options for making money. It started out in 2011, and it has a real email and phone. Online poker in Pennsylvania is played strictly on licensed sites, and owners paid huge application fee to offer these games to public. Participating is safe for both sides - casino and player. Fast and guaranteed payments via different methods are distinctive features of online poker. LEGO IDEAS - Home.

The Bellagio:

Bellagio
3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Arguably one of the most iconic casinos in the world, let alone the USA, the Bellagio is home to the infamous Bobby's Room. Synonymous with high stakes gambling and the poker top pros, this intimate alcove is the proverbial jewel in the Bellagio's crown.

Home to the likes of Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen on a daily basis, Bobby's Room has seen some of the biggest poker games in the world over the last 20 years. From million dollar bluffs to prop bets involving male breast implants, this exclusive section of the Bellagio's poker room has given rise to a slew of legendary tales.

Unfortunately, unless you're super talented or super rich you'll probably never get to ante-up inside Bobby's Room. However, that doesn't mean the Bellagio isn't a top US poker room. In fact, it's because of Bobby's Room that the venue is loved by grinders from all over the world. While you may need a few million dollars in your bankroll in order to get into the casino's richest game, there are hundreds of smaller games on offer each week filled with players aiming for the top.

The presence of the most exclusive live poker game in America is enough to pull people into the casino and give them something to aim for. This means that you'll often find a string of low stakes games filled with weak players. Blinded by the dream of running a bluff against Doyle Brunson, these fishy players are commonplace inside the Bellagio and always ripe for picking.

In fact, aside from being known as one of the top live USA poker rooms, the Bellagio is known as one of the softest. Of course, when you move up to the higher limits you'll find yourself amongst a host of top players, but below the top-tier it's generally the case that the games are easy. In general, you'll find that cash games start from $1/$2 and run as high as $1,000/$2,000 during the World Series of Poker. At high limits it's possible to find Mixed Games, but in general you'll find that Texas Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha will be on offer.

Foxwoods Resort Casino:

Foxwoods Resort Casino
350 Trolley Line Boulevard
Mashantucket, CT 06338-3777

Another top live USA poker room outside of Nevada, Foxwoods is another structural behemoth in the gaming world. Offering 300,000 square feet of floor space, the venue has everything the hopeful gambler could wish for.

Contained with the six interconnected casinos is every class game you could wish for. From blackjack and roulette, to craps and slot machines, the adrenaline junkies among you will have plenty of opportunities to swing the pendulum of luck when you enter Foxwoods Casino.

However, if the virtues of skill and logic are more to your liking, then Foxwoods poker room will, provide an oasis of tranquility amid the chaos of the six gaming floors. Boasting 125 poker tables and the honor of being the second largest poker room in the world (not just the US); this venue is one that literally offers something for everyone.

Regardless of what your poker persuasion is, Foxwoods will have something to tickle your fancy. Of course, Hold'em and Omaha are by far the most populous games on the menu and you can enjoy each at limits ranging from $1/$2 to $100/$200. However, if you're looking for something a little different, then Foxwoods is one of the few live US poker rooms that offers 7-card stud cash games. Running regularly throughout the week (mainly because of the venue's high volume of players), fans of non-Hold'em poker games can grind out a fortune at limits ranging from $1/$3 and $75/150.

For those that enjoy the rush of a good tournament, Foxwoods plays host to a busy schedule of daily tournaments with prizepools the regularly top five-figures. However, it's when the Foxwoods Poker Classic gets underway that this live USA poker room comes into its own. Regularly welcoming the best players in the world, the event is a major fixture on the US poker calendar for thousands of players.

The Commerce Casino:

Commerce Casino
6131 East Telegraph Rd.
Commerce, CA 90040

In America, bigger is always better and there are a few live poker rooms in the country that can stack up to the Commerce Casino. Situated in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce, this casino offers a poker room that can hold up to 200 tables at once.

Although the Commerce poker room doesn't sit pride of place on the Las Vegas strip, the stature of this venue is no less impressive. Owing to the sheer size of this US poker room, players from across the country are able to enjoy cash games and tournaments of all sizes. Unlike many of the top live poker rooms in the USA, The Commerce doesn't only cater to high rollers. While venues such as the Bellagio have based their reputation around the wealthy games they host, The Commerce has a much more inclusive policy.

Average cash games limits will start as low as $1/$2 and reach as high as $100/$200+. In fact, if there are a number of celebrities in town, something that often happens at the Commerce, the highest games on offer can run a stakes exceeding $200/$400.

Aside from offering a variety of Hold'em, Omaha, Stud and Mixed cash games, The Commerce also offers a range of poker tournaments. Although the daily and weekly schedule isn't anything to get too excited about, the casino comes into its own when it hosts the L.A. Poker Classic. Part of the ever-popular WPT season, the event is extremely popular and regularly produced prizepools exceeding $5 million.

If playing poker isn't enough, then The Commerce Casino is also a complete entertainment complex. Mimicking the services found at some of the top venues in Las Vegas, The Commerce has six restaurants, a sprawling hotel complex as well as numerous bar and leisure facilities.

The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa

Borgata Hotel Casino
1 Borgata Way
Atlantic City, NJ 08401

Over the last few years the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa has become one of the top live poker rooms in the US. Located in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and now the owner of an online platform, the Borgata has benefited from the recent changes in US poker legislation.

Being situated inside one of the states that offer legal US online poker, this venue is now being utilized by many of the world's top poker tours, including the WPT. In fact, in 2013 and 2014 the casino wrestled the WPT World Championship event away from its traditional home inside the Bellagio. Such a move was not only seen as a sign of the times, but as a testament to the Borgata's prowess as a top US venue.

One of the main selling points for the Borgata, aside from it being the home to some of the WPT's top tournaments, is that it's the largest hotel in New Jersey. Boasting 2,002 rooms, the venue is not only a giant when it comes gambling, but in terms of leisure and entertainment. However, we digress. When it comes to poker, the Borgata is equipped with 161,000 square feet of gaming space that encompasses 4,000 slots and 200 table games.

Alongside these options stands a poker room that can accommodate around 100 tables at once. Generally filled with a mixture of tournament players and cash game grinders, it's the latter demographic that really benefit from the Borgata's size and experience. In the tournament world more players equates to bigger prizepools and those that choose to ante-up inside this venue will always be in good company. In fact, such is the pedigree of this live US poker room that the WPT now hosts not one, but three major MTTs inside its walls.

Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe
128 Fremont St,
Las Vegas, NV 89101

It may not be the biggest live poker room in the USA, it might not be the most impressive, but Binion's Horseshoe is undoubtedly one of the top US poker rooms. In historical terms, Binion's is an industry icon as it was home to the original World Series of Poker. Providing the venue where the likes of Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese and Benny Binion decided who the best player in the world was, Binion's has since gone on to host Poker's Hall of Fame.

In today's terms the casino's ten poker tables and $4 rake on all cash games is a million miles from facilities offered by our other top USA live poker rooms. However, what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in nostalgia. Anyone who takes the time to visit downtown Las Vegas and ante-up inside Binion's poker room will feel a sense of reverence. Knowing that the venue is the birthplace of modern poker tournaments and once played host to the greatest grinders in history is something that can't be ignored. On top of that the intimate setting makes each game more personal and the level of service that much better.

Of course, on a good day you'll probably only find a handful of cash games on offer with stakes no higher than $10/$20. However, in reality, none of that really matters because it's a poker room that every poker player in America should have the pleasure of playing in.

Comments are closed.

Illinois poker players aren't without options. You can play Texas Hold'em and Omaha at several cardrooms in the state.

But there's only a dozen or so cardrooms in the state, and you might not live near one. So, your best bet might be to play poker online instead.

Online is how we prefer to play real money poker. If you're interested in trying it, it couldn't be any easier to get started. All you need is an account with one of the best Illinois poker sites.

We're going to talk about choosing an online poker site later in our guide. But before we get to that, we want to talk a little bit about playing live poker in IL and what you can expect — both the good and the bad.

After that, we'll share some of our top reasons for playing real money poker online instead of live. Then, we'll follow this is up with an explanation for how to find the best online poker sites in Illinois.

Let's get started.

There are about ten rooms in Illinois. This might sound like a lot, but you need to realize that's all the casinos in the entire state.

Here are some of the cardrooms in Illinois.

• Grand Victoria Casino
• Harrah's Joliet
• Hollywood Casino Aurora
• Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino
• Windy City Poker
• Chicagoland Charity Poker
• Central Illinois Charitable Games
• Jumer's Casino

These are found all over the state. And some of the cardrooms are charity poker rooms which raise money for causes in Illinois. There aren't as many options as you might think, considering you might have to travel across the state to play.

That's one of the biggest issues online poker solves. You have just as many, if not more, real money US poker sites you can join online. And you can access any one of them in minutes instead of hours.

But this isn't the only challenge live poker players in Illinois face, and it's not the only challenge that online poker solves. Popular mma fighters.

Here are a few others.

Most Illinois poker rooms offer Texas Hold'em and Omaha. But what if you want to play Stud, Pineapple, or H.O.R.S.E.?

Some cardrooms say they'll spread the games you want to play; all you have to do is ask. But think about it, will they continue to offer weird games if there's little action and more interest in mainstream games?

Probably not.

This is another challenge that online poker solves. Poker operators are able to offer a larger variety of games and variants because they don't have to worry about space like land-based poker rooms do.

This enables them to offer games like Seven-Card Stud or Five-Card Draw that appeal to a smaller audience without neglecting their customers who prefer more mainstream games like Hold'em.

Some casinos in Illinois run tournaments only a few times per week. And even if you find a cardroom that runs tournaments daily, it's usually only between one and three per day.

This doesn't give you a lot of options, especially if the type of game, structure, variant, or stakes isn't what you want to play. This limits your options even more.

That's why we prefer online poker, you have loads of tournaments to choose from, every single day.

Some of the top Illinois poker sites online run more than a dozen tournaments every day. The tourneys vary in size, game, variant, and format too, so it's easy to find a tourney that best fits your budget, schedule, and interests.

One thing you'll notice is that many cardrooms' cash games are incredibly busy, especially during peak hours and over the weekend.

You can put your name on their waiting list, but who knows how long you'll wait before they call you? And is waiting around how you want to spend the little free time you have for poker each week?

Online cash games are busy, too. The difference is that online poker rooms have more tables than live cardrooms.

What's more is that you can easily check out another poker site to see if there's an available table there. Or keep the lobby of several poker tables open at once so you can take the first available seat.

You need a large bankroll to play live poker. For example, let's say that you don't care about bankroll management and all you want is enough money to play for one day. How much money do you need?

Most live poker tournaments start at around $40 and go up from there. That doesn't include the cost of any rebuys or add-ons either, which can add up fast. So, plan to spend at least $100 per MTT.

Most poker rooms spread $1/$2 or $1/$3 or $2/$4. We recommend you buy in for the max, which is at least 100 big blinds.

This means you'll want $200 to $400 for one buy-in. And you'll want money to top off your stack or rebuy as needed, so you should plan to bring $400 to $1,200 for a single cash game session.

Remember, this is only for one session. If you wanted to keep an actual poker bankroll, you'd want 20x our numbers above for cash games and 40x to 100x for tournaments.

Expensive, right?

Now, let's compare this to online poker. You can play ring games for as little as $0.01/$0.02 per hand and MTTs for less than $5. The money you'd spend in one live session live could cover you for months, if not years online, assuming you have a proper bankroll and poker strategy.

Free Live Poker Sites

So, yeah, online poker solves this challenge, too.

The bottom line is, there's nothing wrong with playing live poker in Illinois, but it's not an ideal choice for many players.

Online poker is going to make far more sense for the reasons mentioned above. But those aren't the only reasons why you should consider playing real money online poker in Illinois.

More Reasons to Play Online Poker in Illinois

Here are seven more reasons why you should play poker online in Illinois.

You can make more money playing poker online.

Now, we don't mean bigger wins. Chances are you'll win more money winning a WSOP event or high stakes cash game than you will winning an online tournament. And that's because the stakes and prize pools are generally larger.

But you can win more money overall online. You can have a higher hourly rate. You can win more money on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, and you can win more consistently.

The reason you can win more money online is because you play cash games or MTTs every day. You can play more than one table at a time. The more tables you can play at once, the more money you can expect to earn per hour or day.

This, of course, assumes you continue to play well.

American Poker Sites Real Money

Think about it another way. How many live tournaments can you play every year? Maybe one a week or every two weeks, assuming you can find enough tourneys to play. You're going to bust most of these, and it's possible to bust dozens of them before you win another.

When you play online poker in Illinois, you can play a dozen tournaments in a single day. You can get through a year's worth of live tournaments in one or two weeks. So, don't you think your chances of earning more money is better online?

One of the tough things about playing live, especially if your background is mostly online poker, is the lack of software. You have to do everything yourself.

• You have to remember everything that happens in a hand. Online, you can read a hand history or watch a hand through replay.
• You have to figure out how much each bet is. Online, you can display bet sizes on your screen.
• You have to figure out the pot size, too (and most dealers won't tell you). Online, you have the pot size displayed on your screen.
• You have to do math in your head. Online, many poker rooms have odds calculators that will tell you the pot and card odds. And you can use a calculator.
• You have to be careful not to miss flush draws or made flushes in live games. Online, poker sites have four-color decks that make it easy to spot flushes.
• You might struggle to see the cards in the middle of the table when you play live. Online, many poker rooms have larger decks you can use.

There are more software features, but you get the point. Online poker software makes it easier to play poker and to play poker well.

In fact, aside from being known as one of the top live USA poker rooms, the Bellagio is known as one of the softest. Of course, when you move up to the higher limits you'll find yourself amongst a host of top players, but below the top-tier it's generally the case that the games are easy. In general, you'll find that cash games start from $1/$2 and run as high as $1,000/$2,000 during the World Series of Poker. At high limits it's possible to find Mixed Games, but in general you'll find that Texas Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha will be on offer.

Foxwoods Resort Casino:

Foxwoods Resort Casino
350 Trolley Line Boulevard
Mashantucket, CT 06338-3777

Another top live USA poker room outside of Nevada, Foxwoods is another structural behemoth in the gaming world. Offering 300,000 square feet of floor space, the venue has everything the hopeful gambler could wish for.

Contained with the six interconnected casinos is every class game you could wish for. From blackjack and roulette, to craps and slot machines, the adrenaline junkies among you will have plenty of opportunities to swing the pendulum of luck when you enter Foxwoods Casino.

However, if the virtues of skill and logic are more to your liking, then Foxwoods poker room will, provide an oasis of tranquility amid the chaos of the six gaming floors. Boasting 125 poker tables and the honor of being the second largest poker room in the world (not just the US); this venue is one that literally offers something for everyone.

Regardless of what your poker persuasion is, Foxwoods will have something to tickle your fancy. Of course, Hold'em and Omaha are by far the most populous games on the menu and you can enjoy each at limits ranging from $1/$2 to $100/$200. However, if you're looking for something a little different, then Foxwoods is one of the few live US poker rooms that offers 7-card stud cash games. Running regularly throughout the week (mainly because of the venue's high volume of players), fans of non-Hold'em poker games can grind out a fortune at limits ranging from $1/$3 and $75/150.

For those that enjoy the rush of a good tournament, Foxwoods plays host to a busy schedule of daily tournaments with prizepools the regularly top five-figures. However, it's when the Foxwoods Poker Classic gets underway that this live USA poker room comes into its own. Regularly welcoming the best players in the world, the event is a major fixture on the US poker calendar for thousands of players.

The Commerce Casino:

Commerce Casino
6131 East Telegraph Rd.
Commerce, CA 90040

In America, bigger is always better and there are a few live poker rooms in the country that can stack up to the Commerce Casino. Situated in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce, this casino offers a poker room that can hold up to 200 tables at once.

Although the Commerce poker room doesn't sit pride of place on the Las Vegas strip, the stature of this venue is no less impressive. Owing to the sheer size of this US poker room, players from across the country are able to enjoy cash games and tournaments of all sizes. Unlike many of the top live poker rooms in the USA, The Commerce doesn't only cater to high rollers. While venues such as the Bellagio have based their reputation around the wealthy games they host, The Commerce has a much more inclusive policy.

Average cash games limits will start as low as $1/$2 and reach as high as $100/$200+. In fact, if there are a number of celebrities in town, something that often happens at the Commerce, the highest games on offer can run a stakes exceeding $200/$400.

Aside from offering a variety of Hold'em, Omaha, Stud and Mixed cash games, The Commerce also offers a range of poker tournaments. Although the daily and weekly schedule isn't anything to get too excited about, the casino comes into its own when it hosts the L.A. Poker Classic. Part of the ever-popular WPT season, the event is extremely popular and regularly produced prizepools exceeding $5 million.

If playing poker isn't enough, then The Commerce Casino is also a complete entertainment complex. Mimicking the services found at some of the top venues in Las Vegas, The Commerce has six restaurants, a sprawling hotel complex as well as numerous bar and leisure facilities.

The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa

Borgata Hotel Casino
1 Borgata Way
Atlantic City, NJ 08401

Over the last few years the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa has become one of the top live poker rooms in the US. Located in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and now the owner of an online platform, the Borgata has benefited from the recent changes in US poker legislation.

Being situated inside one of the states that offer legal US online poker, this venue is now being utilized by many of the world's top poker tours, including the WPT. In fact, in 2013 and 2014 the casino wrestled the WPT World Championship event away from its traditional home inside the Bellagio. Such a move was not only seen as a sign of the times, but as a testament to the Borgata's prowess as a top US venue.

One of the main selling points for the Borgata, aside from it being the home to some of the WPT's top tournaments, is that it's the largest hotel in New Jersey. Boasting 2,002 rooms, the venue is not only a giant when it comes gambling, but in terms of leisure and entertainment. However, we digress. When it comes to poker, the Borgata is equipped with 161,000 square feet of gaming space that encompasses 4,000 slots and 200 table games.

Alongside these options stands a poker room that can accommodate around 100 tables at once. Generally filled with a mixture of tournament players and cash game grinders, it's the latter demographic that really benefit from the Borgata's size and experience. In the tournament world more players equates to bigger prizepools and those that choose to ante-up inside this venue will always be in good company. In fact, such is the pedigree of this live US poker room that the WPT now hosts not one, but three major MTTs inside its walls.

Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe
128 Fremont St,
Las Vegas, NV 89101

It may not be the biggest live poker room in the USA, it might not be the most impressive, but Binion's Horseshoe is undoubtedly one of the top US poker rooms. In historical terms, Binion's is an industry icon as it was home to the original World Series of Poker. Providing the venue where the likes of Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese and Benny Binion decided who the best player in the world was, Binion's has since gone on to host Poker's Hall of Fame.

In today's terms the casino's ten poker tables and $4 rake on all cash games is a million miles from facilities offered by our other top USA live poker rooms. However, what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in nostalgia. Anyone who takes the time to visit downtown Las Vegas and ante-up inside Binion's poker room will feel a sense of reverence. Knowing that the venue is the birthplace of modern poker tournaments and once played host to the greatest grinders in history is something that can't be ignored. On top of that the intimate setting makes each game more personal and the level of service that much better.

Of course, on a good day you'll probably only find a handful of cash games on offer with stakes no higher than $10/$20. However, in reality, none of that really matters because it's a poker room that every poker player in America should have the pleasure of playing in.

Comments are closed.

Illinois poker players aren't without options. You can play Texas Hold'em and Omaha at several cardrooms in the state.

But there's only a dozen or so cardrooms in the state, and you might not live near one. So, your best bet might be to play poker online instead.

Online is how we prefer to play real money poker. If you're interested in trying it, it couldn't be any easier to get started. All you need is an account with one of the best Illinois poker sites.

We're going to talk about choosing an online poker site later in our guide. But before we get to that, we want to talk a little bit about playing live poker in IL and what you can expect — both the good and the bad.

After that, we'll share some of our top reasons for playing real money poker online instead of live. Then, we'll follow this is up with an explanation for how to find the best online poker sites in Illinois.

Let's get started.

There are about ten rooms in Illinois. This might sound like a lot, but you need to realize that's all the casinos in the entire state.

Here are some of the cardrooms in Illinois.

• Grand Victoria Casino
• Harrah's Joliet
• Hollywood Casino Aurora
• Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino
• Windy City Poker
• Chicagoland Charity Poker
• Central Illinois Charitable Games
• Jumer's Casino

These are found all over the state. And some of the cardrooms are charity poker rooms which raise money for causes in Illinois. There aren't as many options as you might think, considering you might have to travel across the state to play.

That's one of the biggest issues online poker solves. You have just as many, if not more, real money US poker sites you can join online. And you can access any one of them in minutes instead of hours.

But this isn't the only challenge live poker players in Illinois face, and it's not the only challenge that online poker solves. Popular mma fighters.

Here are a few others.

Most Illinois poker rooms offer Texas Hold'em and Omaha. But what if you want to play Stud, Pineapple, or H.O.R.S.E.?

Some cardrooms say they'll spread the games you want to play; all you have to do is ask. But think about it, will they continue to offer weird games if there's little action and more interest in mainstream games?

Probably not.

This is another challenge that online poker solves. Poker operators are able to offer a larger variety of games and variants because they don't have to worry about space like land-based poker rooms do.

This enables them to offer games like Seven-Card Stud or Five-Card Draw that appeal to a smaller audience without neglecting their customers who prefer more mainstream games like Hold'em.

Some casinos in Illinois run tournaments only a few times per week. And even if you find a cardroom that runs tournaments daily, it's usually only between one and three per day.

This doesn't give you a lot of options, especially if the type of game, structure, variant, or stakes isn't what you want to play. This limits your options even more.

That's why we prefer online poker, you have loads of tournaments to choose from, every single day.

Some of the top Illinois poker sites online run more than a dozen tournaments every day. The tourneys vary in size, game, variant, and format too, so it's easy to find a tourney that best fits your budget, schedule, and interests.

One thing you'll notice is that many cardrooms' cash games are incredibly busy, especially during peak hours and over the weekend.

You can put your name on their waiting list, but who knows how long you'll wait before they call you? And is waiting around how you want to spend the little free time you have for poker each week?

Online cash games are busy, too. The difference is that online poker rooms have more tables than live cardrooms.

What's more is that you can easily check out another poker site to see if there's an available table there. Or keep the lobby of several poker tables open at once so you can take the first available seat.

You need a large bankroll to play live poker. For example, let's say that you don't care about bankroll management and all you want is enough money to play for one day. How much money do you need?

Most live poker tournaments start at around $40 and go up from there. That doesn't include the cost of any rebuys or add-ons either, which can add up fast. So, plan to spend at least $100 per MTT.

Most poker rooms spread $1/$2 or $1/$3 or $2/$4. We recommend you buy in for the max, which is at least 100 big blinds.

This means you'll want $200 to $400 for one buy-in. And you'll want money to top off your stack or rebuy as needed, so you should plan to bring $400 to $1,200 for a single cash game session.

Remember, this is only for one session. If you wanted to keep an actual poker bankroll, you'd want 20x our numbers above for cash games and 40x to 100x for tournaments.

Expensive, right?

Now, let's compare this to online poker. You can play ring games for as little as $0.01/$0.02 per hand and MTTs for less than $5. The money you'd spend in one live session live could cover you for months, if not years online, assuming you have a proper bankroll and poker strategy.

Free Live Poker Sites

So, yeah, online poker solves this challenge, too.

The bottom line is, there's nothing wrong with playing live poker in Illinois, but it's not an ideal choice for many players.

Online poker is going to make far more sense for the reasons mentioned above. But those aren't the only reasons why you should consider playing real money online poker in Illinois.

More Reasons to Play Online Poker in Illinois

Here are seven more reasons why you should play poker online in Illinois.

You can make more money playing poker online.

Now, we don't mean bigger wins. Chances are you'll win more money winning a WSOP event or high stakes cash game than you will winning an online tournament. And that's because the stakes and prize pools are generally larger.

But you can win more money overall online. You can have a higher hourly rate. You can win more money on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, and you can win more consistently.

The reason you can win more money online is because you play cash games or MTTs every day. You can play more than one table at a time. The more tables you can play at once, the more money you can expect to earn per hour or day.

This, of course, assumes you continue to play well.

American Poker Sites Real Money

Think about it another way. How many live tournaments can you play every year? Maybe one a week or every two weeks, assuming you can find enough tourneys to play. You're going to bust most of these, and it's possible to bust dozens of them before you win another.

When you play online poker in Illinois, you can play a dozen tournaments in a single day. You can get through a year's worth of live tournaments in one or two weeks. So, don't you think your chances of earning more money is better online?

One of the tough things about playing live, especially if your background is mostly online poker, is the lack of software. You have to do everything yourself.

• You have to remember everything that happens in a hand. Online, you can read a hand history or watch a hand through replay.
• You have to figure out how much each bet is. Online, you can display bet sizes on your screen.
• You have to figure out the pot size, too (and most dealers won't tell you). Online, you have the pot size displayed on your screen.
• You have to do math in your head. Online, many poker rooms have odds calculators that will tell you the pot and card odds. And you can use a calculator.
• You have to be careful not to miss flush draws or made flushes in live games. Online, poker sites have four-color decks that make it easy to spot flushes.
• You might struggle to see the cards in the middle of the table when you play live. Online, many poker rooms have larger decks you can use.

There are more software features, but you get the point. Online poker software makes it easier to play poker and to play poker well.

Live Money Poker Sites

Live poker rooms offer promotions, like leaderboards and bad beat jackpots. But online poker rooms will give you money for joining their site and making a deposit.

The most common promotion is the deposit bonus. The poker site will match a percentage of your deposit. For example, if you claim a 150% deposit bonus, the site will give you $1.50 for every $1 you deposit.

You won't get it upfront. You'll earn it by playing real money games on your own dime. You'll get points for every hand or MTT you play. Earn enough points and you'll unlock a chunk of your bonus.

El royale casino player reviews. If you're a good player, a deposit bonus is as close to free money as it gets.

Another reason to play poker online is because most online poker rooms let you play for free. They give you play chips and several free money cash games and MTTs to choose from.

You won't win real money playing these games. But you should consider playing them anyway, at least when you're new. You can use them to learn new games, strategies, and more without risking your bankroll.

Some poker rooms also offer freeroll tournaments. These are free to enter and often have real money prize pools.

Most live poker venues don't offer freeroll tournaments. Period.

This may or may not be a benefit depending on whether you play poker purely for fun or if your goal is to improve.

If it's the latter, online poker is the way to go because it's generally tougher than live games. For example, a $50 game online is going to be the same, if not tougher than a $500 game live.

Why?

Online poker has lowered the barrier to entry. You can get better results for a fraction of what it'll cost you playing live. This has led to tougher and more sophisticated games, even at the micro stakes.

Live Online Poker Sites

If you want to become a great poker player, and you want to do it as quickly as possible, you should play poker online.

Many live poker rooms offer big tourneys. But they usually offer them only once or twice per month, sometimes once per week.

Live Poker Sites For Money

For example, one Illinois poker room runs a $20k GTD tourney on the first Friday of every month. The rest of their weekly tourneys have a $10k guarantee.

This isn't bad, but online poker rooms run tournaments this big, and bigger, far more often. Sometimes every day of the week. And all the Illinois poker sites we endorse have a Sunday MTT schedule too.

For example, one runs a $250,000 GTD Main Event every Sunday. They also run a $150,000 GTD MTT. And they many other MTTs that are smaller, with prize pools in the five- and six-figure range.

Then, there are the MTTs run throughout the week. Most of these have prize pools in the four and five figure ranges. These tourneys run multiple times per day.

Live poker doesn't come anywhere close to this. If you like to play MTTs, you owe it to yourself to play poker online in IL.

The last benefit we want to share (but certainly not the last benefit online poker offers) is the option to play poker on your phone.

When you play live, you have no choice but to show up wherever the cardroom is. This can be hours away from your home. This is anything but convenient.

Online poker enables you to play from home, which is far more convenient. But you're anchored to wherever your computer is. It's not easy to lug it around, even if it's a smaller laptop.

This is where mobile poker comes in. You can play all your favorite games from wherever you can get internet access. That includes your kitchen, in the car, or at the beach while you're on vacation.

Mobile poker is convenient. It's easy. And all the top Illinois poker sites endorse offer it in some capacity. So, if you're ready to take advantage of this benefit, and all the benefits we've talked about so far, you'll need an account with one top-rated online poker sites for IL.

Finding the Best Illinois Poker Sites

Okay, you're ready to play online poker. Your next step is to choose a poker room to join. You can find one on your own, but this can take you several days, if not weeks, if you're lucky.

It's not just your time you're spending, though. You'll also spend a fair amount of money too, testing every promising poker site. That's the only way to know if they have games and software you'll like.

Doesn't that sound time consuming and expensive? Fortunately, there's a better option. Join one of the Illinois poker sites we recommend instead.

We review and test all the Illinois poker sites we endorse. Here are some of the things we look for.

• Whether the poker site has a license issued by a legitimate gambling authority
• If they have a positive reputation with other American online poker players
• That they have a variety of poker games, variants, and stakes
• If their software works well and that there are several features for you to use
• That they get enough traffic because, without it, games won't run
• If their tournament schedule offers different MTTs, if they have any Sunday 'majors,' and if there are MTTs with buy-ins suitable for all budgets
• That they have a mobile poker app or browser option and there are enough games and stakes on these platforms
• That the poker room accepts plenty of American-friendly banking options with reasonable limits and fees.
• If they have promotions that poker players can take advantage of
• Whether or not their rake is fair

We do all this legwork so that you don't have to. You can easily get value from our efforts even if all you ever did was read our poker room reviews to decide where you should play.

But that's a lot of work, too, between the reading and figuring out which room is best for you. So, what we recommend you do instead is simply choose a poker site from our list of recommendations. These recommendations are based on all our research and decades of experience playing online poker.

That's why we can confidently say that these are the best Illinois poker sites you'll find online.

Live and Online Real Money Poker in IL

We covered quite a bit of information in this guide.

• You learned about some of the downsides to playing poker live in Illinois, which boils down to a lack of cardrooms, variety, and convenience.
• We showed you a few of the benefits you'll experience if you play poker online. This includes the ability to make more money, play poker for free, play lots of guaranteed MTTs, and more.

The bottom line is that there's no doubt in our minds most players will be far happier and far better off playing poker online. You just can't beat the variety, convenience, and promotions.

It's not hard to get started either. It's much easier than driving for 30 to 60+ minutes to play in person. All you need is an account with a top-rated poker site.

That's where we come in. We have a lot of experience in reviewing, rating, and recommending online poker sites. So, if you're unsure of which poker site you want to join, we suggest you join one of the sites we endorse. These are sites that we play at ourselves, as well as recommend to friends and family.

But don't take our word for it. Join one of the best Illinois poker sites now and find out for yourself.