Best POKER SITES IN IRELAND

Looking for the best poker sites for Irish players? When it comes to real money online poker games, we can truly say we have plenty of experience! This article is brought to you by 3 of the members of our team, all professional poker players for more than 10 year. We used all this knowledge to determine which are the best poker sites for Irish players, and we narrowed it down to 5 best poker sites!

The platforms were carefully evaluated to determine if they could accommodate an expert player and a beginner, we considered their reputation, the number of tournaments, number of poker games, bonuses, and inspected them in great detail – so you can just go ahead and start playing!

BEST POkER SITES IN IRELAND

ADVANTAGES

€20 No Deposit +100% Up to €300 Bonus

ADVANTAGES

First deposit bonus
100% up to 365€

ADVANTAGES

20€ + 500€ PLAYTHROUGH BONUS

ADVANTAGES

First deposit bonus
100% up to 600€

PokerStars Review Coming Soon

How to find the best online poker site - what to look for before you start playing

The technological advances of the past few years have made it possible for the best poker sites to offer security and fairness. These high security standards will protect every aspect of your player account, your financial transactions, and every tournament played. In terms of transactions, players are protected by 128-bit encryption technology and Secure Socket Links. Random number generators and regular technical audits ensure fairness and a safe, fraud-free gaming environment, which is a trademark of an authorized and reputable certified poker site.

Which poker site is the best for you?

The 4 poker sites we are listing in this article meet all our selection criterias. However, what not a lot of people will tell you is that all 4 of these poker sites are specifically tailored to a certain type of poker player. While Unibet is perfect for beginners or recreational players, PokerStars is filled with professional players who can’t wait to jump at the chance of taking all your money, if you are not familiar with the game! So, to make it easier for you, her are some very important details about each poker site we recommend!

888POKER
Best for newwbies!

20€ no deposit + 100% up to 300€

888 has been established since 1997, pretty much since the beginning of internet poker and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Many improvements have been made to the software over the years, and the result is a stable and effective platform. One of the key features is the ability to multi table many tables at once and the performance of the software when doing this is actually very smooth.

The player toughness at 888 Poker is really soft with there being a good mix of novice players and offering some of the juiciest and loosest tables on the internet. We not joking when we say we have seen some really high players per flop % sometimes in the region of 60 – 80% even on the higher stakes tables.

BET365
A poker site for everyone!

Get 100% up to 365€ on your first deposit!

Bet365 Poker is a popular poker site on the iPoker network with good cash-game and tournament volume, regular promotions and useful features.  In our experience tournament players at Bet365 Poker are average in general but not as abysmal compared to other sites. There will be some competition but it’s definitely not unbeatable. Bet365 Poker doesn’t offer a lot of freerolls but sometimes they have satellites into bigger tournaments.

UNIBET
Best for beginners!

20€ plus 500€ playthrough bonus

Unibet realized that they could not compete with the best online poker sites in the world and that it made no sense to just “come up with another version of PokerStars”. Because of this, they made a great decision and successfully brought something new into the world of online poker. Unibet Poker is a niche site for novice players, so the traffic is not comparable to PokerStars, 888poker or even PartyPoker. Nevertheless, the traffic is high enough to secure the action 24/7, especially considering the fact that the games are limited to Hold`em and Omaha poker.

In addition to cash games, freerolls and standard MTTs, Unibet players can also take part in classic Sit & Go tournaments. If you like adrenaline, you can play at multiple tables at once. The 2-seat seats range from $1 to $200, and the 5-seat seats range from $1 to $100.

POKER STARS
Best for experienced players & pros!

100% up to 600€

When it comes to playing cards online, no name looms larger than PokerStars. They’ve been operating for well over a decade, and during that time they’ve established themselves as one of the premier places to get your virtual poker fix.

Their business experienced a major boost in 2003, after online satellite winner Chris Moneymaker advanced to win the World Series of Poker. Three years later, they would set a record for the largest Internet poker tournament with 149,196 participants, although that number would be surpassed in 2013 (this time with 225,000 players).If you’re interested in large numbers of players and a generous pool of opponents to choose from, there’s no better option than PokerStars. According to one leading gaming site, the lowest amount of traffic experienced by PokerStars during a 24-hour period is still double the peak hours of their competitors.

Best poker sites in Ireland: what type of poker is best for you?

We’re all looking for variety! Diversity is a very important criteria in the case of a poker sites, and having a wide range of games to choose from is essential! If you have lots of online poker tournaments available, along with cash games and speed poker sessions, all accompanied by a generous poker bonus, then you’ve definately found a very good poker site!

The number of options available can be overwhelming at first, but it only takes a few minutes to get used to the basic mechanics of the game. Due to their beautiful variety, online poker rooms come in many forms and you can enjoy them from the comfort of your own home. Please note that you may need to download a special poker client software, but this should not be an inconvenience, as it usually works without any problems.

There are two type of poker games; cash games and tournaments. In a cash game you can join and leave when you want, you play directly for money the chips you have represent the amount of money you have. Then there are tournaments, here you play till you have lost all your chips or you have won the chips of all other players in the tournament. You and all other players pay an entry fee to the tournament and this becomes the prize pool. The prize pool is often divided over more players, the bigger the tournament, the more players get a prize in general. 

Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker, but knowing the rules of any other types of poker games is helpful. For example, Omaha Hold’em, often referred to simply as Omaha, is a thrilling poker game, very similar to Texas Hold’em, but with a number of important differences. Unlike Texas Hold’em, a game in which the preferred betting structure is no-limit, in Omahacea the most popular form of betting is pot-limit. Thus, the most popular format is Pot-Limit Omaha, or, in short, PLO. The first major difference from Texas Hold’em is that each player receives exactly four cards instead of two. However, players cannot use them all in the final formation, but only two, to which they will add three cards from the table to make the best combination.

Best Poker Sites in ireland
FAQ

A poker tournament is played between a number of players, ranging from 10 and can go up to the thousands. Players are placed on different tables until the final table is reached. The tournament ends when a player wins all the chips of the tournament. Check out the different types of poker tournaments to pick the one most that is suitable to your needs.

Poker is officially played between 6 players or 9 players. ‘Heads up’ is played between two players. This can be played in two situations. One instance would be when a tournament or a regular poker game is reaching the end and will have the last two players standing (or sitting). The other way to play heads up would be to enter a heads-up poker game where only two players are present, playing one-on-one.

o get the action going, two forced bets, known as the ‘blinds’ will have to be placed into the ‘pot’ (potential winning amount) in order to have some excitement. Two types of blinds exist, ‘small blinds’ and ‘big blinds’. Big blinds are always double the amount of small blinds. The player sitting left of the dealer places the small blind on the table and the player sitting left of him places the big blind. The player next to him is the first one to decide if he wants to join the betting or not.

In cash games these blinds always stay the same and you need to switch to a different table if you want higher or lower blinds. In tournaments the blinds start as very small bets and increase in time increments (usually 15/20 mins), set by the body hosting the tournament. For instance, from a starting stack of 2,000 chips, blinds usually start at 25/50. When the time is up, blinds will increase to 50/100. Blinds will continue to increase every 15/20 mins until the tournament ends.

There are a number of different poker tournaments to choose from.

Freezout – No re-buys allowed

  1. Multi-buy – The ability to purchase multiple stacks instead of having just one
  2. Freeroll – Tournaments which are free to enter but still offer cash prizes or tournament tickets
  3. Guaranteed Tournaments (GTD) – A guaranteed prize pool as opposed to a collective prize pool based on the number of participants. For instance, if a €2,000 GTD tournament with a €10 buy-in has less than 200 players, the prize pool will still stay at €2,000. If the number of players exceeds 200, the GTD prize pool will increase.
  4. Satellites – These are qualification tournaments where the prize will be a ticket to a larger tournament. The prize could be for a ticket for both online and live tournaments.
  5. Bounty – A tournament that rewards a player for eliminating another.

A re-buy is an opportunity to purchase another stack of chips once the initial starting stack has been lost. Re-buys are not possible in all tournaments. The tournament info or title would state whether re-buys are possible. For instance, in Freeze-out tournaments, players only get one stack of chips, but for a player who’s used to re-buys, this will change the dynamics and strategy of the game. It’s important to take into consideration the level of the blinds before purchasing the re-buy as this too is a factor. For instance, if a player is considering a re-buy of 2,000 chips and the blinds have already reached 100/200, the stack would only leave the player with a total of 10 big blinds. Re-buys are usually allowed to be purchased within the first hour of the tournament.

The rules of poker don’t change, regardless if it’s a cash game, Sit n Go or a freezout tournament. One of the main advantages of a cash game is the ability to join a game and leave whenever the player pleases. If a player is making profit and wants to leave the table, this is possible in a cash game. Another difference is that blinds do not go up in time increments, as they do in tournaments and Sit n Go’s. They remain unchanged, however the rake is accounted for differently.

How to Play Texas Hold’Em Poker

Before you start playing poker you of course need to know the rules. The most popular game in Poker is Texas Hold’em, it is the game you see and hear the most about, played with two cards in your hand. In this guide we will teach you how to play Texas Hold’em, and the general rules of poker. 

Check the video above for a nice overview of the poker rules, if you prefer reading about it then keep on reading! There is always a dealer in Texas Hold’em, the dealer will move 1 position to the left every hand. The player left of the dealer must place the small blind, the player left of that will be the big blind. This is all done automatically by the online poker site. 

Now the hand starts, and how can you play poker without cards? You can’t! In Texas Hold’em every player gets two cards which can only be seen by you. After this it is time for the first betting round. In this round the player left to the big blind must make a decision first, the options are: call, raise, fold. Calling would mean equaling the amount of the highest bet at that point in the hand, which is the automatic bet of the big blind. A raise would be increasing the stakes, and a fold would be getting out of the hand. 


The betting round ends when either the hand is won by everyone deciding to fold except for the winner of the hand or when there are multiple players who have matched the highest bet. 


The hand continues with three cards being placed on the table, this is called “the flop”. Each player can use these cards to improve their hand. Another betting round occurs between the players who are still active in the hand. The first player on the left from the dealer is first to act this player can; check or bet. A check would be let your turn go to the next player without increasing the stakes, and a bet would be placing new chips in the pot. If the first player bets the other again have the option to call, raise or fold. 


When all bets are matched a 4th card will come on the table (the turn). Another betting round occurs just like after the flop. Then the 5th and final card will be placed on the table. The last betting round of the hand occurs. If there are still multiple players left in the hand, we get a “showdown”, all the players show their cards and the winner of the hand will receive the chips that are in the pot. In Texas Hold’em it is about the best five cards, for this you can use the 5 community cards on the table and the two cards in your hand. To see which hand beats which hand have a look at our Poker cheat sheet

How to Play Omaha Poker

Texas Hold’em is a super popular poker game, what many online poker players fail to realize is the beauty of Omaha Poker. A game that is full of action with a lot of skill involved. Many Omaha Poker players in fact were big Texas Hold’em players who needed a change of scenery so to speak.
The great thing about Omaha though is that once you have the basics down, there is much more value in it and thus you have better chances of profit. 
If Texas Hold’em is a poker game known for strategy then Omaha is a game based on mathematical calculations. But don’t let this statement put you off.
There is always the assumption that Omaha is a complicated game but it really isn’t. In fact, we will go as far as to say, that once you have the basics down, it is far easier than Texas Hold’em as most of your decisions are automatic.

Omaha Poker Rules

If you are a new poker player then first have a look at the rules of Omaha Poker. The rules are very similar to Texas Hold’em, here you can learn how to play Texas Hold’em. It is recommended to first learn Texas Hold’em as this gives you a great base for Poker in general and also for (Pot Limit) Omaha. 

Playing with a Pot Limit

First of all, Omaha is often played with a Pot Limit. This means that you cannot just go all-in at any time, there is a limit to it. You might think this kills the action, but it is often the other way around. There is always action going on in PLO, the pot goes up quickly and all-ins happen more often than in No Limit Texas Hold’em games.  

The structure of the game is standard, there is a dealer, a small blind and a big blind. The betting rounds are pre-flop, post-flop, after the turn and after the river.

Four cards in your hand

The biggest difference in rules between Omaha and Texas Hold’em is that you get four cards in your hand instead of two. At the end of the hand you still make a combination of five cards, this combination of five is always made with two cards from your hand, and three of the community cards. 

Omaha Poker Strategy

Having four cards in your hand gives a new dimension to the game. It changes the value of hands at showdown. Strong combinations such as full houses and flushes happen more often. Drawing for straights and flushes is very common. If the board is paired a full house or trips will be much more likely. Hands like 7-8-9-10 (especially double suited) are great starting hands for Omaha. If you have a hand like K-K-9-4 you might think, yes a pair of kings, but for this hand to win at showdown, you very likely need to improve. 

Mistakes Beginners Make at Online Poker When Starting Out

Playing at too many poker tables or treating every player the same is only a few of early poker-playing sins. In our opinion, there is no better teacher than experience when it comes to avoiding making critical mistakes. Here are a few of our pet peeves in online poker.

Miss using Starting Hand Charts

Starting hand charts are a necessity when you’re starting out at online poker as they will alleviate pressure on your mind by narrowing down the choices you have to make at the beginning of every hand and ultimately they define poker hand rankings and positional suitability. What is it wrong to use them? It’s not really but you also need to be more flexible without becoming too rigid.

Treating each player equally

You should never base the playability of your hands on the strength of your holding and not the strength and weakness of your opponent. You should never treat all opponents the same.

Too many poker tables

Although some people find it boring to play at one table, you need to play one table until you can consistently make a profit over a sustained period then adding a second table and repeat.

Playing online poker when tilted

Every will suffer from time to time of poker tilt so it is crucial that you understand what might be triggering it and how to introduce measures to soften the fall out. It can happen to the best of us so it is best to be prepared to deal with this early.

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Ask yourself what type of bettor you are…If you’re just looking for an online betting site so you can bet occasionally, then any bookie in our list will be a great choice for you! however, if you want to make betting your job or an extra source of income, we advise you to go through all the resources out team has put together for you. Learn how to place more winning bets,  which strategies work the best, how to increase your profits with in-play betting and more! Here are some of our most popular articles:

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