Practice gambling online for free at Bodog

Since my mission is to help the novice gambler, I looked hard for a site that would make it easy for you to practice the games. And I found it with Bodog.

Here's what I mean by easy:

  • Completely free (no catch)
  • No registration required
  • Plays right in your browser (no download required)

I know that some players will want to practice with real money, so I also made sure that the casino I picked is good for real-money play too. Here's why I selected Bodog over the others:

  • Best reputation. Online gambling is largely unregulated and if a casino refuses to pay your winnings you have little recourse. But Bodog's reputation is spotless.
  • I met the staff. I've had the opportunity to meet several of the Bodog staff personally.
  • They allow me to mediate. Bodog promises that if one of my reader clicks over to Bodog and then has a problem they can't resolve with Bodog, I can step in to mediate. I've never had to do this, since I've never received a single complaint from a player.
  • No spam. Lots of casinos sell you out to spammers, but not Bodog. I use a specially-coded email address at each casino I test so I can tell who's naughty and nice in the spam department. Bodog is clean on this one.
  • One account gets you everything. You can wager on casino games, poker, and other stuff, for real or fake money, all on the same account. Some other casinos make you use a different login for each -- ugh.
  • No B.S. Bodog is one of the only casinos without popup or popout windows on its website. They show more respect for you than the other guys.

Bodog also gives you free chips: Every time you make a deposit, they'll add 10% more chips to your account.

Bottom line: I picked Bodog because it was the best one I could find.

Visit Bodog


 

Name of Hand

Example

Royal Flush

10♦ J♦ Q♦ K♦ A♦

Straight Flush

7♦ 8♦ 9♦ 10♦ J♦

Four of a Kind

3♦ 3♠ J♦ 3♣ 3♥

Full House

9♣ 9♥ 4♣ 4♥ 4♦

Flush

9♣ Q♣ 10♣ 4♣ 6♣

Straight

6♣ 7♥ 8♣ 9♦ 10♠

Three of a Kind

5♣ 5♥ 5♠ 9♦ 8♠

Two Pair

4♣ 4♥ 7♣ 7♦ Q♠

Pair

9♣ 9♥ 5♣ 4♦ 3♠

Poker Hand Rankings

How to figure which hand wins in poker

In each of the examples below we'll compare just two hands at a time to keep things simple. But in real poker there are often three or more players left standing at the end of the round who compare hands to see who won.

The cards can be in any order. It doesn't matter what order the cards are dealt. A pair of nines dealt as (9 3 8 5 9) is just as good as a pair dealt as (9 9 3 8 5).

 

1. Card Ranks. Two is the lowest card, Ace is the highest. The face cards from lowest to highest are Jack, Queen, and King, which we abbreviate J, Q, K. When each hand has the same high card, you look at the next-high card. If both hands have the same top two cards then you look at the third card, etc.

Queen beats Jack

       


       

K9 beats K7

       


       


2. Pair. A pair is two cards of the same rank. If multiple players have pairs, the high pair wins. If two players each have the same pair (e.g., 5,5 and 5,5), then you look at the highest card in each hand, as we saw above with Card Ranks.

Pair beats a single card, even if the pair is ranked lower.

       


       

High pair wins

       


       


3. Two Pair. If one pair is good, two pair is better.

Two pairs are better than one

       


       

This is a tie.

       

Both hands are equal.

       


4. Three of a Kind.

Three of a Kind beats two pair.

       


       


5. Straight. Consecutive cards. An Ace can count as either the lowest card (A-2-3-4-5) or the highest card (10-J-Q-K-A). If both hands have straights, the higher straight wins. Remember that the order of the cards doesn't matter. We showed them in order below just to make it easier to see.

Straight beats three of a kind. When comparing multiple straights, the highest straight wins.

       


       


5. Flush. All cards of the same suit. If both hands are flushes then you look at card ranks, as usual.

Flush beats a straight

       


       


6. Full House. A three of a kind plus a pair. When multiple players have full houses, the highest rank wins.

Full House beats a flush.

       


       


7. Four of a Kind. Just what it says. With competing four of a kinds, the highest one wins.

Four of a Kind beats a full house.

       


       


8. Straight Flush. Hand is both a straight and a flush..Very rare. Ranks break ties, yada yada yada.

Straight Flush beats four of a kind.

       


       


9. Royal Flush. A straight flush composed of the very highest cards. Extremely rare. If you got this on a video poker machine you'd win the jackpot, usually 4000 coins.

Royal House beats everything on the planet.

       


More Poker Resources

That's the basics. Here are some more resources to continue your study.

Texas Holdem crash course.  Our own guide to learning Texas Holdem.

Charles Bloom's Beginner's Guide. Mr. Bloom has an excellent introduction to Texas Holdem which picks up where this guide left off.

PokerTips.org. A plethora of articles for beginning, intermediate, and advanced players. Good stuff.

Bodog Poker. The best way to learn is to play. At Bodog you can play for free so you don't have to risk your own money while you're still getting the hang of it. When you're ready to graduate to real money play, they have cheap $0.10/$0.20 limit games that just about anyone can afford. And the software works on both Mac & Windows.

Poker Listings. All the online poker rooms analyzed, reviewed, and compared. Highly recommended.

The Wizard's tips. There is no more respected authority on gambling strategy than the Wizard of Odds. Check out the Wizard's excellent advice for beginning players.

Strategy for 6-person Holdem. Beat6Max.com offers a wealth of strategies for playing six-person Holdem games. They sorely need a good editor, but hey, it's extensive, and it's free.

See also how to play:

 

a d v e r t i s e m e n t s

Online Casino Guide
Guide to gambling online features casino reviews, game guides, payout percentage information and a guide to online casino bonus offers
CasinoChecklist.com

Best Online Casinos
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Call the 800-522-4700 hotline, and read this.

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