“Poker is as big a topic as children, health or work.” Is this comment detached from reality?
You don’t exactly have to be an expert at poker for money to know that it is synonymous with gambling – in fact it is probably the most significant label of gambling on this planet right now. As far as poker is concerned, no-one has ever really argued with the concept that the people who play it get a considerable rush from staking increasing wagers as the players exchange cards or replace them with others from the deck, according to some system (I don’t know – there are definitely people out there who know the game that much better than myself).
Of course, there is a darker side to it. People insist that it is “just a game” but it takes more than stating that to save them from getting addicted to it. Sometimes people win obscenely large amounts in single games – or, indeed, lose them; and with it go their jobs, and their relationships and their family connections go in the gutter. That aside, the kind of people that the game of poker attracts these days are what might be termed as “society’s finest”… it’s not exactly difficult to understand why people think of it as a status symbol. No wonder poker is so popular these days all around the world – especially online; and it hardly looks set to decline given that so many people have access to computers at home these days.
I guess that this more clandestine idea of poker for money proves it’s harder than ever to regulate the players and avert social problems. But if you truly understand what is meant by “gamble responsibly”, and you are not happy with just playing for M&M’s or small favours, who’s to argue that free online poker is nothing less than exactly what you are looking for.
Just before you get started in your career in online poker, you need to have some regular automatic transaction arrangement online in place (Paypal, Moneybookers or a credit card will do just fine. And having an account with Paypal or Moneybookers doesn’t cost anything.). Then search for “free online poker” on a search engine (Google would be your best bet if you ask me; and I’ve been using the Internet regulrly for like a decade now); you really don’t have to “look” at all to find a place where you can get a free account in an online poker forum before starting to play. And it’s not just poker game sites by any means. There are websites dedicated exclusively to the comparison of poker gaming sites, poker chat forums, you name it.
