Poker at Betway.com

We offer a wide range of action packed tournaments, freerolls, special promotions and qualifiers to the world's biggest poker events. Download our amazing poker software or use the instant play Flash Version. It's your call!

LATEST POKER NEWS AND PROMOTIONS

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TOURS

€1000s to be won, along with ipads, itouches and HD TVs.

We’re taking you on a round the world trip to win some big cash and plenty of kudos.

Hundreds of chances to win..

Check out the details here

FRESH FISH FRIDAY

€500 added tournament… with free entry for new players.

New players get free entry into our weekly Fresh Fish tournament – and the old pros get a chance to hunt them down one by one.

So if you’re a fish… come on in and prove yourself for free.

And if you’re more of a shark… it’s time to show us your teeth.

It’s now 3 – 1 to the sharks and experience is starting to shine through.

Will you be the next winner? More details here

BETWAY POKER ON TWITTER
Follow us now for real-time poker deals

Check out our Twitter feed today to see how you can make the most of your Betway account.

All you need to know – right here

ECOSTT 2010

BECOME THE EUROPEAN CHAMPION OF SINGLE TABLE TOURNAMENTS

While on a fantastic poker holiday in Gibraltar!

Think you can play with the best when it comes to single table tournaments? Prove it at Betway and you can win a poker holiday to Gibraltar to compete for the title of European Champion of Single Table Tournaments – and a huge €120,000 prize pool!

Click here for more info

THE SECRET DIARY OF A BETWAY PRO
Winning big and having fun

Follow our resident pro as he gambles his way through some of the biggest pots you’ve ever seen.

Read his latest entry here…

DAILY CASH PRIZES
Win Cash with our Freeroll Tournaments
Win fabulous cash prizes in our poker freeroll tournaments. Daily tournaments offer cash prizes of up to $200 and there are 5 tournaments a day. For a chance to win a bigger cash prize, check out our Tuesday and Saturday freeroll tournaments with $500 up for grabs. It doesn’t cost a penny to enter, so get involved now.

» Enter Freeroll Tournament Now

Poker Hall of Fame

BETWAY POKER HALL OF FAME
Do you want to see your name in lights?
Hit the big-time with Betway Poker and you’ll find yourselves not only substantially richer, but immortalised in to our prestigious Hall of Fame as well!

Our big winners!

Poker Bonus

POKER WELCOME BONUS
100% up to €750!
Double your money with our Welcome Bonus! We’ll match your first deposit all the way up to €750 and give you your bonus in easy and frequent €10 increments!

Click to find out more about the Poker Bonus

POKER

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More information about Poker

History of Poker

Poker is a game which involves betting, hand ranking and bluffing. There are many theories on the origin of poker. R.F Foster, an expert on card games, traces the origin of poker to the Persian game of As Nas. The old school of thought tries to draw the ancestry of poker from earlier games, such as the French game Poque, the German Pochen, the renaissance game Primero, the French Brelan, the English Brag and so on. The modern theorists believe that poker originated in the early or mid-1700 and became popular in the Mississippi river region by 1800 where river boats facilitated the spread of the game to other parts of the United States.

Poker has many variants and sub-variants, and they differ in terms of the hand values used, the number of betting rounds, betting limits and so on. The general format of poker is the same for most games. Once the cards are dealt, a player can make a bet. Players can call (match a bet), fold (forfeit their interests in the hand) or raise (increase the size of the bet). Betting continues until all the players have either called or folded. After all betting rounds are finished; the best hand wins the pot. One of the most known poker tournaments is the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which popularized the modern format of poker and commenced in 1970. From the year 1987, casinos witnessed a shift from draw poker to community card poker games.

Online Poker

Statistics from the Christiansen Capital Advisors state that online poker revenues reached $2.4 billion in 2005. When compared to the traditional version, online poker can be played for free or at minimum stakes online. In the late 1990s, free online poker was played using Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Planet Poker was the first online real money card room, which opened in 1998. Today, online card rooms provide training for new players and help them master the art of poker before they take the plunge and play for real money. Most card rooms (both online and traditional casinos) take a rake percentage of the pot, which is one of the revenue sources for the casino.

Poker craze is growing and online card rooms are supporting this trend. Major online sites offer satellite tournaments through which players can enter real-life poker events. A great example is Chris Moneymaker who entered the 2003 WSOP through a satellite tournament and won the main event. TV coverage has greatly contributed to the popularity of poker players including Doyle Brunson and Daniel Negreanu who are considered Poker royalty.