Best Bitcoin Poker Sites

Benefits of Using Bitcoin for Playing Poker

Whether you're up for exploring a Bitcoin poker room or joining Bitcoin casino poker sites, it might be wise to first think about the pros and cons of using Bitcoin to play poker. Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency right now, but that doesn't mean it's entirely flawless. Let's first take a look at the reasons why it might be a good choice to play poker online using Bitcoin:

• Security: One of the most attractive features of Bitcoin is the fact that transactions are virtually unhackable and extremely secure. This is due to the blockchain technology on which the cryptocurrency operates, with every transaction recorded, authenticated and verified by peers, like a kind of public ledger.

• Anonymity: Another great feature of Bitcoin transactions is the level of anonymity you enjoy. This is particularly handy if you don't want the details of your online poker gameplay appearing on your bank or credit card statement. Transactions are not labelled like this, so there's no way of tracking them back to an individual or activity.

• Potential investment opportunity: Since the value of Bitcoin can fluctuate quite dramatically at times, you can use this to your advantage by cashing out when the value is high.

• Low fees: Online poker sites tend not to charge any significant fees for Bitcoin transactions, and if they do, those fees are substantially smaller than those charged for other payment methods. That means more of your deposited funds are yours to play with, and more of your withdrawn funds will end up in your pocket!

Disadvantages of Playing Poker Using Bitcoin

Of course, everything in life is a balance between great and not so great. So what's the 'not so great about poker Bitcoin gaming? Let's check out the disadvantages of using Bitcoin to play online poker:

• Almost too secure: As secure as Bitcoin is, it could perhaps be a little too secure, but what does that mean? Have you ever heard stories about Bitcoin millionaires losing their fortune because they forgot their private keys? It's a real thing! Since there is no way to retrieve a Bitcoin wallet private key, if you forget it, you are logged out of your account - and your Bitcoin - for good!

• Scam magnet: As Bitcoin has risen in popularity over recent years, so has the proliferation of scams that aim to part you from your hard-earned coins. These scams can be quite elaborate, so take precautions: don't ever share your wallet details with anyone or use your coins to buy anything from a site that seems even remotely fishy!

• Fluctuations: Bitcoin is subject to market volatility because just about everything influences its price! As a result, the price of your coins can plummet very quickly, leaving you short-changed if you're not mindful when you deposit, play and withdraw.

• Slower processing times: Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which means it is an entirely digital type of non-fiat currency. As a result, processing times for deposits and withdrawals at Bitcoin casino poker sites are faster than those for other payment methods. However, there may be times when your transaction is delayed a little due to the number of confirmations required before proceeding. It's still usually faster than fiat payments, though!

Types of Poker Games You Can Play Online

Poker is a popular card game that comes in many different varieties, with new twists on traditional rules emerging on an ongoing basis. Variants can come from different parts of the world or even individual casinos to increase footfall in their establishments and get more money moving across their tables! Let's look at some of the most popular forms of poker Bitcoin can be used to play at various Bitcoin poker rooms and online casino sites.

Texas Hold’Em Poker

Arguably the most popular form of poker globally, Texas Hold'em Poker is the main variant played at worldwide poker tournaments such as the WPT and WSOP. Its popularity stems from the fact that it is quite simple to learn and play, even for beginners.

At least two players play traditional games of Texas Hold'em. Each player is dealt two cards face down to start (hole cards) before the first three of the community cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table (flop). A fourth card, the Turn, is then dealt, followed by the fifth and final card, the River. After all, cards have been dealt, and the player with the highest hand wins.

Each stage of the game includes a betting round in which players can check, call, raise or fold, depending on how strong they feel their hand is compared to that of the other players.

Your goal in this game is to create the highest value 5 card poker hand possible with your hole cards and the five community cards. The poker hands range from a high card up to a royal flush, with the aggressive nature of a player's bets often indicative of the strength of the hand they're holding - but not always!

Texas Hold'em Poker has become such a popular game that many Bitcoin casinos offer their own RNG-based and live dealer versions so that anyone can play without the need to amass the right number of players first. Casino Hold'em is a good example.

Omaha Hold’Em Poker

The next most popular online poker Bitcoin game is Omaha Hold'em, and it's quite widely found on online poker sites as a result. Omaha Hold'em differs from Texas Hold'em in two crucial ways:

• Each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two

• Players must make their highest value hand using exactly two of their hole cards and exactly three of the community cards, no more, no less.

Such minor tweaks to the rules of Texas Hold'em result in some significant changes to how the game is played, particularly when it comes to the various poker hands (which are identical to that of Texas Hold'em).

For example, in Texas Hold'em, you can make up a pair, three of a kind, full house or any other poker hand using just a single card from your original two hole cards. This is not the case in Omaha since you must use exactly two hole cards.

As you can imagine, Omaha Hold'em gameplay can be quite interesting!

2-7 Triple Draw

2-7 Triple Draw Poker turns the rules on their head, with the aim of the game being to get the lowest possible poker hand. In this poker variant, each player is dealt five cards. There are then three draws, where players can choose to discard 0 to 5 cards and have them replaced with new ones. Four rounds of betting take place to increase the pot size and indicate the strength of your hand to try and win.

In contrast to Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hold'em, traditional poker hands (e.g. three of a kind, straight, etc.) are bad in 2-7 Triple Draw. Here your goal is to get a low ranking hand, with the best one being 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, which is called a Wheel or Number 1.

Similarly, A, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in this game are not straight since A only plays high. This is the best possible A hand to hold as the other four cards are the lowest values.

Chinese Poker

In Chinese Poker, one of the most popular Asian games, 2 to 4 players are each dealt 13 cards from a 52 card deck, which they must then arrange into three sets: the front, consisting of 3 cards, and the middle and back, each consisting of 5 cards. The hands must increase in value from front to back.

If players decide to play their hand, the front, middle and backhands are compared to those of the other participating players, with units awarded for wins. Certain special card combinations can also result in wins or royalties, such as a full house in the middle of a straight flush. If you manage to get three flushes or three straights in the same hand, you win automatically, regardless of what the other players are holding!

Seven-Card Stud

Seven-Card Stud was the predominant form of poker before Texas Hold'em came along, particularly in best casino games at home. This variant differs from other poker games in that each round consists of a series of seven plays, with the outcome of each determining who gets to bet first.

The first two cards dealt with each player are face down, with the third card dealt face up. Whoever has the highest face-up card is the first to act. The next three plays dish out a single face-up card to each player, with betting after each card following the same pattern, i.e. the player with the highest value hand involving their face-up cards gets to act first.

For the seventh play, a single card is dealt face down to the remaining players, who then bet based on who had the highest hand in the last play.

If players remain after the seventh round of betting, there is a showdown, with players revealing their cards to determine the winner. The one who holds the highest 5 card poker hand is the winner.

Best Bitcoin Poker Online Casinos

Many reputable online poker Bitcoin sites offer you the ability to play poker using Bitcoin. While network poker sites are a popular choice, especially regarding the availability of Bitcoin poker freeroll tournaments, it's worth noting that many online casinos offer this option. 

You can even play Bitcoin poker Android and iOS friendly games via various Bitcoin poker app options! Read on for a short review of the five best Bitcoin poker sites.

Stake Casino

Stake Casino is well known for accepting many cryptocurrencies, but what makes it most memorable and a leading choice with players is that there are many special offers and promotions available at any given time.

Such offers include a weekly giveaway of $50,000 in Bitcoin that is open to all players (i.e. both sports bettors and casino gamers), daily leaderboard races of $100,000 each and many more. The best part is that most of these promotions payout wager-free winnings.

In terms of their games collection, Stake Casino offers somewhere in the region of 4,000 titles, which includes slots, table games and live dealer games, with several poker games, also featured in the range. Also available at this online casino is a substantial and competitive sportsbook. Players at the site benefit from 24/7 multilingual support.

• Attractive wager-free promotions

• Sizeable games collection

• Bitcoin-friendly

Fortune Jack Casino

Widely recognised as one of the very first Bitcoin casinos online, having launched in 2014, Fortune Jack Casino boasts an impressive array of some 3,000 or so games from 35 different developers.

Suppose you want to play poker with Bitcoin. In that case, this online casino is a good choice, especially when you consider the fairly large number of poker games on offer, including Casino Stud, Triple Edge, Caribbean and Cyberstud variants, amongst others.

In addition, you can benefit from the extra security of the site's Provably Fair games, all of which are backed by blockchain technology. Both Texas Hold'em and Casino Hold'em are included in this collection.

Amongst the benefits of playing at Fortune Jack Casino are the regular wager-free cashback and bonus rewards of the Miami Garage loyalty programme, which sees you progressing up the ladder from Scooter to Yacht.

• Provably fair games, including poker

• Monthly wager-free cashback

• Several cryptocurrencies accepted

Bets.io Casino

Suppose you're after a wide range of Bitcoin online poker games to play. In that case, Bets.io Casino is also a worthy contender for your coins, with many poker games on offer, including Triple Edge, Ride's, Texas Hold'em 3D, Casino Hold'em, Caribbean, Bitcoin video poker and many others.

The site generally has a plentiful supply of titles to explore, over 2,300 in total, ranging from slots to RNG-based table games, with an excellent variety of live casino games.

One of Bets.io Casino's biggest draws is its daily cashback offer that gives you 10% to 20% of the previous day's deposits (yes, that's deposits, not losses!), depending on how much you deposited.

As a member, you'll also be treated to free spins every Wednesday, and a reload bonus of 50% up to 100mBTC plus 60 free spins every weekend.

• User-friendly light/dark modes

• Daily cashback on deposits

• 24/7 live chat

Bitdreams Casino

Another popular site for Bitcoin online poker gaming, Bitdreams Casino, came online in 2021 and offers an awesome games collection topping 7,000 titles, and it's still growing!

Poker games available for Bitcoin play at the site include Hold'em Poker 2, Live Casino Hold'em, Oasis and Caribbean Stud, with plenty of Bitcoinvideo poker and bet on poker-style games also included.

Bitdreams Casino's space theme is continued through its loyalty programme, Bitdreams Universe. The latter levels are represented by 10 planets (Earth through to Bitopia!), with increasingly valuable free spins, bonuses and points conversion rates awarded to you as you progress. Both deposits and real money gameplay earn you Star Points for the loyalty programme.

Fans of Bitcoin can claim a weekly bonus boost of 55%, with many other promotions promising rewards for playing.

• Massive games collection: 7,000+ titles

• Unique loyalty programme

• Weekly Bitcoin reload bonus

Kineko Casino

A sizeable collection of poker games can also be found at another relatively new online casino, Kineko Casino, with titles including Pai Gow, Caribbean, Russian, Casino Hold'em and the live dealer games of Ultimate Texas Hold'em, Casino Hold'em, Three Card and Caribbean Stud.

The Kineko Casino Bitcoin poker casino differs from other sites in that there isn't a promotions page listing the brand's available and ongoing offers - as there aren't any! However, members will benefit from the Kineko Volume Pool, which awards all active players a share of all played funds every month.

Also unique here is the site's cryptocurrency, KKO, which will earn you an extra 2% cashback if you use them to play games.

• Up to 8% monthly payout in ETC/BTC/KKO for active players

• Unique site coins KKO

• 24/7 multilingual support

How to Start Playing on Legal Bitcoin Poker Sites - Step by Step Guide

It's very easy to start playing Bitcoin poker casino games online. Here we'll take you to step by step through the process, from start to finish.

1. Join a Bitcoin poker site: Choose one of the trusted and reputable Bitcoin poker online casinos listed on this page. Visit the site and click on the Join or Register button to get started. You'll be asked to enter a few basic details, such as your name and email address, and you'll need to choose a username and password for your new account.

2. Make a deposit: Your next step is to load coins into your new account, so you have funds to play poker with. A certain cashier section usually allows you to choose your payment method and make a deposit. For Bitcoin payments, you will usually have the option to deposit via a wallet or directly to the site using its Bitcoin address (copy and paste it into the sender field within your Bitcoin account).

3. Choose your game: Once you've got some coins in your new account, you're ready to play! Check out the site's table games collection if you're looking for some RNG-based poker action. If you'd rather experience live dealer versions of poker, these can be found in the Live Casino section of the site. Click on the game you want to play, and it will open.

4. Withdraw your winnings: Assuming you've been lucky at the poker tables, your next step will be to get your hands on your winnings. Withdrawals can be requested via the site's cashier. Just choose Bitcoin as your preferred option and enter your Bitcoin address when requested. Your funds will arrive as soon as the site approves the withdrawal request and is confirmed by the blockchain.

Note that you are likely to be asked to confirm your identity by sending documentary evidence to the online casino as part of the industry-standard Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering policies before withdrawals are permitted.

Deposit and Withdrawal at Bitcoin Poker Sites

As mentioned above, the processes for deposits and withdrawals are usually very quick and easy. All transactions take place within the secure environment of the best online casino's digitally encrypted cashier.

For deposits, choose your preferred payment option (e.g. Bitcoin, CoinsPaid, MetaMask, etc.) and copy the relevant cryptocurrency address if necessary. You'll then need to enter this in the sender field along with your deposit amount in your wallet to proceed with the transaction.

For withdrawals, enter your Bitcoin wallet address when required and choose how much you want to withdraw. In this case, you'll most likely need to comply with identity verification procedures for your withdrawal request to be processed, but this usually doesn't take very long.

Though Bitcoin transactions aren't quite as lightning fast as those of other cryptocurrencies, you can still expect to get your coins much quicker than fiat currency transactions.

Is it Safe to Deposit Bitcoin When Playing Poker?

As long as you choose a safe, trustworthy and reputable poker site at which to deposit, such as those carefully reviewed on this site, you can rest assured that your coins will be in safe hands.

Remember that Bitcoin operates on virtually unhackable blockchain technology, giving you extra layers of protection against dodgy dealings compared to traditional currencies. The only real source of insecurity is your Bitcoin wallet private key, which you should take good care of and never share with anyone.

Thoughts on Bitcoin Poker

Bitcoin poker is fast growing in popularity, with more options available for keen cryptocurrency players popping up. Bitcoin has stood the test of time, with countries worldwide even adopting it as an official currency, so it's here to stay. The more the coins become widespread and used in everyday life, the more likely it is you'll find sites allowing you to play poker with Bitcoin.

Just bear in mind that, unlike fiat currencies, Bitcoin is subject to some pretty variable shifts in its value, which means you should think carefully about your deposits and withdrawals' timing to maximise their value.

You can always taste the Bitcoin poker experience by playing free Bitcoin poker in demo mode, whether online in your browser or using a Bitcoin poker app.

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