“Online” (The Technology)

There are many, many ways to play online poker right now. In fact, you can dart over to Yahoo!, MSN, or any of the other major portal sites and be playing in, literally, seconds. You’ll be playing real poker with real opponents for play money.

The thing to keep in mind here is that, at this level, you’re playing an online card game just as if you were playing bridge, hearts, rummy or-a Detroit favorite where I grew up-euchre.

Internet cards games have been around virtually as long as the World Wide Web itself, which brought interactivity and graphics to the Internet.

So, if you’ve played any kind of multi-player game on the Web before, you’ll find that online poker works much the same. The game designers create a virtual environment intended to simulate a real table game. You get a top-down view of a casino-style poker game, with two to ten players seated.

You’ll see yourself represented there as well as your opponents, who could be from anywhere in the world. The cards in your hand and any community cards on the table are displayed clearly, as is the “money” that you have in play.

Glenn McDonald