You love online poker, right? Good. With that settled, we also suspect you like free things. So why not combine the two? Why not visit an online casino that offers free poker? Playing for free certainly has its benefits. You should really try it if you have not done so yet.

Online casinos offer free poker for a variety of reasons. Some do it as a way to attract new customers that they hope will eventually join up and become regular players. Others allow free play as a way to demo their poker games. From the player's perspective, an online casino's motivation doesn't really matter. free poker is still free one way or the other.

There are a variety of ways to play online poker for free. There's no registration poker, which is really just an opportunity to play without having to register and make a deposit. Then there is no download poker. This represents an opportunity to play directly from your browser without having to download and install software.

Here are the top five reasons to play FREE poker online:

1. Learning the Games – Playing for free lets you familiarise yourself with a new form of poker you may never have played before, without risking your money.

2. Learning How to Bet – Playing for free is a way to educate yourself on the unique progressive betting structure of poker.

3. Practising – Playing for free affords the opportunity to practice, increase your skill, and develop a strategy.

4. Exploring Casinos – Free play lets you familiarise yourself with a casino before you register and start making deposits.

5. No Risk Play – Free play lets you enjoy online poker action even if you do not want to bet.

Poker's Many Variations

It is not unusual for casino novices to approach online poker assuming it is a single game. It's not. Poker is actually a family of card games that all share similar elements. Progressive betting is one of those elements. Poker's betting structure encourages players to bet multiple times during a single hand. Multiple bets play into a gambler's strategy and may encourage bluffing.

A few of the more popular variations of poker include Texas Hold'em and Five-Card Stud. There are more than a dozen other kinds of poker games you can play online including, Caribbean Poker and Three Card Poker. Being able to play for free means you can try every poker variation you can find to see which one intrigues you the most.

No Registration Poker

An online casino offering no registration poker is essentially offering a free game. More often than not, this means playing in demo mode. Selecting a poker game immediately presents you with a virtual bankroll that you can use for as long as you play. The game itself is played the same way as it would be if you were betting real money. The only difference is that your wins and losses are not real; they are virtual.

The concept behind no registration poker is to give players the opportunity to experiment before signing up for casino account. If the casino has done its job, you will play a few rounds of free poker before deciding to register and make a deposit.

As for no download poker, this does not always denote a free game. Being able to play without downloading simply means you can play from a standard web browser. You will also be able to play from either a desktop PC or mobile device, in most cases. The opportunity to play a no download game for free just makes the experience that much sweeter.