Top Rated Social Poker Apps of 2024

Poker has grown immensely in popularity over the last 20 years, and one
reason it has done so is the social aspect of the game. For many people, poker
night has become the social event of choice for house parties and nights out on
the town. Playing poker with friends takes away a lot of the intimidation around
the game, which opens the door for many novice players to the game.

Of course, these days, people are busier than ever, so getting together in
person for poker isn’t as easy as it once was. Add in the fact that you need to
be in the same vicinity as the people you are going to play with live, and you
can start to see how online poker made playing with your friends easier.
However, when you sit at a table in a standard poker site, you are randomly
placed, so while you may be in the same event as your friends, you may not ever
get to play hands with them.

As the poker world evolved, the smartphone was introduced. Very quickly,
poker apps of all forms started appearing for download via the major operating
platforms. Not only did these apps allow players to access games in a much more
convenient manner, but some of them also made setting up a game for players and
their friends easy as well.

These apps are all slightly different, so we thought we would dedicate this
page to poker apps for playing with friends. Here, we can show you the
differences between the apps you may see in your app store and what you should
be looking for when searching for the perfect app for you and your friends.

The Best Poker Apps for Playing with Friends

There are many ways that we could look at what makes the best poker apps for
those of you wanting to play with your friends. In the end, our reviewers had to
look at the apps through a different lens than how they might rate a site for
the individual player.

What you will find below is a list of the poker apps we have rated the
highest for this group of players, and therefore the most recommended for
playing with friends. You may not recognize all the sites listed here, but that
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try them out. Our team has done all the research for
you, and in our opinion, these will all give you and your friends the best
experience, which is what matters the most to us!

Rank	Gambling Site	Deposit Bonus	Get Started
#1	BetOnline Poker	100% Up To $1,000	Visit Site
#2	Bovada Poker	100% Up To $500	Visit Site
#3	SB Poker	100% Up To $1,000	Visit Site
#4	Ignition Poker	100% Up To $1,000	Visit Site

What to Look for in a Poker with Friends App

As we mentioned, when our reviewers went back to look at all the reviews of
poker apps we had completed to come up with information for this page, they
needed to look at the reviews slightly differently. A player who is looking to
play poker with their friends may not be looking for the same things from an app
as someone out to try to win millions of dollars. While there are some common
themes between the two, we wanted to focus on what attributes we look for that
matter more to someone looking to use the poker app for social purposes. Here
are some of the criteria that we look at when coming up with lists like the one
above.

Game Selection

Game selection is still important for a poker app for playing with friends,
although it does take on a slightly different meaning here. Obviously, you want
to have a poker app that offers all the different types of poker games
available, like Texas hold’em, Omaha, and Stud. However, when looking at a site
where you can play with your friends, you also want to have some flexibility
when it comes to setting up games. Some sites will only allow you to set up
tournaments and not cash games, while others limit the stakes levels of the
private games allowed on their sites. The best apps are those that offer the
most flexibility when it comes to setting up a game for you and your friends.

Real or Play Money Options

This is another way that sites are very different when it comes to giving
players the ability to play with their friends. Many free play poker apps allow
you to set up games for you and whoever you invite, but no money changes hands
on the site. This is great for players who don’t want to spend money, and it is
also nice for players who don’t want to have to jump through the hoops of
setting up real money accounts and then making a deposit.

However, there are also real money poker apps that have a play money
component. In most cases, these apps won’t allow you to set up a private game
unless there is some money being exchanged, as it is not worth the site’s time
to allow all these play money players onto their platforms. When you are looking
for the right poker app for you and your friends, you need to ask yourself if
you are planning on using the site for real money purposes, and that will narrow
the field significantly.

Chat Functionality

Playing poker with your friends is more about the social side of the game
than anything else, so if you are planning to play via an app, then the chat
functionality at the tables becomes far more valuable. To be honest, this isn’t
something we even look at normally when we review a poker app, as it isn’t
nearly as important as other factors. However, we went back and looked at all
the apps that allowed for playing with friends and reviewed the chat boxes –
which ones allowed you to chat the most easily without encroaching on the table
itself. The most intuitive chat functions were given a higher mark than others.

Rakeback and Bonuses

Many of the top poker apps have grown as big as they have due to a heavy
emphasis on giving something back to players to entice them to play. This should
extend to those who are setting up private games for their friends. Typically,
the person who organizes the games would get some sort of kickback from the site
for inviting new players to the platform. These bonuses can be used for extra
prizing in tournaments that you run, providing even more value to your friends.
You should be looking for sites that offer the best refer-a-friend offers as
well as any that offer rakeback to players at all stakes levels. Every little
bit helps, and why not get as much back from a poker app as you can, right?

Customer Service

It is likely that this app you choose will be the first that many of your
friends will download to play poker, so there are bound to be many questions
that need answering. Rather than making you the front-line customer support
agent (no one wants that), we look for sites that have the most comprehensive
set of frequently asked questions, as well as those with 24/7 live chat support
directly from the app itself. The quicker your friends can have their questions
answered, the sooner they can get to the table for you to try to take them down!

How to Use a Poker with Friends App

Using a poker app for playing with your friends is slightly more cumbersome
than a regular poker app. Here is an overview of all the steps to get
playing.

First, you are going to have to choose and download an app to your iOS or
Android device. Don’t worry; they are all connected to the same servers, so
regardless of what device your friends use, they will be able to access your
games. Once you have downloaded the app and set up an account, you will need to
find the section where you can set up a game. There, you will likely be given a
few options to choose from (stakes level, speed, number of players, etc.). Once
you select all the attributes of your game and give it a name, your table will
be ready but not visible in the lobby.

Now that you have the game set up, you need to invite people. As part of the
set-up process, you will have either been given or chosen a password for the
table and a link to the game. You can send this information to your friends, and
assuming they aren’t morons (see customer service above), then they are only a
few clicks away from having access to the tables. From there, you are all set!
You can set up cash games, tournaments, and sit and go’s that you and your
friends can enjoy whenever you want!

Conclusion

Without the home game and social aspect of the game of poker, it may not have
grown as quickly as it did back in the day. While players are less likely to get
together in groups to play poker as they get older, the introduction of the
poker app has allowed these games to continue. Now, with all this information we
have given you on this page, you can find the best poker app for playing with
your friends, set up a game, and invite them to play!

Frequently Asked Questions