The Best Texas Hold’em Apps
Texas Hold’em continues to be the most popular form of poker on the planet. The ease of learning the game has made it one that can be enjoyed by rank amateurs and professionals alike. However, when the mobile gambling industry took shape, it was clear that there was going to be yet another poker boom.
Texas Hold’em apps are plentiful in the app stores of Google and Apple. However, with so many to choose from, players may not know what attributes to look for when selecting one for play. We have put his page together with the hopes of informing our readers, which in turn should make choosing an app to download easier.
The Best Texas Hold’em Apps
We know that many of you are well versed in online poker, so you may not want to read more about the game itself. That’s why we don’t waste any time on this page. Below, you will find a list of the best Texas hold’em apps – these are taken straight from our comprehensive site reviews. These apps come from reputable owners and have excellent game selection and the kinds of promotional offers we expect to keep players at the site longer. You will enjoy any of these, and all you have to do is click on one of the links, and you will be taken to the download page.
What We Look for in a Texas Hold’em App
While there aren’t nearly as many Texas hold’em apps as there are casino apps in the app stores, there are still enough that you can find many different levels of quality. When we review an app, we make sure that the owners of the site have an excellent track record, as well as looking at each app to see if it meets our standards. The criteria we use for rating apps is pretty extensive, but here are some examples of the things we look for so that you have an idea of how we come up with our rankings.
Available Cash Games
When we review an app, the first thing we look for is the number of cash tables that are available and the stakes levels within. The best apps are those that can cater to both the novice and advanced player. Some sites limit how many tables are shown on their apps, which means players may not be able to find the right game to play. If a site wants a top rating for its Texas hold’em app, then it should offer as many cash game tables as possible.
Tournament Schedule
Our team of experts looks for the same level of commitment when reviewing the tournaments that are available on a Texas hold’em app. From Sit and Go events to satellites for land-based tournaments, we want to see a good mix of tournaments at all the various price points. Again, some sites restrict access to tournaments when players are using mobile devices, and while this can be for a multitude of reasons, we still expect there to be an event starting soon for a player at every main buy-in level.
Multi-Table Ability
This won’t affect many of you who are reading this, but many players like to play multiple tables at one time. This type of play allows you to see way more hands per hour, and while it takes a certain type of brain to be able to ingest this much information, there is some value in playing more than one table at once. The best Texas hold’em apps not only offer the ability to multi-table but do so in an intuitive manner so that players aren’t confused and don’t miss their turn at a particular table.
Freerolls
The freeroll is one of the most popular ways to reward players at a Texas hold’em site, so we want to see as many of these as possible in the app version of the game. These events can offer varying levels of prizes, but also the skill level in these events tends to be lower, so a strong player will find extra value in playing them. Freerolls should be easy to spot in the lobby of a Texas hold’em app, and players should be able to enter as many as they can find.
Other Bonuses
Aside from freerolls, poker sites offer many different types of bonuses. The most common of these is rakeback – a rebate on the fees you are paying to the site in tournaments and cash games. We expect these offers to be extended to players who use the app, and this type of money is important when calculating the overall profit that you are making on a site. Rakeback can be significant if you play a lot of cash games, so check each review to see which apps offer the highest percentages.
Customer Service
While the game itself is straightforward, there are typically a lot of questions that arise from playing Texas hold’em online. The apps that we rate the highest are the ones that offer the most real-time points of contact, and there are bonus marks given if these are available directly in the app. From social media to live chat and telephone, sites need to be in touch with players more than ever, so look for sites that give you access to their agents with the least amount of hassle.
Why Would You Use a Texas Hold’em App?
Players have been playing poker online for almost 20 years, and before mobile devices, the biggest complaint was the amount of sitting in one spot faced by a player who went deep into a tournament. This problem was alleviated with the introduction of the Texas hold’em app. Now, a player can get up and move around their house, finding more comfortable spots to play than sitting in front of the PC. This kind of convenience also means that players won’t have to miss hands to deal with other tasks during an event, which is very important when you realize that some tournaments could take 12 hours or longer to complete.
The other reason why Texas hold’em apps are so popular is that you simply do not need a PC to access games anymore. For players in developing countries who are more likely to have a mobile phone than a computer, this opens the door to millions of new players. These players are very attractive to the operators, so we expect to see many more mobile-only promotions and bonuses launched in the coming months and years.
Conclusion
Even with all the pressure the industry has faced over the last decade, Texas hold’em continues to flourish both online and in land-based environments. We believe that the future is very bright for poker, and the introduction of mobile apps is one reason why we are so optimistic. As the technology improves, so will Texas hold’em apps being used to access huge tournaments and cash games. This may include different delivery methods like AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), but the rules of the game which make it so popular are not likely to change.
Frequently Asked Questions
I Feel like Someone Is Cheating Me. Could That Be Happening?
Many players feel like the game is rigged, especially when they are playing online. We can assure you that it isn’t in the site’s best interests to rig the deck – after all, the game is not a house vs. player model. While there have been some scandals in the past, the bottom line is that the best apps put every measure in place to ensure that players cannot find ways to cheat others at the table. This includes restricting access to some major tournaments from mobile devices, which is why you won’t see them in the apps you are playing on.
Which Is Better: Using a Phone or a Tablet?
This is really a matter of personal preference. Most sites don’t have multi-tabling set up for phones in a way that you can see more than one table at once, while if you are playing on the mobile browser version of a site on your tablet, this may be the case. From our perspective, the value in Texas hold’em apps is in the convenience of mobility, regardless of what device you are using.
What About Social Poker Apps? How Do They Fit into the Equation?
Companies like Zynga burst onto the scene a decade ago with a version of Texas hold’em that the online gambling world couldn’t quite believe. Social poker apps allow you to play cards just like you would at any other app, but with the option of buying chips to enter major events. However, there is no mechanism to cash out any chips for real currency, so the money you are spending is for entertainment purposes only. Zynga’s financials have shown the success of social poker, but if you are looking to play and win real money, then you should stay away and focus on one of the apps we have recommended on this page.
I Seem to Do Really Well at Play Money Poker but Not at Real Money. Why Is That?
We hear this a lot from our readers. After great runs on the play money tables, they head to a real money tournament and get their asses handed to them. The main reason for this is the style of play at the play money tables. With no skin in the game, players at these tables are reckless, so the range of hands being played is far wider than at a real money table. Even if you are playing smart yourself, the percentage of players who are not is so much higher in the play money game that it can lead to a false positive. Think of it this way: less than 15% of all poker players are profitable, so you need to bear that in mind when you start to play for real cash.
Why Can’t I Find Any Real Money Texas Hold’Em Apps to Download?
This is simple: real money gambling apps are still not permitted in regions where online gambling is not legal. Apple and Google have always had a very conservative approach to gambling on their platforms, and while they have warmed up to the concept of approving real-money Texas Hold’em apps over the years, countries like the US are still shut out due to the government’s position on online gaming. If you are a player in one of these regions and want to use your mobile device to play poker, then we suggest you use the mobile browser version of the sites. Our review pages go into great detail about the compatibility of these sites for all sorts of mobile devices.