Play Poker on Your Phone: Best Mobile Poker Apps 2023
Many poker players primarily play on their desktop computers, but many reputable poker sites offer the option to play on a tablet or mobile device. Over the past few years, more and more sites have added mobile compatibility and software to their lineups. The use of mobile poker apps and real money mobile poker sites has grown considerably.
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In this article, our expert team consisting of both professional and recreational poker players will dive deep into the options for playing poker on a smartphone or mobile device. There are many excellent Android and iOS poker apps available to choose from. Our focus will be primarily on offshore sites for US poker players, but many of the sites we will discuss below are available to play from around the world.
How to Choose a Reputable Online Poker Site
First of all, it is important to sign up for a trustworthy site. This can be a bit confusing because although there are plenty of great options, it can be difficult to discern between the good and the bad.
Some offshore poker sites, like Bovada and Ignition, boast gaming licensure from Curacao eGaming. This license helps to add legitimacy to these sites, especially for newer players. With that being said, there are also many unlicensed offshore poker rooms that operate reputably and have done so for many years.
Reputation is really the key in the online poker sphere. Sites that offer fast cashouts and fair rake structures tend to thrive while shady operators tend to eventually fall by the wayside. A few examples of sites with a tumultuous past include operators on the Merge Gaming Network, like Carbon Poker. Carbon Poker maintains a particularly poor reputation for shady tactics like charging egregious fees on cashouts and taking astronomical rake in its cash games.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are many sites that maintain excellent reputations for offering fair poker games and easy, quick cashouts. Sites like Bovada, Ignition, BetOnline, Americas Cardroom, Sportsbetting, and CoinPoker all fall into this category and offer excellent online poker action.
Features of a Good Mobile Poker Site
What makes for an enjoyable real money mobile poker experience? Well, there are a few key factors to look at. First off, we want to look at the variety of poker tables, tournaments, and cash games offered. Unfortunately, some poker sites offer a limited selection of games when you play poker on a mobile device. Americas Cardroom is perhaps the most popular example of this as it only offers a few formats on the mobile app, and you cannot play the standard cash games or tournaments offered on the desktop software.
Many sites offer a browser-based mobile software solution. This allows you to log in through the site and play without downloading any software. Bovada and Ignition offer excellent browser-based mobile software. This allows you to play the full range of games available on a desktop system through the web on almost any kind of device.
Other sites like BetOnline, CoinPoker, and SB Poker offer applications for specific mobile devices like Android and iOS smartphones. At these sites, you may be required to download the poker software onto your iOS or Android device prior to playing. These applications offer a full online poker-playing experience with numerous games to choose from, right on your mobile device.
Besides being able to play the full range of games, it is also important to choose a site that functions smoothly and allows you to play more than one table at a time. Although it is certainly a bit harder to play multiple tables using your phone, many rooms allow you to play up to four tables at once.
Our Favorite Offshore Mobile Poker Sites
Our team at ProfessionalRakeback has well over 10 years of experience playing poker online for real money. We will only recommend sites where we personally play poker, putting our own funds at risk. Many sites offer mobile poker software or poker apps, but there are a few that stand out as the best options in our opinion. Below, we will go through each of our favorite poker apps and sites – in no particular order – for playing real money poker games on a smartphone or tablet device.
Ignition
Oftentimes, poker sites operate as a part of a larger network of operations that combine to form one larger player pool. This is the case with Ignition as it operates alongside Bovada and Bodog on the Pai Wang Luo Network. This means that the poker offerings and tables are virtually identical at these sites. The primary difference between Bovada and Ignition is that Bovada offers sports and horse race betting, something that Ignition lacks.
The other major difference between these two rooms is that Ignition serves Australian customers, and Bovada does not. Additionally, you may find that the poker bonuses are larger and more generous at Ignition. Currently, Ignition offers a deposit poker bonus worth 150% of your first crypto deposit up to $1,500.
You can find a wide array of cash games, tournaments, and sit-and-gos at Ignition as well as lottery-style Jackpot SNGs. Jackpot SNGs are a popular 3-handed format where a random multiplier between 2x and 1,200x your buy-in is applied to the prize pool. Jackpot SNGs are an excellent option for playing on your mobile device as the 3-handed format lends itself to a smaller screen.
You can access all of the real money poker tournaments, sit and gos, and cash games from your mobile device. Cash games start as low as $0.02/$0.05 and go up to $10/$20. All play at Ignition is anonymous so you will only see a random player number represent you and your opponents at the tables.
Ignition is a great option to play on your smartphone or mobile device as you can access the full bevy of games that are available on desktop. You can play at Ignition by visiting the website IgnitionCasino.eu and clicking on the poker tab. This will bring you to the browser-based instant-play poker software. You can even play more than one table at a time with ease on your smartphone or tablet.
For more detailed information about Ignition and its excellent poker offerings, you are more than welcome to check out this extensive Ignition Poker review. Ignition also boasts a variety of casino games and valuable casino promotions, so you may want to investigate them as well.
BetOnline
BetOnline is a sister site to SB Poker on the Chico Poker Network, so the games and poker on offer are largely the same. BetOnline is a longer-established brand as it has been in existence for more than 20 years.
BetOnline is especially well-known in the online poker community for its large Bad Beat Jackpot. The Bad Beat Jackpot has occasionally topped $1 million!
BetOnline offers a generous poker bonus equal to 100% of your first deposit up to $1,000. There are also numerous promotions that you can participate in, including free daily casino tournaments, rake races, and leaderboards. Be sure to click the "My Missions" tab to opt-in to all of the available promos.
There are plenty of cash games available to choose from here in addition to fast-fold Boost Poker, and the mobile interface is quite simple and easy to use. Simply select a cash game table, choose your buy-in amount, and get to playing and hopefully profiting. Blinds are spread as low as $0.05/$0.10 up to $5/$10 at the Hold'em tables. Boost Poker is also available to play at the $0.05/$0.10 blind level featuring a smaller Boost Bad Beat Jackpot, often awarded between $2,500 and $10,000.
You can play in a solid variety of tournaments and sit and gos here as well. Daily tournaments are offered with buy-ins under $1, and plenty of higher-stakes tournaments also exist for high rollers. Tournaments run every day featuring buy-ins over $100 and six-figure guaranteed prize pools, and you can easily participate using any iOS or Android system.
BetOnline is an exceptional option for players who wish to utilize a mobile device to play poker. You can enjoy the full plethora of games available on desktop, and you can multi-table with ease. The mobile software runs seamlessly, which makes for a very enjoyable poker-playing experience.
To learn more about this trustworthy operator, feel free to explore this detailed BetOnline review. BOL also offers a large variety of casino games, sports betting, and horse race betting. There are valuable promotions available for each, so you may want to visit the casino and sportsbook sections of the site to take advantage.
Bovada
Bovada is very similar to Ignition as both operate with one combined player pool on the Pai Wang Luo Network. As previously mentioned, Bovada offers a sportsbook and racebook, which is a clear advantage over Ignition. Besides that, the poker offerings and playing experience will be largely the same across the two sites.
The poker bonus at Bovada is still pretty solid as you can receive a 100% bonus of up to $500 on your first deposit. If you prefer to be able to bet on sports or horse racing in addition to playing poker, then you may want to consider Bovada as an excellent choice.
The games available here are exactly the same as they are at Ignition as the player pool is combined into one. All play here is anonymous, and you can easily access the poker room from any smartphone system through the web-based poker software.
The software comprises a red and white color here as opposed to the orange color present at Ignition. There are plenty of cash games to enjoy and you can play on almost any modern device including smartphones and tablets.
You can enjoy the wide range of tournaments and sit-and-gos here right from your mobile system. Jackpot SNGs are a great option as they are quick, easy, and fun, not to mention that you can win up to 1,000x your buy-in.
Bovada has been a highly-reputable online gambling operation for over 10 years now ever since Bodog decided to stop serving US customers back in 2011. Since that time, Bovada has been an industry leader in regard to its poker, casino, and sportsbook offerings.
To learn more about this trusted site and its unique benefits, please feel free to check out this exhaustive review of Bovada.
SB Poker
Sportsbetting.ag is a member of the Chico Poker Network alongside sister sites BetOnline.ag and TigerGaming.com. This means that the offerings at all three of these sites are nearly identical. The only real difference is that TigerGaming serves a few European countries and other geographical locations that Sportsbetting and BetOnline do not although Tiger is not accessible from the United States. The Chico Poker Network is the third-largest US-facing poker network in operation today.
SB Poker offers a wide range of cash games across numerous stakes and buy-ins, as does BetOnline. The smallest cash game tables on offer here spread blinds of $0.05/$0.10. Hold'em games run with regularity featuring blinds up to $5/10. You can play Hold'em, Omaha, and even 6+ Hold'em. Also available are fast-fold cash games called Boost Poker.
SB Poker and BetOnline also offer a Bad Beat Jackpot for tables that spread blinds of $0.50/$1 or higher. This jackpot tends to be triggered in the low six figures, although it has been awarded over $1 million.
There is also a smaller Bad Beat Jackpot available for Boost Poker players. The Boost Bad Beat Jackpot usually is awarded between $2,500 and $10,000. The benefit here is that you can participate and potentially win a Bad Beat Jackpot playing at tables that spread blinds as low as $0.05/$0.10.
The poker welcome bonus here is worth 100% of your initial deposit up to $1,000. As is the case at BetOnline, be sure to check the "My Missions" tab to take advantage of additional promotional value.
You can also choose from the same variety of tournaments and sit and gos that are present at BetOnline. The full bevy of sit and gos and tournaments are present using any iOS or Android system.
If you would like to learn more about this highly-regarded site, you are welcome to peruse this comprehensive review of SB Poker. Sportsbetting also boasts an excellent sportsbook, as you might imagine, as well as a racebook and an extensive variety of casino games.
CoinPoker
CoinPoker is the largest crypto-only poker site available online as it has experienced solid growth lately, in part due to its partnership with Tony "G" Guoga. CoinPoker offers a range of poker games including NL Hold'em, PLO, and 5 Card PLO.
CoinPoker boasts an excellent mobile app that you can download on any iOS or Android device. You can access the full range of games available on the desktop poker client through the mobile poker app.
Although there is no first deposit bonus on offer here, you can take advantage of 30% rakeback on an ongoing basis. All you need to do is hold a balance of CHP, CoinPoker's proprietary coin, and you will receive 30% rakeback every week in CHP.
The tables and tournaments at CoinPoker are denominated in Tether, or USDT. USDT is a stable cryptocurrency that is "pegged" to $1 dollar. You can deposit and withdraw here using a number of additional cryptos including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum.
The cash game tables are where the majority of the action is concentrated at CoinPoker. Tables are available with blinds as low as ₮0.02/₮0.05, and the rake is quite low at the micro-stakes tables. There are also plenty of higher-stakes games as CoinPoker even offers Omaha tables with blinds of ₮1,000/₮2,000 + ₮500 ante, although action rarely occurs above the ₮200/₮400 level.
Tournaments are offered daily with buy-ins ranging from ₮1 up to ₮150. There are also special events on weekends with larger buy-ins, like the Sunday Special. The Sunday Special boasts a ₮12,000 guaranteed prize pool for a ₮200 buy-in.
Another popular format here is Cosmic Spins, a 3-handed SNG featuring a random prize pool between 2x and 1,000x your buy-in. Buy-ins for Cosmic Spins range from as low as ₮1 up to ₮100.
If you'd like to learn more about the excellent poker available here, please feel free to head over to this extensive CoinPoker review.
How to Choose The Best Mobile Poker App or Site
There are a number of factors to consider when selecting a poker app or site, especially if you intend to play primarily using a mobile device. First of all, it is important to choose a trustworthy site with a good track record. We can confidently assert that all of the sites we have discussed above offer fair games, quick cashouts, and excellent customer service. Below, we will review a few key points that may help you decide where to play.
⍟ If you seek the room with the most traffic among mobile-compatible sites, then Ignition or Bovada should serve your needs well.
⍟ If you wish to receive the largest possible welcome bonus, then the 150% poker bonus offered at Ignition ought to please you.
⍟ If you are looking for ongoing rakeback rewards as you play on your phone, then CoinPoker's exclusive 30% rakeback for holding its unique CHP coin may be a good choice.
⍟ If cross-compatibility between various devices is important to you, then Ignition, BetOnline, Bovada, CoinPoker, and SB Poker all work with PCs, Macs, and of course mobile devices.
⍟ If you like to bet on sports or play casino games at the same place that you play poker, then BetOnline, Bovada, or Sportsbetting.ag will serve all of your gaming needs.
⍟ If you want to play on a tablet or smartphone that isn't an iOS or Android system, then Ignition and Bovada are both excellent options.
Summary of the Best Offshore Mobile Poker Sites
In conclusion, there are plenty of excellent options when it comes to playing online poker on your phone in 2022. By signing up at any of the rooms discussed above, you will be assured of a fair and enjoyable mobile poker-playing experience.
Feel free to review this article covering the best online sites for US players if you wish to learn more about the promotions, games, and additional trustworthy sites offering action to US players.
Frequently Asked Questions
In case you have any further inquiries or questions about mobile poker apps and sites, you're welcome to review our detailed FAQ section below.
Absolutely, all of the sites recommended in this article offer real-money poker games. You can win real cash on the go right on your mobile phone.
Yes, you can play up to four tables at once at Bovada, Ignition, SB Poker, and BetOnline. At CoinPoker, you can play a maximum of 3 tables at once using your phone.
CoinPoker offers a fully downloadable poker application for mobile users. The other sites we have referenced offer excellent browser-based mobile poker solutions.
There are numerous "poker club" apps that are being utilized for real money mobile poker, even though they operate on a play money model on paper. Many of these clubs operate shady enterprises with numerous problems including egregious rake, rampant collusion, and issues receiving payments.
Yes, there are many apps to play free poker, or play money. A few of the better-known mobile poker apps include WSOP and Zynga Poker. You can also play for free at many poker sites that offer real money games like PokerStars. PokerStars offers plenty of free poker games.
It is hard to say exactly which site is the best, but a few of our favorites include Ignition, BetOnline, and CoinPoker. For more detailed information on the best online poker sites for US based players, feel free to explore the detailed guide.
No, you won't get in any trouble for playing online poker in the US. Although the laws are a bit confusing, not one person has ever been prosecuted for playing poker on the internet. You are welcome to check out this article detailing the legality of online poker in the US if you wish to learn more.
There are a number of considerations, but our experts would suggest Ignition or Bovada for beginners. Bovada and Ignition operate their poker tables without revealing any screen names of other players. This anonymity can be helpful for newer players specifically to prevent professional players from potentially targeting you as a newer player.
No, Bovada does not have a downloadable app. Unfortunately, there are many fraudulent apps being peddled in the Google Play Store, Apple Store, and beyond. Any application that you may encounter in the Google Play Store or Apple Store is FAKE and FRAUDULENT and may put your funds and account at risk. To play poker safely at Bovada using your phone, simply visit Bovada.lv and click the poker tab.
There is a way to save a shortcut to the poker room as a “web app” from the Bovada homepage, but this is a completely different process from installing any app from an app store.
No, just like Bovada, Ignition does not offer a downloadable mobile app. If you run into any apps claiming to be Ignition Poker or Ignition Casino in the Apple Store or Google Play store these are FRAUDULENT and FAKE applications that may be attempting to steal your information and potentially your money. To play poker at Ignition using a smartphone or tablet, you can visit IgnitionCasino.eu and click on the poker tab.
Yes, but you can only play poker for fake, play money unless you are located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Michigan. Players in these three states can play real money poker at PokerStars.
Yes, both iOS and Android mobile poker apps are available to play poker on your mobile device at PokerStars.