Online Poker for Mac
The best Mac poker sites now are ones with dedicated and maybe even
downloadable software for Mac 🌝 users. So we've carefully reviewed the top online poker
sites for Mac and created a comprehensive list of the best 🌝 here. To access the highest
sign-up bonuses, download the poker software to your Mac. Then just create a new
account 🌝 via our links below!
ABOUT MAC POKER SITES
It used to be genuinely difficult to
find an online poker site for Mac 🌝 aside from no download poker options. But now all the
top online poker sites - 888poker, PokerStars, partypoker offer a 🌝 Mac online poker
client to download. Including Mac-compatible tracking software and free Mac poker apps
for iPhone or iPad. Below 🌝 are some of the most frequently asked questions we get about
playing online poker on a Mac or a Mac 🌝 mobile device like the iPhone/iPad.
Difference
Between Mac Poker for Download and Mac Poker Instant Play
There are three basic forms
online 🌝 poker software comes in - a full-feature, downloadable software client you
download to your desktop or laptop computer, a mobile 🌝 poker app you can download to
your smartphone or tablet and "instant play" or "no download poker."
The first is,
obviously, 🌝 the most feature-packed and stable with all kinds of customization options.
It needs the power of a full computer to 🌝 run at its peak capacity although it takes up
very little of your available computer space. This is what most 🌝 people who play online
poker on their home computer (desktop or laptop) use to play online poker.
The
second-most popular option 🌝 these days is a mobile poker app, which you can download to
your smartphone or tablet. For Mac users, that 🌝 means an iPhone or iPad.
These are also
very good software products. All of the major poker sites now have top-flight 🌝 iPhone
poker apps that offer virtually all of the features of the desktop client but with
simplified tables, betting functions, 🌝 lobbies etc.
You can still access the full range
of games available to all players but things like multi-tabling and customization 🌝 are
slightly limited. Still, for the average player, you can hardly tell the
difference.
There are new variations like Fast-Fold Poker 🌝 (you're immediately moved to
a new table with a new hand when you fold). And Jackpot Spin & Gos where 🌝 prize pools
are randomly multiplied before the tournament starts. This makes mobile poker better
and slicker than ever before. Case 🌝 in point are the SNAP games on the updated 888
mobile software.
The third, and least popular form of playing online 🌝 poker, is
'in-browser' or 'no-download.' This simply means you play the games via an Internet
browser (eg. Explorer or Firefox) 🌝 without downloading any of the software.
This is fine
(and for people who only wish to play play-money-poker usually more than 🌝 adequate) but
for playing real-money poker online there's no question downloading either the full Mac
poker software or Mac poker 🌝 app is better for both quality of play and security.
Find
the Best iPhone Poker Sites Right Here!
Playing Online Poker on 🌝 Linux
Getting an online
poker client running on a Mac is one thing but playing online poker on a Linux-based
machine 🌝 can be considerably more complicated.
Although open-source operating system
Linux and popular distributions Ubuntu and Mint Linux have been gaining more 🌝 and more
momentum over the years they haven’t exactly lit the poker world on fire.
There are
hardly any online poker 🌝 clients that are designed to run natively in Linux and you’ll
most likely be forced to either run some sort 🌝 of emulator or play on in-brower
sites.
That’s not say there aren’t some great sites for Linux, as in-browser and
instant-play 🌝 software has improved dramatically over the years, but it will be
significantly more challenging than playing poker on Windows or 🌝 even OSX.
Online Poker
for Mac FAQ Do I Need Windows-Compatible Software to Play Online Poker for Mac? No. In
the 🌝 past, when poker sites did not have dedicated Mac poker software, anyone with a Mac
needed a Windows emulator to 🌝 play online on their Mac. Thankfully, those days are gone.
Now most major poker sites offer OSX-compatible software for download 🌝 and those that
don't typically offer a Flash-based, no-download version you can play online.
Will New
Online Poker Software Run on 🌝 an Older MacBook/iBook/iMac? Most likely yes. Unlike
modern computer games, poker software does not require a lot of resources and 🌝 the
minimum requirements are usually low. There are some exceptions, such as the
graphically-intense PKR Poker.
Can I Play on PokerStars 🌝 on a Mac? Yes, absolutely. Not
only are there multiple ways to play online poker at PokerStars on a Mac, 🌝 as the
industry's benchmark for poker software their Mac client is one of the best as is their
mobile poker 🌝 app. You can download the full Mac software (and access ourR$600 sign-up
bonus) right from our PokerStars review page . 🌝 Once you've created your account you can
download the iPhone/iPad app from inside the software or from the App Store. 🌝 Live in
New Jersey? Download PokerStars NJ for your Mac and getR$30 free plus an up toR$600
bonus!
Will I have 🌝 to dual-boot Windows to play online poker? Probably not but that is
an option if there’s a Windows-only poker client 🌝 that you really want to play. You can
dual-boot any Macintosh computer with OSX Leopard 10.5.
Is Mac Online Poker Software
🌝 Worse than PC Online Poker? Nope. Most of the time the Mac online poker client is
identical to the original 🌝 Windows version. There will be a few minor interface
changes.
What is "In Browser" or “instant Play” Online Poker for Mac? 🌝 As we mentioned
above, this means you can play right away on your Mac in your web browser (such as
🌝 Firefox, Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer) without having to download anything. The
benefit is that you can start playing right 🌝 away. The downside is that browser-based
sites are usually missing a number of the features that full clients offer
(multi-tabling 🌝 is generally quite difficult).
Can My iPhone Play the Full OSX-Version
of the Poker Software? No, but more and more poker 🌝 sites have now released separate
(and very good) iPhone poker apps. See our toplist of the best iPhone Poker Apps 🌝 for
more.
Will I Only Play Against Other Mac Users If I Play Online Poker on a Mac? No. Not
whatever 🌝 which type of software you use you have full access to the entire poker site’s
player base and all of 🌝 its game and stake options.
Does Mac Online Poker Software Cost
Anything? Definitely not. Every online poker site offers their software 🌝 free of charge.
It’s your choice as to whether you want to deposit money and play real-money poker or
just 🌝 stick to the play-money games.
How Do I Know I’m Downloading the Mac Version of an
Online Poker Site? It should 🌝 click over automatically when you hit download but just
keep your eye open for a .dmg file. If you’re downloading 🌝 an .exe file, you’re getting
the Windows version.
What’s the Best Way to Start Playing Online Poker on a Mac? Just
🌝 take a look at the provided list of top Mac poker sites above. We’ve carefully reviewed
every site above based 🌝 on the software, promotions and soft competition available to
play against. The list is the very best online poker sites 🌝 available to Mac users. You
might also want to consider starting with a great iPhone (or Ipad) poker app to 🌝 try out
the site and see if you like it.
Can I even play online poker while running Linux?
Getting an 🌝 online poker client running on a Mac is one thing but playing online poker
on a Linux-based machine can be 🌝 considerably more complicated. Although open-source
operating system Linux and popular distributions Ubuntu and Mint Linux have been
gaining more and 🌝 more momentum over the years they haven’t exactly lit the poker world
on fire. There are hardly any online poker 🌝 clients that are designed to run natively in
Linux and you’ll most likely be forced to either run some sort 🌝 of emulator or play on
in-brower sites. That’s not say there aren’t some great sites for Linux, as in-browser
and 🌝 instant-play software has improved dramatically over the years, but it will be
significantly more challenging than playing poker on Windows 🌝 or even OSX. Below is a
brief guide to playing online poker on Linux.
Can I even play online poker while
🌝 running Linux? You can but it’s going to be more difficult than on Windows or Apple
operating systems. There are 🌝 no online poker clients that will function natively in
Linux. Instead Linux users have to settle for poker sites that 🌝 offer in-browser or
instant-play versions.
Is there any way to get full online poker desktop clients
running in Linux? The only 🌝 option is running Windows (or Mac) emulators such as VMware
and Win4Lin. There is also a popular free software application 🌝 called Wine that offers
compatibility with a number of Windows programs including PokerStars. Technically Wine
is a compatibility layer, which 🌝 isn't as resource-intensive as a full-on emulator.
Do
browser-based sites run OK on Linux? Yes. Because the site runs entirely in 🌝 the
browser, the playing experience should be virtually identical to what you'd get using a
browser on Windows or OSX.
What 🌝 are the best online poker sites for Linux? There are a
few but primarily look for poker sites that have 🌝 good in-browser software. PartyPoker
and 888poker are a couple good examples of online poker sites that have spent a number
🌝 of years developing their instant-play software. Check any of the sites listed above
that offer in-browser play.
PartyPoker Cash Games Now 🌝 Available on your Mac
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