Last week, I was with some friends, and we were thinking about playing poker together. We had a pack of playing cards, but unfortunately, we didn’t have chips. So, we pulled out our devices and searched for sites to start a free poker game and play together. We came across a few sites, but most were complicated and required registration. We wanted to find something to hop in and start a game quickly. After researching a bit, we found a rather simple-looking website called Poker Patio.
Upon starting a lobby on the site, I was surprised at how simple and quick it was to create and share with my friends. All I had to do was enter my name and set a stack for the table. It’s refreshing when compared to some of the big providers. We started a game in as quick as 30 seconds.
Poker Patio stood out when other poker sites (both free and real money) aggressively spam/monetize their users. To my surprise, they didn’t offer real money games, the sale of play money chips, nor monetize the site with ads. It’s completely free online poker and doesn’t even monetize… Crazy!
We had a blast playing the site for about an hour. It was a pretty much a completely bug-free experience, besides the occasional minor UI glitch. It is a newer website, though, as the first blog post was posted on March 22, so I cut them some slack. After playing on the site for a while, I thought, “Wow,” “others should try this too!” I had to share it with you all.
Step-by-step guide on how to start a game:
- Visit pokerpatio.com in your browser.
- Click on “play with friends,” which will send you to the start of a lobby page. 3. Input username and/or modify the lobby stack (From $1,000-$50,000) and click “start lobby.”
- Share the game link with your friends.
- As your friends join, admit or deny them.
- Once everyone’s in, click “start game” and get playing!
Important features:
- Max player count – Play with up to 10 players.
- Chat – Send messages and emojis. Every player is assigned a color.
- Game Settings – The admin can set custom blinds (and timers), limit the number of player seats, and modify the decision and showdown time.
- User Preferences – Switch between a 2-color and 4-color deck and adjust the sound level.
- Joining during the game – At any time, new players can join the lobby (up to 10 players max).
- Exiting – At any time, players can leave the lobby.
- Kicking – The admin can kick a player at any time.
- Modifying stacks – The admin can modify specific players’ and lobby stacks.
- Switching admin – Admin can transfer admin access to other players.
According to their changelog updates, it seems like Poker Patio has a lot in store in the future, such as public lobbies, rankings, customizations, 1v1 poker, and more. I’m excited to see what they release. Whether you’re looking for a place to play poker with friends or just something to do to pass time, hopefully you found this article useful!
