Everyone has a different approach towards playing poker online. Some believe it’s a fun way to relax and meet new people around the virtual game table. Others think it’s a way of life, and they play professionally, earning huge amounts of money in the process. And there are people who mark it as a dangerous activity, where your bank account is siphoned by “sharks”. Nevertheless, the popularity of online poker is increasing steadily, and with sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars, we could assume that more people are playing it online than in real life. There are some frustrating obstacles, however, which stop you from enjoying the thrill of the cards. One of them is the regional blocks. Luckily for you, VPNs are just made to solve this problem. But is it really worth it?
Getting Access to Any Poker Site
You might not believe this at first, but a poker site operates on a similar premise as a real casino would. They do anything in their power to keep the peace of mind of their members, averting suspicious individuals, scammers, or any unauthorized personnel. A site could deploy regional restrictions for several reasons. Sometimes your country’s laws forbid its citizens from gambling, so the site’s owners put you on the banned list to avoid conflict with the authority. In other cases, the country itself denies the connection from an infamous site, depriving them from potential users. The most frustrating is when they deem a country “financially unstable”, or “lacking internet support” , which means they are withdrawing playing right from people just because the site doesn’t get enough profit and ad revenue from the region in question.
Best VPN Services for Poker of 2023
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Online Poker Using a VPN
Using a VPN is the ideal way to bypass petty restrictions. “Using a VPN” basically means that you route your connection through a server that is located in another country. Playing is also safer this way, as all your personal data are encrypted. When you wish to play poker online, and you have to resort to VPN to get in, you should put the following VPN features and options high on your wish list when choosing a provider.
First, you need fast, unlimited connection speed. Playing poker online is unbearable with high latency, as you have less time to plan your steps and analyze the situation. There is nothing worse than losing the perfect hand because your connection has dropped. Second, you need a VPN provider that offers a sizeable variety of server locations across the globe. You never know which country’s incognito may come in handy for you, not to mention the more servers to choose from, the better divided the VPN users will be, avoiding crowded servers and high latency. Lastly, you should consider getting a dedicated IP. Poker sites are good at recognizing players who deploy a VPN connection with shared IPs. Unless you get your own dedicated IP with your VPN provider, you may risk getting swooped out of the online poker room. You and only you can use the server with your dedicated IP, so the high speed will be guaranteed.
Accessing VPN is a convenient way to get back in game, and you don’t need extended tech-savviness to accomplish it. But there is a crux: disguising your IP enables you to play, but cashing out is a different story. Most poker sites ask for a proof that you are a citizen of the country you claim to be. This could be the copy of your ID, or they just check the bank account details. And these requirements could easily blow your cover, so tread carefully.
Recommended VPN Services
Numerous VPN providers are fit for use with your favored poker websites, with certain companies putting extra emphasis on unblocking these. We’ve tested some of the top VPN providers to see how well they pair with poker sites to give you our recommendations for smooth poker fun.
ExpressVPN
In case you seek good speed and strong security, ExpressVPN is the ideal choice for you. They have more than 78 server locations in the United States, Europe and South East Asia, not to mention they guarantee a dependable bandwidth speed between 3-9 Mbps. ExpressVPN runs on any computer and smartphone, and developed its own client for all major systems. Sadly no trial is available, but you can take advantage of the 30-day no-risk trial, where you receive a full refund upon cancellation.
VyprVPN
VyprVPN is known to be one of the fastest VPN networks available. They manage their servers and software themselves, without outsourcing anything. VyprVPN is spread across the globe, and unless you want to connect to Africa, you find plentiful servers in 70 countries. The additional features are the main selling points of the service. Users gain access to the unique Chameleon protocol that helps you bypass regional restrictions by scrambling your metadata, while VyprDNS is helpful when it comes to averting ads and harmful sites.
IPVanish
IPVanish is a popular VPN provider with more than 220 servers across North America, Europe and Asia. They manage all the ins and outs of the service themselves, meaning that they use their own client software instead of resorting to an open-source one. IPVanish supports all major protocols, and customizing the service from the client program is very easy. There is even a stellar app for Android and iOS systems, which also works well with Skype , so you can enhance your poker experience without compromising your security.
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Best VPN Services of 2023
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