Play Zynga Poker
Are you a poker fan? Zynga Poker is one of the largest online poker communities, and there are countless games being played 24/7. Zynga provides you a starting bank of chips, allowing you to start playing without spending a dime. If you want to learn how to play Zynga Poker like a true card shark, see Step 1 below.
Contents
Steps
Starting the App
- Create a Facebook account if you don't have one. There are two primary ways to play Zynga Poker: playing in your web browser using Facebook or by downloading the app for your mobile device. Both methods require a Facebook account if you'd like to save your progress.
- Open the Zynga app on Facebook. Open Facebook on a computer's web browser, and enter "Texas HoldEm Poker" into the search bar. Select the first result from the list (it has 10,000,000+ monthly users listed underneath).
- You will be notified that Texas HoldEm Poker will receive access to your public profile and friends list. You must accept this in order to play. You can choose who can see posts that the app makes. If you don't want other people seeing messages from this app, select "Only Me" for the sharing options.
- Download the app for your mobile device. The Zynga Poker app is available for both iOS and Android devices, and can be downloaded for free from your device's app store. Once the app is installed, you will need to login with your Facebook account in order to save your progress.
- If you don't want to login with your Facebook account, you can sign in as a Guest. Your progress will not be saved.
- You cannot play Zynga Poker from your mobile browser, you must download the app in order to play on your device.
- Check how many chips you have. In the upper-left corner, you will see a display of your current chip count. This represents how much you can wager during a poker game.
- Find a table. There are a couple different ways that you can join a table. You can click the "Play Texas Hold'Em Now" button at the top of the screen to randomly join a table in your skill level, or you can use the table list to see all of the different tables available to join.
- You can use the Table Stakes drop-down menu to filter which tables appear on your list. The "Stakes" are what can be bet each hand, while the "Min/Max BuyIn" is what it costs to sit down at the table.
- Most tables have a general difficulty level next to the table name. This will give you an idea of the kinds of opponents you will be facing, but be aware that people may misrepresent themselves.
- You can hide empty and full tables by checking the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the list.
- See how your friends are doing. At the bottom of the page you will see your Facebook friends that also play Zynga Poker. You can see how many chips they have, and if you click on their name you can see their achievements and stats.
- Your online friends will be displayed in the box on the right side of the page. You can use this to send invites to play a game together.
- Check your progress. Your current level is displayed at the top of the screen. You increase levels as you gain experience, and experience is gained by playing and winning games. Leveling up earns you new tables, achievements, and gifts.
- You can review your profile by clicking the Profile button on the left side of the screen. You can see your detailed stats, any unlocked items, and your achievement progress.
- Check how many chips you have. At the bottom of the screen, you will see a display of your current chip count. This represents how much you can wager during a poker game.
- Find a table. You can quickly join a game by tapping the red "Play Now" button. You will automatically join a table based on your level and current chip count. You can also search for tables that match specific criteria by tapping the "Hold'Em Tables" button. Use the slider to set the desired stakes and buy-in, and use the drop-down menus to choose player numbers and game speed.
- Unlike the Facebook version, you are not able to browse all of the available tables.
- Change your settings. Click the Gear icon in the lower-right corner to adjust your app settings. You can change when you receive notifications, turn the hand strength indicator on or off, and more.
- The hand strength indicator will help you determine if you have a good hand, but it will cost you 10% of your winnings.
- Check your stats. You can see a quick overview of your best hand and biggest win by tapping on your name in the bottom-left corner of the app.
Playing a Game
- Understand how to play Texas Hold'Em. Zynga Poker follows standard no-limit Texas Hold'Em rules. Each player is dealt two cards face down, and the goal is to make the best five-card hand using the community cards that are dealt in the center of the table.
- Betting occurs after the first two cards are dealt, after the first three community cards are shown, after the fourth card is shown, and after the fifth card is shown.
- Each player takes turns as the dealer, with betting occurring to the dealer's left.
- The first two players to the dealer's left must bet automatically to start the round, called "blinds".
- For detailed instructions on how to play Texas Hold'Em, see Play-Texas-Hold'em.
- Sit down at a table. When you choose a table, you "sit down" at an empty seat. If there is a hand in progress, you will need to wait until the next hand is dealt in order to play. When you sit at a table, you will see your opponents and the amount of chips that they have.
- Choose your action. As play continues around the table, you will see each player's bet for the round in front of them. When action reaches you, you can decide to Call (match any bets), Check (pass if there are no bets to match), Bet/Raise (increase the bet), or Fold (discard your cards and withdraw from the hand).
- You can set your action before play reaches you if you know what you want to do beforehand. If the action is no longer viable when play reaches you (for example, you set to Check but someone Raises), you can change it.
- Each player has a time limit to perform an action. The time limit is represented by a yellow bar around the active player's picture that depletes as the time limit counts down.
- If you are playing on mobile, you will need to use the bet slider to increase or decrease your bet.
- Understand how online poker differs from live poker. There are some major differences when playing online, mainly stemming from the fact that no one is playing with real money. This will lead to a lot of raises that you probably wouldn't see at an actual poker.
- It can be very difficult to bluff in online poker, as you can't see anyone's faces or physical reactions. Opponents are much more likely to call raises in online poker as well, since the money isn't real.
- Decide to buy again if you lose. If you run out of chips from your initial buy-in, you can choose to "rebuy", which will give you more chips and allow you to keep playing. You must have chips available in your bank in order to rebuy.
- Leave the table when you're done. If you don't want to keep playing, click the "Stand Up" button in the upper-left corner. You will leave your seat, though you can continue to watch the table. If you want to return to the lobby, click the "To Lobby" button.
- You cannot leave the table when you have an active hand.
- Get more chips. While the main way to get chips is to win them from other players, there are a variety of way that you can earn more chips. On the left side of the lobby screen, you can participate in a slot machine that can award you chips if you win. You get a free pull after a certain amount of time has passed, but you can pull whenever you'd like if you pay with Casino Gold. Casino Gold costs real money.
- You can also purchase more chips directly from Zynga by clicking on your chip total in the corner of the lobby screen. You can choose which package you'd like to purchase with real money.
- You can win a small amount of chips and test your poker knowledge by clicking the Poker Genius button. This is located in the upper-right corner of the screen , in the Dice menu. Poker Genius will quiz you on which hands are most likely to win, and correct answers are awarded a small amount of chips. Poker Genius is only available for a few rounds per day.
Warnings
- Never tell anyone your login information or payment information. Zynga will never request your account information.
Related Articles
- Play Poker
- Become a Good Poker Player
- Play Video Poker
- Play Texas Holdem at VNH Poker on Facebook
