Best Mobile Poker Apps - 2024

Best Poker Apps – Our Picks

The number of poker apps is increasing on the daily, with loads of options out there for Kiwis to have a go at. We understand that find the right one can be a bit daunting, so our poker experts have stepped in to make getting started easy!

Here are our picks for the top real money poker apps in New Zealand.

partypoker

partypoker is not only one of the most popular poker sites, but it also has one of the safest and most fun poker apps out there. The graphics are unique, the app is intuitive, and the game variety is huge. There is a decent welcome bonus and current players can avail themselves of weekly, weekend, and happy hour bonuses. Customer support is available 24/7 and you can choose to deposit your money using loads of different payment methods. What’s not to love about partypoker? Make sure to read our review of partypoker to find out more about why this is one of our top picks.

888poker

888 needs no introduction in the world of online gambling, and poker is no different. Poker fans can enjoy different cash games as well as hundreds of poker tournaments and live poker events. There is a wealth of payment methods available and just in case that wasn’t enough, both the welcome bonus and the regular promotions are fantastic. If you want to learn more about the 888poker app and how it works, read our in-depth 888poker review right here.

bet365 Poker

bet365 is one of the leading online bookmakers, but its venture into the world of poker definitely deserves a mention. The bet365 Poker app is user-friendly, simple in design but offering a large number of cash games and tournaments. As explained in our bet365 Poker review, our poker experts have found this app one that poker enthusiasts just have to try out. There are always loads of real money players on it, meaning that finding a table isn’t a problem, no matter when you want to play.

Why Play on a Mobile Poker App

The world of poker is super-competitive stuff, where each of the best online casinos in NZ is vying for eyes - this is great news for punters, because those online casinos have to constantly innovate. That means tons of variety and fun for Kiwi punters. Here’s a quick rundown of the benefits of playing poker on a dedicated mobile app:

• Play Anywhere, Anytime: You don’t need to get dressed up for the casino, and you don’t even need to go to your mates house. In fact, you don’t even need to get dressed or leave your couch — mobile poker apps let you play wherever and whenever you like!
• Poker Tournaments, Spin and Go, or Cash Games on the Go: Every style of poker game is catered for — have a quick nudge with a cash game on the go, or sit down for the long haul with a full-on international poker tournament.
• Never Miss the Action at the Tables: Mobile poker apps mean you can play wherever you are, with whatever mobile device is handy. Whether it’s the tablet on your coffee table or the phone in your pocket, you’re ready to punt at the poker table.
• Safety and Security: While cybercrime issues are something you should still be wary of, mobile operating systems tend to be more secure. The chances of suffering a cyber breach directly on mobile are less than on desktop. Of course, every mobile poker app we recommend on this page is licensed and reputable, meaning you can play with confidence.

How Do We Review the Best Mobile Poker Apps?

When it comes to reviewing mobile poker apps, our team of poker experts really put the apps to the fire in terms of being thorough. It’s not an easy process, but we want to make sure that Kiwis are getting every little tidbit of information they need to make the right choice when it comes to picking the right mobile poker app. Here’s what we look at when we review mobile poker apps:

• Game Variety: Texas Hold’em is usually the go-to for most Kiwis, but what about other forms of poker like Five-card Draw, Omaha, or Seven Card Stud? We make sure that a poker app offers multiple styles of poker, and even ones that are a bit out of the ordinary, like Chicago, Follow the Queen, and Criss Cross Poker.
• User Experience: All the convenience and fun of mobile poker goes out the window if the app’s user experience is rubbish. We make sure that every time you load up the mobile poker app, it’s going to be just as slick and smooth and easy to use as if you were playing it on a full-powered desktop computer.
• Signup Process: We totally understand that it might be a bit daunting to hand over your details to one of these big international online casinos - that’s why we sign up with our own details so that we can tell you exactly what info they need, and why they need it.
• Different Payment Methods: Just like we sign up with our own details to test a poker app on your behalf, we also deposit our own cash to make sure everything works as it should. We also let you know what payment options there are, ranging from credit card, to digital, to cryptocurrency.
• Unique Features: We’ll let you know if a mobile poker app has any unique features. For example, you might be able to play multiple tables at a time, or perhaps there is a sign-up bonus for registering or depositing through their app.
• Server Reliability: At any one time, there could be thousands of people from around the world using any one mobile poker app. That means strain on their digital servers, and the last thing you want is for an app to crash on you right in the middle of a mean poker game. We check how robust an app’s servers are, and whether you can rely on them for uninterrupted gaming for those long poker sessions.
• Mobile Poker App Security and Support: We investigate and review the levels of security and support for each mobile poker app that we review - rest assured, that every mobile poker app we recommend is completely secure, and provides top-notch support for us Kiwis.
• Licensing and Legislation: We make sure that if we review or recommend an online casino or a mobile poker app, it will be completely legit and legal for Kiwis to use, and will be fully compliant with all NZ licensing and gambling laws.

Different Games On Poker Apps

If you are considering downloading a mobile poker app, you probably want to know which poker variants you can find. The answer? All of them! However, there is a clear bias towards the more popular poker games. We’ve covered the variations you can find at the top mobile pokers apps, so read on below.

• Texas Hold’em Poker: This is the most popular game at mobile poker venues globally. Over the last two decades, Texas Hold’em has transcended the gambling realm to become a genuine pop culture past-time. Whether it is poker night get-togethers with friends or full-scale television tournaments, this is the variant even casual gamblers choose to play.

In this variant of poker, each player receives two face-down cards (hole cards) which serve as their hand. Next comes the first round of betting, where players wager on the strength or weaknesses of the hole cards. The dealer then turns the three board cards (the flop) and another round of betting starts based on the flop and hole cards together.

The dealer turns the following two cards individually, with a betting round after each. Throughout the game, players attempt to make the best five-card hand possible. Players can call, fold, or raise their stake on each betting round.

• Omaha Poker: You can find Omaha Poker variants at all the best poker apps, including the popular game of Omaha Hi-Lo. This game is similar to Hold’Em, so it is a popular alternative. There is a three-card flop on the table, and then an additional fourth and fifth card are dealt individually.

The core difference is the player receives four hole cards in Omaha (instead of the two in Hold’Em). Making a hand is a little more complicated because the player must use a combination of any two hole cards and three board cards, meaning two hole cards are discarded.

• Stud Poker: Stud poker is another popular variant you can expect to find at the mobile poker apps we recommend. This poker type is different from the two we’ve just talked about because it puts the full power to win or lose in your hands. There are no community cards on the betting table. Instead, players receive a set number of cards all in their hands.

Betting takes place over multiple rounds as players start with two cards (one face up and one hold card) and receive additional cards following each betting round. How many cards you receive depends on the stud version you play, such as seven-card stud and five-card stud.

Poker Apps Cash Games

Cash games are straightforward and the type of poker most Kiwis love to play. These are the games you play around a table with friends, and the understanding is that you’re playing for cash currency. Arguably the most popular and common form of poker globally, cash games are also frequently available at land-based casinos and at the best online poker sites.

Apart from the possibility of winning real money, one of the best things about cash games is they allow for complete flexibility. You can pick up cash games on any mobile poker app we recommend at any time. There are tables and games available to suit every play style, variant, and budget.

Poker Apps Tournaments

You never need to look far to find a poker tournament when visiting one of the apps we recommend. Online poker tournaments are hugely popular, and the top operators offer daily, weekly, and many other types of competitions.

In a standard tournament, each player wagers an equal amount of money to enter the competition. For example, a mobile poker app may run a tournament with a $5 entry fee and $20 stake cost. Essentially, this means you pay $5 to participate in the tournament, while $20 goes into the prize pool.

When entering a particular tournament game, the idea is to whittle down the number of participants onto a final table. It is rare for an online poker tournament to have a single winner. You still have an outright winner of the tournament, but there will also be prizes for other players (2nd, 3rd, etc.) Winners usually take between 20% and 40% of the overall prize pool. There are different types of poker tournaments available on mobile devices, including:

• Freezeout Tournament: In this tournament, you pay to get chips and buy into the competition and play until you run out.
• Multi-Buy Tournament: An online poker tournament that lets you buy in more than once and play with multiple stacks.
• Rebuy Tournament: A rebuy competition will have chip stack gameplay, but you can still buy back in when you run out.
• Freeroll Tournament: A holy grail tournament where it costs nothing to enter. Most mobile poker apps we recommend offer free games, often with small prize pools.
• Guaranteed Tournament (GTD): A poker tournament with a predetermined and fixed prize fund that is guaranteed before play starts.
• Satellite Tournament: This is a pre-tournament where players compete to get a free buy-in to the whole competition.

Poker Apps Liquidity

Poker is a unique online casino game since it allows players to compete against each other as opposed to the dealer or the house. This makes poker a social game with quite some interaction, but it also means that it is hugely reliant on other players. Simply put, if there aren’t enough people playing, there is no game. This is where the term poker liquidity comes from, meaning the number of players influencing game availability and the size of prize pools.

In other words, the larger the number of players, the bigger the prize pot you can compete for and the more game choice you have. Other benefits of strong poker liquidity include more dynamic tournaments, more cash games, and more poker variations.

Mobile poker is arguably the best way to ensure good poker liquidity. More people play on mobile more than many other methods, and the accessibility of mobile poker means you will get more liquidity. All the mobile poker app operators we recommend on this page are prominent, meaning more people will play on them, and you will get better liquidity.

Poker Resources Available on Apps

There are tons of reasons for Kiwis to join and enjoy a mobile poker app, with bonuses, game choice, prizes, and security being just some of them. However, it can be easy to overlook that the best poker apps provide rich resources for learning poker, understanding strategy, and improvising your skill level. Since poker is game of strategy that requires knowledge and experience, this is vital.

Let’s be clear, no systems or know-how can guarantee you a win. At the end of the day, there is an element of luck in poker, and you need to have good cards in your hand. Still, there is no doubt that poker is more sport-like than other forms of gambling. Because you play against other players, expanding your knowledge can give you an edge during tournaments and cash games.

When visiting the mobile poker operators we recommend on this page, you can find tutorials, guides, and interactive media that can help you develop your poker strategy and skill. These resources really come to life on mobile because you can access them at any time and from anywhere.

What the Best Mobile Poker Apps Offer

The best mobile poker apps will be easy to use for all Kiwi players, but will also need to do a few other things. It should be able to be downloaded on to any mobile device, whether it’s Android or iOS. The app should let you play all of the games you can normally play from a laptop or desktop computer, and it should be reliable enough to never cut out or crash.

For a mobile poker app to be considered fantastic, it must offer lucrative and generous bonuses, with different payment methods for you to choose from, and high-level security to ensure that you feel safe playing on it.

When our team reviews a mobile poker app, we carefully look at each of the points mentioned above. We only recommend apps that meet our strict expectations. That means when you visit one of our recommended mobile poker apps, you will get the best possible experience.