Click the image above to play our ‘How Match Poker Works’ video from YouTube.

Match Poker is played like a regular No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker game*.

The key differences are in how the game is scored.

In Match Poker, unlike in regular poker, you are not competing against the players at your table. You are trying to win chips off them, yes, but they will have different cards to you – therefore, whether you beat them or not can depend upon luck. When you play Match Poker, you will always be competing against other players who are playing the same hand as you, from the same position as you. For example, in our Battle Royale gametype, there are six tables playing the same hand simultaneously. If you are in seat 4, then every player in seat 4 at the other tables is your opponent.

When you have bad cards, they will too. When you get a lucky card on the river, they will too. The only thing that separates your performance from theirs is how skilfully you play the cards that you get dealt.

If you can win more chips than they can – whether by bluffing, trapping or intimidating your opponents – then you will come out on top.
If you can lose fewer chips than them – such as by folding in the right spots – then you will come out on top.

At the end of a match, you then get ranked. Our sophisticated algorithm calculates and changes your IFMP Rating, which is similar to a FIDE rating in chess. Click here to learn more about IFMP Ratings.

So, in Match Poker:

  • The hand that you (and all other players) are dealt will already have been dealt and played hundreds or thousands of times before.
  • So, instead of scoring you against the players at your table, Match Poker Online™ will compare your score against everyone who played those same cards before – in the same position and with the same flop, turn and river.
  • This removes a large element of the luck in poker and replaces it with a real assessment of your skill.
  • We then rank that skill.

So, enjoy playing The Sport of Poker – where skill beats luck. Download the app today!

Are there terms or phrases here that you don’t understand? Don’t worry, click here for a page dedicated to all the Poker terms you’ll need!

*We said, earlier, that Match Poker is played like any poker game. It is, except for the fact that, after the hand is over, your chip stack resets. This is so that we can get the highest quality evidence of your skill. It would not be fair to compare your performance on a hand when you are short stacked with 12 BB, against a player with those same cards but a 100BB stack.