Online poker is one of the biggest reasons for the game’s widespread popularity in the modern era. With the freedom to play from anywhere at any time, players can enjoy poker games without the hassle of traveling to a real casino.
Playing online also has numerous other benefits like a faster pace, exclusive site bonuses, and poker tracking software. All these reasons make online the most popular way to play, with over 100 million players worldwide.
One thing many people overlook when playing online, however, is their digital safety. The internet is full of potential threats, from malicious software to targeted hacker attacks. In this poker guide, we’ll cover the number one way to protect yourself online: VPNs. We’ll explain how they work, how to set one up, and why you should use them when playing online.
What are VPNs?
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a vital tool in today’s digital world. By providing a secure and encrypted connection between your device and the internet, VPNs offer a level of privacy and protection that is increasingly important in our online lives. This technology creates a virtual bridge between your device and the VPN server, making it appear that you are connecting from a different location. This virtual bridge also encrypts your data, making it unreadable by anyone, even your internet service provider (ISP) or hackers.
VPNs and online poker: Securing sensitive information
When it comes to sending personal information online, security should always be a top priority. Online poker is no exception, as you must provide websites with your bank account details to manage your bankroll.
Hackers could potentially intercept the data as you provide it to the website, allowing them to access your credentials and do whatever they want with your money. They could even go a step further and steal your identity using your personal details.
The encrypted bridge VPNs provide ensures your data cannot be intercepted by hackers. Additionally, it makes all your actions online completely anonymous. Nobody, not even your ISP or the government, can track you. VPNs are fantastic for those who take their privacy seriously.
VPNs and online poker: Bypassing regional restrictions
Another aspect of VPNs that makes them suitable for online poker players is their ability to get around regional restrictions. Since VPNs reroute your connection through another location, they make it look like you’re accessing the website from that location instead of where you actually are.
This is great for online poker, as many sites are region-restricted. Maybe the company only offers its services in Europe, or your country has anti-gambling laws that block the sites from working in your area. Regardless of the reason, VPNs completely bypass these limitations, allowing you to play poker on any site from anywhere.
VPNs and online poker: Ensuring stable connections
Finally, VPNs can help protect your connection and ensure it doesn’t get interrupted when you play poker online. They encrypt and conceal your data, protecting it from potential hacker attacks like a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack.
In a DDoS attack, hackers target your connection and try to disrupt it. If they succeed, you could be unable to use the internet entirely. While VPNs prevent targeted disconnections, they may increase the latency since your data has to travel through them before reaching the site. Still, this is usually minimal, especially when playing a simple game like poker.
How to choose a good VPN
When deciding on a VPN to use, there are a few things you need to consider before making your choice.
The first is where their servers are. You’ll want a VPN with servers close to your actual location but in areas free from restrictions like gambling laws. Picking areas too far from you might increase latency drastically. At the same time, if the area has their own internet restrictions, choosing that location is pointless.
The second is their logging policy. Most VPNs are trustworthy enough not to give your data to everyone, but you should still be aware of what they track. For those who want complete anonymity, look for a VPN with a “zero logs” policy. This means that any log of what you do online is deleted, unable to be seen even by the VPN company.
Finally, you must judge your price range. You can find great free VPNs, but they may not have all the features you’re looking for. Thankfully, since the VPN industry is highly competitive, you can find a number of affordable plans from different companies.
Setting up a VPN: Step-by-step
Here’s a short step-by-step guide on setting up your VPN.
First, choose your VPN using the steps we mentioned above. Pick one, download the VPN client to your device, and ensure you’re connected to the internet. Setting up a VPN depends on your device; we’ll focus on desktops since that’s where most people play poker, but VPNs often provide apps for mobile devices too.
Second, run the VPN installer. Like any installer, you can specify where you want the files to go. Some VPNs allow you to customize what features you want to be installed – it’s best to follow the recommended options or look up what each option does online.
Third, once the VPN is installed, run the client. You’ll be prompted to log in with an existing account or sign up and make a new one. Once you’ve done that, you’ll usually see a list of locations plus a connection button. If your client looks different, you should try to find the VPN provider’s guide to using it.
Finally, once the VPN is up and running in the right location, you can go to the website and play online like normal. Your data is now encrypted to ensure the best online poker experience.
Try using a VPN today!
Online poker players need to protect their data and online activity as much as possible, and using a VPN is the right way to do that. Not only does it allow them to remain anonymous, but it also helps them access sites they would otherwise not be able to use depending on their geographical location. All of this combines to make VPNs an invaluable tool within the world of online poker, so if you are serious about security or just want peace of mind, this is the option for you.
