To log on to your poker room, double-click its icon on your desktop (which will have been created when you installed the host software) and let your and their computer do the connection-establishing thingy they do. Enter your user name and password in the appropriate places, and you will see something similar to Figure 1.

Figure 1 Online poker room lobby

The first thing you notice is that the screen has several different sections from which to choose. The medium line, with Fixed Limit, No Limit/Pot Limit, and Play Money, allows you to see the different games and tables available to you at that time in each of those three categories. In this example, you are looking at PokerStars’s Fixed Limit Holdem page. Notice that the table listing the available poker games is divided by type of game (Texas Holdem , then Omaha, Stud, etc.), and then in descending order by stakes ($80–$160 to $4–$8 are pictured, but notice there is ample room to scroll down for smaller stakes and some likely no- and pot-limit games). Beside the Games tab, you see there are also tabs for Scheduled Tournaments and Sit and Go Tournaments.

A scheduled tournament is exactly that: At 7 PM, for example, as long as a minimum number of players pay the entry fee, the tournament will begin, with prize money being determined by the total number of players entered. A sit and go tournament, on the other hand, begins as soon as 10 (or however many) players buy in.

Also recommended:

1. Lobby and Table Selection in online poker rooms
2. Texas Holdem Betting Structure