Internet Poker for the MAC

To play Internet Poker on Mac is not always easy. There are still only a few poker rooms that offer downloadable software for Macintosh. You usually have to choose a poker room with "no-download" software or download a PC emulator, in order to play.

More and more poker rooms are finally realizing that there are market shares to be won targeting the growing number of Mac users. But there are still only a few that offer downloadable software for Mac. One room that have launched a downloadable version for Mac is Full Tilt Poker, which they did early 2006. Others are Games Grid and Bugsys Club Poker, and several more will surely follow.

But the most common option for Mac users who play Internet poker is still "no-download" software, which can be found at Pacific Poker, PokerRoom, HoldemPoker and Eurobet Poker, to mention a few of the larger rooms. This is a good alternative. But you usually lose some functionality compared to downloadable software, such as player notes and some statistic options.

In order to play in poker rooms that still do not offer software programs for Mac, a PC emulator is an alternative. It makes it possible to run .exe files on your Mac. Two of the most commonly used emulators are; iEmulator and Virtual PC. The PC emulator enables you to play on any site you like. Unfortunately it will usually slow down the computer, which can create some lags.

Apple recently released the first version of Boot Camp, a software program that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. So far they have only released a trial version, which can be used for a limited time only. The software makes it possible to run either Mac OS or Windows when you start up your Mac. Boot Camp will be one of the features in Apple's next major release of OS X, "Leopard", scheduled to be showcased in August.

The number of Mac users is growing and more and more poker rooms and software manufacturers are starting to see them as an important group to target. This indicates that an increasing number of online poker rooms will start to provide Mac compatible software. Together with the introduction of Boot Camp this will make it a lot easier to play poker online using a Mac.