How to Run Poker Sites on Your Mac
More and more people everyday are making the switch from PC to Mac, including poker players. However, many poker sites have yet to accommodate these players by creating an Apple friendly version of their software. So it’s difficult for these guys to play, if they are even able to play at all.
That being said, this article will highlight the 3 different options that poker players have when wanting to play poker online using their Mac computers.
Three Ways to Run Poker Sites on Mac Computers
There are three different ways that you can run a poker site on your Mac computer. Below, I go over each one as well as the pros and cons of each.
Exclusive Mac Software Download
Many poker sites are now getting with the times and providing users with exclusive Mac software to download. This software is identical to the software for Windows users.
The biggest pro to having software to download is the convenience. You don’t have to go and buy a special program to run the site’s software. It’s already installed and ready to go when you are.
Another positive aspect to being able to download the poker site’s software is that you’re not excluded from anything. Many poker rooms online offer a flash or browser version of their software. However, flash versions generally only offer about 50-80% of what the downloadable software does. So you might miss out on certain games, stakes or other features. When you download a site’s software, you don’t miss out on anything.
Something else to consider is if you some sort of tracking software like Poker Tracker. Your computer is likely to run much smoother and faster if you don’t have to run every program off an emulator.
Now, the biggest con, if you can even call it that, is that the software you download will take up space on your computer. But considering all the pros of downloading a site’s software, this is nothing.
PC Emulators
An emulator is a program that you install on your Mac that enables you to use Windows only software.
There are a couple of benefits to using an emulator. One, it’s the closest method to the “real thing.” You still get to enjoy every feature that the site has to offer. Secondly, with an emulator, you can play at whatever site you wish. You don’t have to look for a special Mac only download.
One of the biggest downsides to using an emulator is the additional cost. Programs like iEmulator will run you about $25. When you put it into perspective though, $25 is a small cost for being able to run any poker site on your Mac. There are free programs too. A popular one is Boot Camp which is an Apple made product.
Flash or Browser Poker
Many sites that do not offer a Mac specific download will instead offer a flash (also known as browser) version of their software. All you need is a flash player and an account at the poker room. Then you just log in and play straight from your browser – no download needed.
The biggest upside to playing poker from your browser is that you don’t need to download anything to your computer or worry about updates.
However, the downside to playing a browser based poker game is that it might be slower or more prone to lag in comparison to the downloadable version. The graphics won’t be nearly as nice either.
My issue with flash poker games is that most of them aren’t complete versions of their downloadable software. You only get to experience about 50-80% of what the room has to offer.
Related "How To" Posts:
- How to Video Record an Online Poker Session
- How to Cascade Tables at Full Tilt Poker
- How to Play No Limit Deuce to Seven Single Draw
Written by Matt Geer