Poker with friends online, free

To play poker with friends for free, open Anubis City in your browser, enter the Temple of Fortune and choose the “Own table” tab. Pick the stakes, 5 or 9 seats and whether AI opponents play, then press “Create and sit”. The code button next to the table name copies a link: send it, and your friends sit down.

Only the person who creates the table needs a saved character. Your friends do not: a guest who opens the link for the first time confirms they are 18 or older, presses “Play as a guest”, makes a character — and the buy-in window for your table opens by itself. You play No-Limit Texas Hold’em by the rules of our poker tables, with free debens.

The table is private from the first second. It never appears in the hall’s list or in “Quick game”, and nobody can sit down without the code or an invitation. The code has six characters, with no 0, O, 1 or I to confuse, and it can be typed any way you like: “k7m2-qx” works just as well as “K7M2QX”.

Three ways in for your friends

• The link. It opens the game and goes straight to your table. It works even for people who have never played: once they have made a character, the buy-in window appears on its own.
• The code. In the Temple of Fortune, the “By code” tab: type the code and press “Find table”. Handy when you are reading it out on a call.
• The invitation. If you are already friends in the game, click your friend in the Friends tab and choose “Invite to the table”. They get “… invites you to a private table (50/100) · Sit at the table”, and the seat is held for them for one minute.

• Seats: 5 or 9. Five makes a lively short-handed game for three or four friends; nine fits a big company.
• AI opponents: On or Off. With AI on, a nine-seat table tops up to four players: one of you plays with three AI, two of you with two, three with one, and from four people on there are no AI at all. A five-seat table tops up to three. With AI off, only people play, and a hand starts as soon as two are seated.
• Buy-in: 10 to 200 big blinds. The buttons offer 10, 50, 100, 150 and 200. Between hands you can “Rebuy” up to the table maximum.
• 15 seconds per move. The same at every table; it cannot be changed.

The settings are fixed once the table is created. Want different stakes? Stand up and create a new table. An empty old table closes at once; if friends are still playing at it, they finish their game, and the old code keeps working until that table closes.

Which stakes to choose? For a mixed company, the Scribes’ Table. A guest starts with 100,000 debens: that is ten full buy-ins there — and exactly one minimum buy-in at the Pharaoh’s Table.

• The connection drops. The game reconnects by itself and holds the seat for 30 seconds. While the player is gone, their turns run on the timer: a check if possible, otherwise a fold.
• They do not come back in time. The player leaves the table, and the chips in front of them go back to their balance. To return to a private table they need the link or the code again — or an invitation from someone at the table.
• Someone needs a break. Press “Step away”: you are not dealt in until you press “Return”. After 10 minutes away you stand up from the table, and your chips go back to your balance.
• Someone keeps missing turns. After three missed turns in a row the game marks the player “Away” — the hand does not wait for someone who fell asleep.
• Someone runs out of chips. “Rebuy” between hands. Without a rebuy, the player stands up after 10 minutes.

And if the creator leaves?

For everyone else nothing changes. The creator has no special buttons at the table: the game goes on while at least one person is sitting there, and the link and the code keep working. When the last person stands up, the table waits five more minutes and closes.

A home game online is still a home game. A few house rules keep the evening friendly; the general ones are in our guide to poker etiquette.

• Agree on the buy-in before the first hand. For example, everyone sits down with 100 big blinds and rebuys only for the same amount. Equal stacks make for fairer fights.
• Keep folded cards to yourself. “I threw away the king of hearts” changes the decisions of those still in the hand. Talk about it afterwards — “Last hand” shows the whole history.
• Leaving? Say so. Press “Step away” instead of letting the timer play for you, so the others do not wait 15 seconds on every turn.
• Do not go easy on a friend. Soft play — two friends checking it down against a third player — spoils the evening for everyone. There is no money at stake; play every hand to win.
• The table chat is public. Everyone at the table reads what you write there. For a private word, use “Message”.
• Congratulate the winner. A heart is free, and a gift given “in front of everyone” appears as a wrapping above their seat.

One rule here you cannot break even if you wanted to: at showdown the game turns the cards over by itself, so nobody can drag out the reveal of a winning hand.

The rules, the blinds and the 15 seconds per move are the same. What differs is who sits across from you.

Our advice: when your friends are online, play privately — the chat is yours and nobody gets in the way. When they are not, open a table with “+ New table” rather than a private one. Everyone can see it, the AI keep you company until people come, and friends who log in later find “friend here” at the top of the list and join you in a couple of clicks.

Strangers are good practice: different styles and a full table at any hour. Brush up on the basics in the rules of Texas Hold’em and the poker hand rankings. Blackjack, roulette and bingo with friends are on the Play with friends page.