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If you have browsed through Korea’s betting regulations, you would now know that Koreans are not permitted by its local government to engage in any form of gambling. The country has 18 land-based casinos but only one of them is legally accessible to Koreans.
However, if you are an expat who wants to experience the poker industry in Korea, then you are on the right track since the country is very welcoming of foreigners who want to spend money in their casinos. When you are visiting Korea, you would notice that most locals play several games such as Go-Stop, Janggi, and Baduk during their leisure time. Poker has gained immense popularity in the locale because of the application of skill and strategy to win the game. Asians are a sucker for that.
So if you are new in playing poker in Korea, it’s best to read on to find out the best sites to play online poker with the most awesome welcome bonuses and some advice and tips on playing poker.
The Top Online Casinos for Playing Poker in Korea
If you are seriously thinking about playing online poker whilst in Korea, the very first thing you have to do is choose the best online casinos that accept Korean players. Do note that the best casinos should be the ones that are easy to use, has many banking options, and has great customer service. One of the useful poker tips is finding the right site for you to play.
DafaPoker
DafaPoker is one of the easiest to use in all of the online casinos catering to Koreans. The site makes it easy for players to fund their accounts. The site’s customer service can provide a comprehensive guide on how you can deposit money to their Korean bank to fund your online wallet. They also accept Skrill and Moneybookers.
The site is fully licensed from the Philippines, which is known to have reliable and safe online transactions. The company is already a big name in both Asia and Europe. They use the iPoker Network managed by Playtech, which allows the website to operate on the largest skin-based online poker network.
Many Koreans choose DafaPoker because they are more aggressive when it comes to the Asian market and it accepts Korean won (KRW) as a form of currency when they deposit and withdraw, which allows the players to save up since they do not have to pay for exchange fees.
PokerStars.com
Probably one of the most popular online poker sites, PokerStars is highly preferred by Koreans despite not accepting Korean won as a form of currency in betting. It is the largest online poker site so a lot of players can play with a wide variety and types of players all over the world. It is also one of the top poker sites to have HUGE tournaments with massive prizes. The site also has a wide variety of non-Texas Hold’em poker variants.
Those who really want to play in PokerStars must use Euro as currency and just fund their account using their credit card.
188Bet Poker
Like PokerStars, 188Bet Poker also does not support Korean won as a currency when playing online poker. Local bank transfer is also not allowed. The site, however, lets their players use e-wallets such as Skrill or Neteller. They can also use EntroPay.
The online poker site uses the MPN Network and offers anonymous tables. Most players from Korea use 188Bet Poker because most of the poker players here are gamblers and not very poker-savvy so they can be really aggressive and careless with their bets allowing the true poker players to shine.
Poker Tips for Players in Korea
Poker is a highly addictive game. It’s a game that can really make or break you and test your limit. So here are a few advice and tips for you so you don’t lose sight of your goals.
Know why you want to play poker. One of the best poker tips out there is to identify the reason why you play poker in the first place. Are you planning to make this your career or are you playing solely for social interaction? This will allow you to decide on the online poker site that you will play on. For example, if you are a casual player, playing at DafaPoker will allow you to win more because poker games here are soft and ideal for you. Those who want to play to compete would best play at PokerStars because the site offers loads of tournaments where you can really hone your poker skills.
Always know when to slow down. Poker is a game of skill and strategy. It is a mind game that if you are not mentally and psychologically strong, your money might just go down the drain. You must know when to slow down or even stop. Sometimes pushing it might just do more harm than good.
Take a cue from famous poker players. In recent years, South Korea has produced quite a number of good professional poker players. This includes Jimmy Cha, Nani Dollison, Kevin Song, Somyung Sim, and Steven Sung.
- Jimmy Cha may not be popular among today’s players but he has been playing poker since he moved to the US. He was able to cash in seven times in both the WPT and WSOP.
- Nani Dollison is a female poker player born in South Korea. She has 23 career cashes from major tournaments including three WSOP bracelets.
- Kevin Song boasts of six WPT cashes in and has participated and cashed in 39 WSOP events, even winning a WSOP bracelet during the 1997 WSOP $2,000 Buy-In Limit Hold’em Event.
- Somyung Sim is another one of the more successful poker players from South Korea. He has successfully entered the final table of the Asian Pacific Poker Tour in 2008 held in Macau.
- Steven Sung, who goes by his online poker name MuGGyLiCiOuS, is another well-known South Korean poker player. He has successfully cashed in 12 WSOP events and even bringing home 1 bracelet. He also cashed in 10 WPT events reaching three final tables.
