How to Run a Video Poker Night with Friends Online (No Zoom Required)

The pandemic-era poker night was a laptop running Zoom next to a phone running a poker app, with someone shouting "who's turn is it" every four minutes. It worked, barely. In 2026 it takes one app and about ninety seconds to set up. Here is the whole thing.

Before the night

1. Everyone installs the app. It is free on the App Store and Google Play, or runs in a desktop browser with no download. A free account is all anyone needs; nobody has to set up a wallet to sit in a home game.

2. Make a Group (optional, but worth it). Create a private group, share the join code once, and from then on you can schedule games and rally everyone with one tap. The app reminds people 15 minutes before the game starts.

Setting up the table

3. Tap Home Game. The table comes pre-locked the right way for a friends game: private, rake-free, and session chips that are pure scorekeeping. Set blinds that feel like your kitchen table (1/2 is a good default).

4. Leave voice on. It is on by default and free. If you want the whole table unlimited for the night so nobody's free minutes come into play, flip the Unlimited voice for this table switch when you create it. One person covers everyone.

5. Share the invite code. Straight into the group chat. Friends tap it and land in a seat.

During the game

6. Join voice and turn on your camera. Tap Join Voice/Video, then the camera button. Your face is at your seat. On iPhone there is a flip button for switching cameras. Anyone who would rather just talk can leave their camera off.

7. Run the room. As host you can hand out chips, pause for the pizza, change the blinds between hands, or reload someone who busted (they tap once, a request lands on your screen). All of it from your seat, without interrupting the call.

8. Use the table controls, not the group chat. Someone's dog barking? Mute just them. Need a minute? Deafen. Everything is one tap on their thumbnail.

After the game

9. Get the results sheet. When the table ends, every player's results ledger is archived to their profile automatically and can be shared to the group chat in one tap. No 1am argument about who bought in for what.

A few things people ask

Does it work with a mix of phones and laptops? Yes, that is the normal case. Everyone sees and hears everyone regardless of device.

How many people can be on video? Nine-handed tables with everyone on camera work fine. The video grid resizes itself.

What about the free minutes? Every player has 45 free minutes a week. For a weekly game, either the host flips the unlimited switch when creating the table (one small unlock covers everyone all night) or players just use their minutes. Either way, nobody is buying anything to sit down.

Is it really rake-free? Yes. Home game chips are scorekeeping. Every chip that goes into a pot comes out of it.