How to Play Online Poker on Linux Using a Windows Poker Client?
Ever thought about playing poker on your Linux machine? It's easy to do as you just need to install the right packages like kpoker or sillypoker from your Linux distribution's store and you're done. However, if you want to play poker online for real money, it might not be as easy as it sounds.
There are many MS Windows poker clients out there, but the problem is that none of them are native poker clients for a Linux operating system. Some of them simply require a Java plugin to be installed in your browser, but there are many online poker clients that you need to install on your Linux machine before playing. In this article you will learn how to play online poker on Linux using Windows Poker Clients.
To play online poker on Linux with a Windows poker client, you need to install a Wine application. Wine is a software program that allows you to run and install Windows based poker clients on your Linux machine and easily play poker online.
Here's what you need to do to test this method:
• Install Wine application
• Install Windows based poker online client with Wine
• Start the Windows-based online poker client with Wine
How to install Wine on your Linux computer?
• If you are using Linux working with a Debian package manager ( DEB ) like Debian or Ubuntu, you need to install wine with an apt-get command
# apt-get install wine
NOTE: apt-get requires root privileges!
• If you are using RedHat with RedHat Package Manager ( RPM ) and its successors Fedora or CentOS, you need to install wine using the yum install command:
- install yum wine
NOTE: yum requires root privileges!
How do I install a Windows-based online client on Linux?
After installing and running the Wine application, you will need to download a Windows-based poker client such as Poker Stars and install it with Wine.
NOTE: Do not run the following command as root user. The PokerStars application is installed locally in your home directory, as specified by a bash's -HOME environment variable.
- WINE POKERSTARSSETUP.EXE
If this is your first time using wine, you may be asked a few questions. Otherwise, install the Poker Stars application as you would normally on a Windows operating system. Before running a Windows-based poker client, you may need to run the Wineboot utility to simulate a Windows reboot:
- WINE BOOTS
How do I run a Windows-based online client on Linux?
Now you can launch a Windows based poker client from your Linux desktop menu. If you don't see a shortcut to Wine->PokerStars in your Linux desktop menu, you can run this application with the following command:
- CD ~/.WINE/DRIVE_C/PROGRAM FILES
Then locate a PokerStars installation directory and executable and run it with the following Wine command:
- WINE ~/.WINE/DRIVE_C/PROGRAM FILES/POKERSTARS/POKERSTARS.EXE
Important NOTE:
Successfully running a Windows based bandarqq client with Wine is not guaranteed! Many factors play a role in the successful operation of native MS Windows applications on the Linux operating system. If you are unable to launch your favorite online poker client on your Linux machine, you will need to install the latest version of wine or CrossOver software, which is a commercial version of wine.