Cardamoo
Cardamoo vs Poker Now
Both are free ways to play Texas Hold’em with friends for no money, and they suit different evenings. Here is the sourced version, so you can pick the one that fits your group. Want EasyPoker in the picture too? See all three side by side.
Every statement about Poker Now below is taken from its own public pages and is tagged with its source. Where its site does not describe a feature, the row is left out rather than guessed. Last checked September 2026; details may change.
| Feature | Cardamoo | Poker Now |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. The only purchase is an optional cosmetic supporter pack, a badge and a theme that never affect gameplay or chips.C1 | Free to play. An optional Poker Now Plus subscription (US$9.99 a month or US$69.60 a year) adds extras such as unlimited video chat and an unlimited hand history archive.PN1PN2 |
| Real money | None. Chips cannot be bought, moved between players or cashed out.C4 | None. Play money with no monetary value and no real-money prize opportunity.PN1 |
| Where it runs | Native iPhone and Android apps, plus the same game in any modern browser.C1 | Entirely in the browser on phone, tablet or desktop. Nothing to install.PN1 |
| Accounts | Guests join a friend’s table from the browser without an account. The host needs a free account.C2C3 | No sign-up and no account. Anyone with the room link can join.PN1 |
| Players per table | Up to six.C2 | Up to 10, or 1v1 heads-up.PN1 |
| Voice and video chat | None built in. Use the call you already have open.C1 | Video and voice built in. Unlimited video chat is listed as a Plus feature.PN1PN2 |
| Poker variants | Texas Hold’em.C5 | No-limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha Hi and Hi/Lo, with options such as Run it Twice and Rabbit Hunting. Bomb Pot, 7-2 Bounty and Double Board are listed as Plus features.PN1PN2 |
| When friends aren’t around | Quick Play matchmaking, Sit-n-Go tournaments, daily challenges and a weekly leaderboard.C5 | Public games, the Poker Now Lounge with tables 24 hours a day, Sit & Go and multi-table tournaments, and freerolls.PN1PN5 |
| Looking back at hands | A coach reviews your hands, decision by decision.C5 | Hand Replay and a full session log download. An unlimited hand history archive and an enhanced replayer are Plus features.PN1PN2 |
| Chips between sessions | One persistent bankroll that carries from game to game.C3 | A session ledger (buy-in and buy-out summary) per game. Clubs keep a live ledger of each player’s balance.PN1PN4 |
| Host controls | The host sets the blinds and buy-in. At a Poker Night table the host can also change the blinds for the next hand, remove a player between hands and end the night.C3C2 | The host sets the blinds, stacks, time limits and variant, and can pause between hands.PN1 |
| Learning to play | Nine guided lessons inside a real game, then a coach that reviews your hands.C5C1 | A free interactive tutorial that walks through one real hand from start to finish.PN3 |
| Personalisation | The Barn: card backs, seat frames and win effects unlocked with chips won at the table.C4 | Customisation with themes is listed as a Plus feature.PN2 |
| Playing with a regular group | Add friends to see when they are online and at which table, watch a friend’s seat live, and form a party to queue into Quick Play together. A Poker Night group can become a regular table with a weekly night, a reminder before it starts and standings over time.C3C2 | Clubs: a private room with membership controls, a live ledger, and your own ring games and tournaments.PN1PN4 |
Poker Now suits you if
- Your group is remote and wants video in the same window as the table.PN1
- You need more than six seats at one table.PN1C2
- Nobody wants an account, host included.PN1
- Your group plays Omaha as well as Hold’em.PN1
Cardamoo suits you if
- You are in the same room and want the table on the TV with phones as controllers. How Poker Night works.C2
- You want a native app on your phone as well as the browser.C1
- Some of your friends are new to poker and would rather learn by playing nine short lessons at a real table.C5
- You want one bankroll that carries from night to night.C3
The one thing they share
Neither is gambling. Poker Now describes its chips as play money with no monetary value.PN1 In Cardamoo that is a hard rule, not a setting: chips cannot be bought at any price, cannot move between players, and cannot be cashed out.C4 Why that matters →
Put the table on the TV tonight
Free, in your browser or the app. Friends join from their phones with the room code.
Start a poker nightNo account needed to try · free on iPhone, Android and the web
Sources
Each tag above links to the page the statement was taken from. Competitor pages are theirs, not ours, and were last checked in September 2026.
- C1 Cardamoo FAQ: https://cardamoo.com/faq
- C2 Cardamoo, Poker Night: https://cardamoo.com/poker-night
- C3 Cardamoo, Play poker with friends: https://cardamoo.com/play-poker-with-friends
- C4 Cardamoo, Poker without real money: https://cardamoo.com/poker-without-real-money
- C5 Cardamoo home page: https://cardamoo.com/
- PN1 Poker Now home page and FAQ: https://www.pokernow.com/
- PN2 Poker Now Plus subscription page: https://www.pokernow.com/subscription/plus
- PN3 Poker Now, Learn No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker: https://www.pokernow.com/poker-tutorial
- PN4 Poker Now Clubs: https://www.pokernow.com/clubs-landing
- PN5 Poker Now, Play with the community: https://www.pokernow.com/play-with-poker-now-community