Poker Night: home poker on your TV, with a phone for every hand

The living-room poker game without the shoebox of chips. A TV, tablet or laptop shows the table for the whole room. Each player's phone shows their own two cards and the buttons to play them. Nothing to install on the big screen, nothing to count, and never any money.

Cardamoo runs on iPhone, Android and any web browser. Friends join with one link or a room code. Nobody needs an account or a download to sit down. Up to six players at a table. Texas Hold'em. There is no voice chat built in, so use the call you already have. Chips can never be bought, by anyone, so nothing pushes you to pay. It is never played for real money.

How it works

What the room sees, and what only you see

The big screen shows the community cards, the pot, every stack and whose turn it is, exactly like a real table. Hole cards never appear there. They live on your phone, face-up only to you, with the action buttons underneath. At showdown the table reveals the hands that went to the end, and you can choose to show or muck a hand you won without a fight.

It moves like a real table too. Cards go out from the dealer's seat. A bet or raise lights up that player's seat, a check knocks and a fold gives a little shake. When the hand is over the chips slide from the pot to the winner, and every card gets swept into one pile and handed back to the dealer for the next deal.

Already mirroring your phone?

If you use AirPlay or Cast screen, the Cardamoo app on iPhone and Android has a Put on TV button. The table goes up on the TV and your phone goes back to showing just your hand.

Set up for the couch

The host can tune the screen for the room. Tell it whether the screen is propped up or lying flat on the table, pick a text size from S to XL, make the cards bigger, and turn on a stronger highlight for whose turn it is. The big screen plays the table sounds, like the deal, chips going into the pot and the showdown. Phones only play your own cues, so you hear your turn without six phones going off at once.

Make it a regular night

When you're done, the host taps End night. The big screen shows a recap with the winner, the biggest pot and how many hands you played, and everyone's phone gets the same recap with a poster link to share. If everyone just leaves after ten or more hands, the night wraps up by itself.

Had fun? Make it a regular table. Everyone who played that night becomes a member, up to 12 people. The host picks a weekly night or a one-off date, and members get a reminder about an hour before. The table keeps standings from week to week, ranked by nights won and then total net, and Start tonight opens the room with the same blinds and buy-in as last time.

The recap and standings are only a record. They never change anyone's chip balance.

Why it beats a real deck

• No chips, no bank. Blinds post themselves, pots are counted for you, side pots split correctly, and nobody has to be the one who "does the chips".
• No dealer. The button moves, the cards shuffle, and the game never stalls on whose turn it is.
• The host keeps order. Change the blinds for the next hand, take someone off the table between hands (their chips go with them), or end the night.
• Beginners can play with you. The phone tells you what you can do and what it costs. The learn guides and the in-game lessons cover the rest.
• Nobody loses money. Chips are virtual and worth nothing outside the game, so the loudest argument of the night is about the river card, not the buy-in.

What you need

• One spare screen with a web browser: a smart TV, a laptop, a tablet, or a phone propped against something. A TV you can mirror your phone to works too.
• A phone per player. Friends can join from their browser without installing anything; the host needs a free account.
• Internet on every device. Same Wi-Fi is not required.

Poker Night questions

Planning your first one? Read how to host a poker night. Not in the same room? Play with friends online. Wondering how this compares to Air Poker or Smart Dealer Poker? Side by side.