I get a lot of friends asking me about this whole "poker" thing I do. Where can they play online? What are the games available? Is it safe?
My advice to them is always the same. Play poker online with play money first, until you can figure out what you are doing. If you can't beat the play money games, you have no business playing with real money.
Bodog offers free poker where you can learn to play and practice different types of games like Texas Hold'em, Stud, and Omaha.
Once you get the hang of things, then you can jump in with the sharks. Bodog is a great place to learn, and then move on to real action as they offer some of the best tournament structures and overlays available as well as a wide variety of game types.