Most leading poker rooms ignore the Mac community altogether and don't offer platform-agnostic Java solutions, let alone downloadable Mac versions. In this state of things, a Mac user who wants to play at a popular poker room like Party Poker must first install a PC emulator.   

PC emulators are Mac OS X applications, which enable Mac users to install the MS Windows operating system on their Macs and run any software program developed exclusively for Windows based computers. 

The PC emulator's job is to emulate a Windows computer on your Mac. A PC emulator will enable you to install Windows ,  download any poker software you wish, and play, for fun or real money, at all the major, Mac-unfriendly poker rooms such as Party Poker or Paradise Poker. 

Top PC Emulators

Virtual PC 7.0   

MS Virtual PC is considered by many to be the best emulator on the market. It runs Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, and offers seamless compatibility with Windows Office and networking software.

When you run VPC , the Windows OS pops up in a window on your desktop. You can switch back and forth between your Mac OS and Windows, copy and paste text and images, and drag n' drop files and folders from one OS to the other.

VPC works faster than other emulators and can run multiple instances of Windows or Linux simultaneously, but it is slower than a standard Wintel PC. Strangely, VPC   runs faster emulating Win2K than Windows XP, the significantly more popular OS.

Read the VPC 7 review in  Macworld

BuyVirtual PC 7.0@ Amazon [$109.99]

Buy Virtual PC 7.0+Win XP Pro @ Amazon [$214.99]

Buy Virtual PC 7.0 + Win2K @ Amazon [$219.99]

Guest PC 1.4  

Guest PC is a pretty stable and reliable emulator, but it has its share of flaws namely slow performance and lack of  important features offered by Virtual PC 7.0 (USB support, easy Win/Mac integration).    

Some Mac users, however, would prefer it over Microsoft's VPC for two main reasons. 1. It's $40 cheaper. 2. Why make Bill Gate richer?

The bottom line: if you need a PC emulator for various tasks and plan to use it extensively, VPC is a better buy. If you want to use it mostly for online poker, Guest PC is a good bargain.  

Buy Guest PC 1.4 @ RegSoft.net [$69.99]

Read the Guest PC 1.2 review in Macworld

iEmulator 1.7.6

Introduced in late 2004, iEmulator is low-cost PC emulator, which runs Win 98, Win2K, and Windows XP. Like VPC, it works better and faster with Win2K.  

iEmulator is based on the free open-source QEMU X86 emulator, but offers a much friendlier interface.

iEmulator's features include access Mac format files within the PC environment, Win boot disk creation, and the ability to designate up to 1GB of RAM to the emulated PC. 

The bottom line: With a price tag of $24, iEmulator is a good buy for Mac/Poker enthusiasts who want to join the action on Party Poker, Inter Poker, Ultimate Bet, and the likes, at minimal entry cost. 

Watch the iEmulator Quicktime demo

Buy iEmulator 1.7.6 [$23.95]