Top Poker Rooms. Choosing a Poker Room for Real Money Game
Online poker is so vast these days choosing a site that’s right for you can be a daunting task. Throughout this article we will be looking at different sites and networks that you can play on whilst also outlining what they offer. We have chosen a few top poker rooms for a review.
PokerStars
PokerStars (Stars) is by far and away the biggest poker room in the world. Hosted on its own network, the site can generate up to 400,000 players at peak times.
Everything is offered on Stars, from NLHE to PLO, Razz to Stud and MTTs to SNGs, there really is something for everyone.
Whilst offering up the largest player pool, it’s also worth bearing in mind that the most amount of regulars will often be found playing on Stars due the amount of games available.
One of their stand out qualities is their customer support which is unrivalled in the poker world. This along with their flawless banking services make it a real hassle free site whilst giving you peace of mind regarding where (and more importantly who) your money is.
Stars don’t offer any form of official rakeback however, but they do have cash rewards for earning points by playing at their sites which many players use as a rakeback substitute.
Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker (FTP) is the second largest site, one of the top poker rooms in the web, again hosted on its own network.
Similarly to Stars, it feasts an array of games offering pretty much every form of poker variant there is. This attracts a wide player pool and there is a great balance between solid, winning, regulars and fish meaning the games can often get quite juicy.
Whilst still an extremely healthy player pool, it does not contend with Stars and peaks at around 150,000 players.
FTP do offer a fantastic array of guaranteed tournament prize pools and hold some of the biggest cash games on the internet with a vast amount of FTP ‘Red Pros’ taking part in these games.
One of the biggest downsides with FTP is the fact its customer support is less than impressive. Often it can take days before they respond to your query, although cash outs are of a reasonable timescale.
iPoker Network
iPoker is made up of a host of poker rooms all coming together under the iPoker network. Some top poker rooms included are Bet365, Black Belt Poker, William Hill and Titan Poker.
Traffic on iPoker is definitely sustainable for playing 24/7 but is lower than that of the big two, peaking at around 60,000 players. The network runs fewer tournaments as a result and also fewer cash games but still have a steady stream and plenty of choice to choose from.
Because of the independent sites running on the network, it’s common to find ‘under the table’ rakeback deals which can be anything from 50% upwards depending on how much you rake each month.
This can be a very lucrative prospect for some players, but also attracts a lot of rakeback grinders meaning that the games are somewhat tougher than that of Stars or FTP.
Support is often dealt via each independent iPoker skin, so can vary from site to site. Quite a few smaller sites are on iPoker which can mean a bit of a gamble with your money as you never know exactly where your money is. However, there are many reputable sites on the network like the ones mentioned earlier in the piece.
Party Poker
Party Poker (Party) is one of the original online poker sites and has been about since pokers boom period around 1999. However, since the introduction of the US gambling law it no longer allows US players so the traffic and games have taken a dramatic hit as a result.
Party still has some of the most aesthetically pleasing software available and at peak times still rakes in over 20,000 players. However, looking for multiple games in off peak hours can be somewhat of a tough ask.
Their values from day one have been about customer support and 11 years after they formed, Party still has some of the best around. Coupled with a diverse and prompt cashier would still make it the room of choice for players all around the world.
PKR
PKR is 3D based interactive poker experiences which allows users to custom build their player and perform things such as chip tricks and dances whilst at the table.
Whilst pretty much a novelty concept, PKR actually works very well and traffic is good without ever being amazing. They offer a great variety of tournaments with good guarantees to along with their super soft cash games.
For a full time player it would be tough to play day in day out on this site as they limit you to just 4 tables at a time, but for a change of pace of for the casual player PKR can be a lot of fun.
Their customer support and cashier is up there with the best and offer piece of mind for their customers.
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