PartyPoker
Rating 9+
Party Poker has been online since 2001, licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
Party Poker is one of the largest online poker rooms and by far one of the most popular on the Internet. Members state that Party Poker is easy, safe and secure, with no recorded problems.
Party Poker offers a wide variety of games, including: Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha hi-lo, Seven card stud, Seven card stud hi-lo, among others.
Software’s playability, from a practical point of view is pretty good. Party Poker reported an enormous growth, increasing bandwidth for 100,000 simultaneous players, allowing up to 4 simultaneous tables per player, ring games and single and multiple table tournaments.
If you have a problem, the best way to contact them is via telephone; they offer assistance 24/7 and respond promptly. Email responses may take a little bit longer, but the staff is always friendly and courteous. Cash outs are within 1-3days, industry standard.
Pacific Poker
Rating 9+
Pacific Poker was established in 2002. They are audited by Price Waterhouse Coopers. Pacific Poker has some of the easiest competition at the tables that you won’t find anywhere else. The majority of the players that play here are inexperienced and so for the experienced player, it should be a profitable experience. Despite the easy competition, they have one of the worst rake structures, so even if you make an easy profit off inexperienced players, it most likely will disappear in the form of rake.
Their software is available in both Java and downloadable form. One great advantage for using Pacific Poker is if you use a Mac because this is one of the few poker rooms you can play without getting a program like Virtual PC. The graphics are nice, and the software runs very smoothly. It also has the advanced buttons like check/fold etc to make your playing experience relaxing.
They offer Hold’em, Hi and Hi-Lo in Omaha and Seven-Card stud. There are also 1-on-1 tables, but you are not allowed to play at more than one table at a time on their site. They also give you bonus dollars for your play. For every $10 you wager, you earn one point. Whenever you play at Pacific Poker your comp points accumulate automatically.
Titan Poker
Rating 9
Titan Poker is a relative newcomer to the online. They are based out of Europe; therefore the majority of their players are from that area. Titan Poker offers fun/play money tables in addition to Limit, No Limit, Pot-Limit, Turbo, and Heads Up. They do not offer many high stake tables, which is one of the main reasons that they do not have very many seasoned poker players on their site.
Titan Poker uses Playtech, which is the firm behind iPoker network. Playtech is a major producer of online casino software, and as such, the iPoker network markets heavily to online casino players. One of the main advantage points is that Playtech has a powerful collusion prevention mechanism. This means it analyzes and scrutinizes every move from every player on Titan Poker. Upon the detection of the slightest irregularity, a detection alert gets sent to their expert staff that in turn investigates the matter further. This is how Titan Poker and iPoker ensure their clients that they are playing in a secure environment.
Titan currently offers users a 100% matching bonus up to $500 – if you deposit $500, Titan will give you an additional $500 once you’ve reached their minimum hand requirements. In addition to the generous first-time deposit bonus, Titan offers weekly reload bonuses. Tournament frequency is strong, and tournament traffic tends to be a bit higher than ring game traffic. At peak hours, player traffic can hit about 1500 players.
Poker Stars
Rating 9
PokerStars' software has a great look and feel. It boasts top-notch security and always runs fast and smoothly. This poker site is great for the newer player or anyone that is looking to improve their skills at low-stake games. PokerStars supports personal uploaded images at the tables, which gives it a more personal feel. Mac users can play at PokerStars using Virtual PC emulation, available from Microsoft.
They offer both Hi and Hi-Lo versions of Omaha as well as Seven-Card Stud. The site also offers No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo games. PokerStars started the micro-limit tables trend when they introduced games for as little as $0.01/$0.02 in Hold’em and Omaha Hi. At these micro-limit tables there is no rake.
Currently there is no sign-up bonus at PokerStars although they offer re-load bonuses on a regular basis. A Frequent Player Point (FPP) is awarded for each raked hand and five FPPs are awarded for each $1 paid in tournament registration fees. The FPPs can be redeemed for entries in weekly and monthly special tournaments and other promotions, as well as at the very well maintained member's store. In addition, PokerStars offer a VIP program where it is possible to reach 5 different levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Supernova. Your status depends on how many VPP points (VIP Player Points) you reach on a monthly/yearly basis and comes with various benefits.
Absolute Poker
Rating 8+
Absolute Poker was established in 2003 and is located in Costa Rica. They are owned and operated by Absolute Entertainment and are licensed and regulated in Grand River Mohock Lands.They use a proprietary software which means it was designed especially for Absolute Poker and is not used by anyone else.
This great poker room is available in Play-Money and Real-Money form, so that if you so choose, you can practice before risking your hard earned money in a real game. When you are ready to create your real money account, you have several options for making that initial deposit.
They offer 8 different types of games to choose from with lots and lots of tables to choose from as well. They offer Texas Hold’em, Omaha High, Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better, Tournaments, No Limit Games and Pot Limit Games.
For bonuses you get 35% for your initial deposit bonus up to $350 and a 50% initial deposit bonus up to $500 if you use Neteller.
Poker.com
Rating 8+
Poker.com's software and player base is unique, as they've built their own software and network. The graphics are pleasant to look at and easy to navigate. Poker.com offers lobby music, instant hand histories; win statistics, note taking support, and the option to label players An overview of the site is easily obtained in the lobby, which displays stats such as average pot, hands player per hour, and viewed flop percentage.
Poker.com does not have a lot of game variety yet, with only Texas Hold'em and Omaha High offered. These are available in limit, pot-limit, and no-limit. Table stakes vary from $0.01/$0.02 to $30/$60 in the fixed games, and $0.02/$0.04 up to $25/$50 in no-limit versions. There are no heads-up tables, just 6 and 10 handed tables. The rake at Poker.com is actually better than industry standard.
The sign-up bonus, $100 at 50% deposit match, is on par with the industry average. Deposit $200 to get the maximum bonus. The bonuses at Poker.com are paid in a lump sum which is not great but as compensation there is no time limit. For every 150 player points earned, $1 is credited to your pending bonus account. They use a player point system called "Comp Points". Points are earned by playing in real money ring games and tournaments. The points are awarded in "blocks" after 15 consecutive hands have been played.
PokerRoom
Rating 8
The PokerRoom first offered real money games in 2001, and is regarded as the best no-download poker room. They do offer a downloadable version as well. The graphics are good and visually appealing. PokerRoom has an open database of the hands played at the site and in addition to this many other useful statistic features. Mac and Linux users are both welcome to play here and overall the software runs extremely well on all operating systems.
There is a good variation of games but most of the action is concentrated to the Hold’em section. One rather rare playing form that is available is no-limit Omaha High. The games at PokerRoom are rather soft - some games actually have an average view flop percentage in the 60-ies. However, the high stake games are pretty tough. Poker Room has two daily $1,000 free rolls and two $500 added money tournaments. In addition to this there is a $2,500 money added tournament every Saturday.
Paradise Poker
Rating 8
Established in 1999. Paradise Poker has clean, sleek and reliable graphics and software. The platform is one of the most quick and stable in the industry. Paradise Poker supports notes on other players and has good statistics functions
ParadisePoker's game variety is one of the best in the industry, including no-limit and pot-limit at most standard games and more rare games such as five-card draw, five-card stud and crazy pineapple.
The bonus is under the industry average at 25% for deposits and limited to $50 Play 500 raked hands, in which you just get dealt cards, within any time limit to get the $50 (equals 10 raked pots per bonus dollar). Partial bonus in $10 increments is paid outParadise Poker offers a refer-a-friend program where the referrer gets a $50 bonus and the referral also gets $50 bonus (minimum deposit is $50).
Ultimate Bet
Rating 8
Established in 2001. UltimateBet's graphics is unique and runs smoothly. They offer the miniview feature, which perfectly suits players who play at many tables at the same time (the user can always switch each table back to standard view). Notes on players are supported. The statistics function is advanced with great detail in the information (only your own game is being monitored here). A Windows emulator is needed for Mac and Linux users to make the UltimateBet software compatible.
UltimateBet has a good game selection, with Holdem, Omaha Hi and Hi-Lo, 7-Card-Stud Hi and Hi-Lo, Pineapple and Triple Draw 7-2. There are no-limit and pot-limit in Holdem and pot-limit in both Omaha variants. There are 1-on-1 tables in both Holdem, Omaha and 7-Card-Stud. The site was also first to introduce Pineapple (a variation of Holdem where you get three hole cards and have to discard one card after the flop).
To cash out bonus money you need points for raked hands. For example, get 1,000 points for raked hands (where you just get dealt cards) at $0.25/$0.50 tables and up, within any time limit to cash out $100. Each pot with rake $0.05-$0.20 awards 0.10 points, $0.25-$0.45 awards 0.25 points and a rake of $0.5-$3 awards 0.5 points. Plus, you can make up to $100 for each friend you refer.
Noble Poker
Rating 8
Established in 2004 and is located in Antigua. Noble Poker's software and players base is part of iPoker, which in turn is developed by PlayTech. Noble Poker has buddy list function, game history function, player notes, several options for music/sounds/etc, pot- and no-limit ring games, live floor managers and all types of tournaments.
Noble Poker has moderate game variety with Texas Holdem and Omaha Hi-Lo and High, which are available in both limit, pot-limit and Texas Holdem in no-limit as well. Table stakes are from $0.5/$1 to $20/$40 in the fixed games, with $0.25/$0.50 up to $5/$10 in pot-limit and no-limit versions. (The fixed limit Omaha games have a bit lower maximum limits) There are both heads-up, sit-and-go and fixed schedule multi-table tournaments.
Initital deposits of $300 receive a sign-up bonus at 50% deposit match. Bonuses are paid in $10 increments and paid out on a daily basis, which is also very good. Standard promotion is 100% deposit match up to $200 bonus. There is a 90-day time limit to reach the required hands. For each played hand (getting dealt cards) in a raked pot a player earns 1-4 crowns depending on table limits. $0.25/$0.50 blinds give 1 crown and $1.00/$2.00 blinds and up give 4 crowns. 500 crowns will give $10 bonus. Hence in order to clear all of the $300 bonus you need to have earned 15,000 crowns, which equals 3,750 participated hands at a $1/$2 game.
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