Choosing a Poker Room
If you are new to online poker choosing which poker site to play on can be a little daunting. This is due the sheer number of sites that springing up as the poker craze gathers pace. As with all businesses some of these are better than others, and there are sites to avoid. However the poker player shouldn’t be put off by the huge choice available to them as a safe and rewarding experience can be easily found.
Choosing a Poker Room
There are hundreds of poker rooms on the internet to choose from, some much better than others and some which should be avoided like the plague. So what do you need to look for in a poker site? This obviously depends on what you want from your poker experience but some of the main things to look out for are;
Integrity and Security
Ensure the sites are licensed, offer secure encrypted banking, have random number generation for their card shuffling and privacy policies to protect you.
Banking
Getting your money in and out of the poker sites needs to be easy. A majority of the sites operate in US$ so for the UK or international customers exchange rates can be an issue. Using a credit card to deposit can create a problem when withdrawing as Mastercard doesn’t accept credits back from gambling sites, and Visa will only allow it in certain countries. There is also the issue that some sites will charge for making withdrawals by certain methods. We recommends using Neteller for easy and, in the vast majority of cases, free transactions.
Bonuses
Almost all poker sites offer some kind of bonus as an incentive to sign up to them. These are a usually percentage of your initial deposit, anything from 20% up to 100%. The majority of poker rooms now release bonuses in stages once a certain number of player points have been reached.
Tournaments
Tournaments are a great way to play poker for low buy ins and sometimes have some great prizes for the winner or top finishing players. Many sites also offer freeroll tournaments which have no entry fee and great prizes, Paradise Poker are currently running a $1million freeroll. The low level tournaments are also a good way to learn the game while limiting your potential losses. Several sites now offer special freeroll tournaments for first time depositors. These are especially good as the competition will be limited and it gives you a chance to get a feel for the site. Titan Poker and Poker.com both offer these freerolls.
Range of Games
the best of the sites offer a wide range of games including texas hold ‘em, and Omaha. They also have a variety of sit and go tables that you can play at, 1 on 1 tables, and even let you set up your own tournaments for you and your friends.
Most poker sites have a play money facility; these are free table where you aren’t playing with real money. They are a good way to learn the game and get to know the site a bit. However as it isn’t real money the behaviour of other players isn’t the same as in real money games. Risks tend to be taken and cards are played that would never usually be played in a real game.
Use an online poker guide for advice on which are the best sites, information on how to play, and lists of freeroll tournaments. The choice of sites available makes it easy to change if you’re not happy with the one you’ve joined, there’s nothing stopping you having accounts at several different poker sites. All of the poker rooms promoted here are highly recommended and we play at all of them.
As with all gambling you should only play within your means, if you’re new to poker start off on tables or tournaments with a low buyin then work your way up as you get used to the poker room and your play improves.