Choosing an Online Poker Room: Updated

Online Poker Room. Tips on how to choose the best online pokerroom
Online PokerRoom:  Howto Choose
by J. Phillip Vogel
Updated 2010

It wasn’t too long ago that choosing anonline poker room was easy. Thereason was simply that they were few and far in-between. Thingscertainly have changed. The sheer number of rooms today makes itdifficult to say which one is a good fit for you.
A quality online poker room will have veryspecific features and playerincentives to assist in determining whether the room deservesyourattention.
Those that have a number of banking options and show you how to playthe poker games are among the best.
As are the online poker rooms that offer tutorials on how toplay.

Here are 10 tips or guidelines for selecting an online pokerroom:

1. Games, Games and even more games!
Despite the fact that the obvious game of choice at present is TexasHold ‘em, there may come a time when you may want to try to find apoker room that has gone beyond the singular craze and offers you achoice of other games that may not be so “trendy”.
Classic games suchas 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud, Triple Draw, Omaha, Crazy Pineapple, Omaha8/B, 5 Card Draw and others.
Additionally, you will want to choosefrom limit, no limit, ring, single table, heads-up (which is limited to2 players) and multi-table tournaments. Along with buyand no re-buy options aswell.

2. Player Volume
Along with wanting a good selection of games and formats (single table,multi-table, no limit, etc.) the site of choice must also have an amplenumber of players who access the site at all hours of the day. Theonline poker rooms that offer the best player incentives will haveplenty of players at all times.
The more players in a pool, the more action there is and winnings thenfollow. The roomsthat are established may have as many as 50,000 players at anygiven time! The seats at the tables in these rooms fill up fast.

Jointhe biggest poker site in the world -PokerStars.com

3. Wide Range of Limits
All poker rooms will differ in the betting limits that are allowed.
It’s very important that you be able to play in a room that offers youthe widest range possible – perhaps $0.02/$0.04 to perhaps $100/$200.
This is important especially to new players because it offers theability to be able to adjust the game according to their bankroll andskills level.
What is considered to be an appropriate bankroll is a debatablesubject. As a general rule of thumb however, solid players say that 2-3hundred times the value of the big blind is about the right amount tostart with.

This means that if you want to be able to comfortably playat tables in the $2/$4 range you will have to have a bankroll thatfalls into the range of $800-$1200.
As you play the game, you will makeadjustments to your table limits based on your success at a given leveland the bankroll that you have. If you are playing at a $1/$2 table andyou are losing, you may want to drop a level or even two to recoup someof your losses and enter a game that better suits you.
Now you know whyit’s always good to be in a room that offers table limits in the widestpossible range.

4.Player Incentives
Free cash is helpful in making a big difference in your bankroll not tomention the fact that it helps to add to the sustainability that thepoker tables.
The best online poker rooms will offer a combination ofincentives that will keep this bankroll healthy throughout game play.
Among these comps will be the standard new player bonus (the initialdeposit bonus), comp points (known as VIP Points or Frequent PlayerPoints), and monthly bonuses based on deposits. These deposit bonusesare announced at the site.

As you research each poker site, be sure to make note of the compspresently being offered and how often they are distributed.
You alsowant to carefully read the rules regarding the usage and availabilityof the bonuses.
Some will require certain amounts of playtime beforeyou are able to cash out.
It is wise to create a checklist that you canuse to compare the different comp options between all of the sites asto which are presently offering the most lucrative rewards.
Let’s take a look at an example:
 
Site X isoffering a 100% deposit bonus but after that, they offer no additionalcomps or reload cash for players who return.
Site Y offers a 40%deposit bonus and then a 20% deposit bonus on the reload every month.Now let’s assume that you were going to deposit about $200 each month.Which site offers the best program over the long term? See chart below:
  Site Initial Deposit New PlayerBonus Total StartingBankroll MonthlyBonus
6 months TotalCompsEarned X $200.00 100% $400.00 $0.00 $200.00 Y $200.00 40% $280.00 $40/month $320.00  
It’s plain to see that those whohave chosen onlinepoker room Y are getting comps that are substantially better than thoseoffered by X, so while on the surface it would appear that X offers thelarger bonus, the reality is that Y is the better deal.
On the otherhand, if you aren’t planning on staying at the poker room for very longand you are only looking to get a feel for the play, then the betterdeal might be X in this case. It’s all relative to what your plans are.

5. Online Poker Room Banking Options& Payouts
Just like their online casino counter-parts, a quality online pokerroom will provide a number of different banking options that aredesigned to suit a wide range of player choices.
If you are like manyothers that don’t like waiting for your deposit to hit the poker room,then you are going to want to make sure that they have at least oneoption available that will put your deposit into your accountinstantly. Most online poker rooms do offer this option.
Also, payouts should be of the 'instantvariety'. A good poker room should give confirmations viae-mail or calls for transactions.

6. DedicatedSupport
You will want to make sure that you are able to contact supportanytime, day or night, 24/7 because problems can and do happen whetherit’s the server crashing at a crucial point of the tournament or yourbankroll showing at less than the deposit that you made.
The bestonline poker rooms take care of this possibility by offering multiplesupport options such as live chat, telephone support, email and othermethods.
Anything less than several phone numbers and email addressesin this age of technology is less than acceptable.

7. Eye Pleasing Graphics
Is the poker room environmentappealing? Are the graphicsinteresting and pleasing to the eye even after long hours of playing?
Even with thetechnological advances, most online poker roomsare not entirely accurate representations of the traditional pokerroom, but there has been much improvement over the years.
For the most enjoyable game you will want to optto play at sites that have the best games with software that is asrealistic as possible. This essentially helps to recreate the pokersetting and lends an increased level of entertainment and comfort valueto the experience.
 
8. Safety and Privacy
Does the online poker room prioritize safety and privacy? Lookfor the protection that is enforced by the online poker room andwhether theirservers are secure.
Check the kind of algorithm they use for card shuffling. The higher thelevel of unpredictability in shuffling, the better thealgorithm. Determine the security employed on issues of collusion,hacker intrusion, game rigging and others.

9. SpecialOnline Poker Room Features
When you are making your decision about which rooms to play at, makesure that you consider any unique features that are offered by thesite.
A good poker room should offer beginnerssome free play action.
Also, new players mightlike to haveaccess to a strategy library that will teach the nuances ofthegame. If it is your dream to eventually become a poker legend then youwill want to consider the availability of satellites to the majorland-based poker events like the World Poker Tour, or the granddaddy ofall poker tournaments, the World Series of Poker.

10.More Tips & Features
Does the online poker room offer tournaments, free rolls, specialpromotions and/or pay out a determined amount of winnings/month?
How about rewarding frequent play or high hand payouts?
Other features may be tracking the best players, the beststatistics, offering columns togood players, beta testing new games, etc.
Theseadditional features are sure to play a part in yourdecision and designates specific poker rooms as serious contendersfor your business. 

Lastly, all online pokerrooms offer a mix of features unique to that pokerroom. It’s up to you to make note of which features are most importantto you when you are choosing your site(s).
So, you can now see that there are many different factors that areinvolved in choosing an online poker room.
No one can legitimatelyboast superiority in every category that is crucially indicative of anexcellent room; the best ones will offer a mixture of the best featuresthat will set them apart. 
FreePoker Online follows Online Poker Room
OR
Return to How toPlay Poker Program 1
OR
Continuewith Online Gambling Guide

GamblingTeachersHome

Returnto Top of Page