Site Reviews, Part I
I originally began this blog as a poker diary of sorts. I wanted to get my mental thoughts down on "paper" so that I could review my thoughts and how they developed over time.
These days, however, I feel like my blog should also contain some useful information from time to time. This blog is cross-posted at www.thepokerforum.com and I have even introduced a few friends from my "real life" to online poker.
Over the two years or so, I have been doing some serious bonus whoring. One ancillary benefit of bonus whoring is that you play many different sites and you get to find the ones that you like the best. So, in this blog and in the subsequent one, I will give my opinions on the various sites that I have played since I began my online poker career.
To list them, here they are, in their approximate order of appearance: (1) Pacific Poker, (2) Party Poker, (3) Poker Stars, (4) UltimateBet, (5) Full Tilt Poker, (6) The Poker Room, (7) Absolute Poker, (8) Paradise Poker, (9) Titan Poker, (10) BoDog, (11) Sun Poker, (12) The Gaming Club, (13) Poker Rewards, (14) Poker Share, (15) Full Contact Poker, (16) Golden Palace Poker, (17) Dream Poker, and (18) Hollywood Poker.
Party Poker
Without a doubt in my mind, Party Poker is the best site for a low-stakes grinder ($1/$2 limit or lower; $50 NL or lower). The games are soft and Party Poker has a reload bonus about once a month that is very easy to clear, even at low stakes. Party Poker is also the biggest site around, so game selection is the best around. This factor is very important. At a tough table? There is likely an easier table just a click away. Want to play Omaha 8/b at 3am? Party Poker has numerous tables going.
I've heard that Party Poker's support is awful, but in 2+ years of playing at the site, I've never needed the help of their support personnel. That must mean something good.
Poker Stars
Poker Stars is the second largest site out there. They have occasional reload bonuses, but they don't clear particularly quickly at low stakes. Poker Stars originally was the best site for tournaments (availability, plus they had good structures) but many of the other sites have caught up considerably. I haven't played at Poker Stars in a long time because their bonuses are not easy to clear and I just seem to have bad luck there (or I played poorly there). The speed of play at Poker Stars is also slower than other sites, so I am more than happy to just play elsewhere. It's a really good site, just not one of my favorites. A more recent note is that they've added HORSE (ring games too), so I might make start playing there again.
UltimateBet, Full Tilt Poker
I like to play at both of these sites, simply because I like the software. That's a clear bias on my part. The games have a reputation for being a little tougher than some other sites, and that's been my experience also. UltimateBet has recently had a flurry of reload bonus offers (they're stackable and they never expire); Full Tilt seems to offer a bonus about once every two months. The catch with both of these bonuses is that they are very slow to clear. Neither of these sites are particularly good for bonus whoring, in my opinion. I play there because I like the site. They both offer some unique games such as Deuce-to-Seven (UB) and HORSE (FTP).
Pacific Poker
This is the only truly bad site, in my opinion. I haven't played there in a long time, so things might have changed. The software is bad (slow + frequent disconnects + difficult waiting list procedure + you can only play one table at a time). They only infrequently have reload bonuses. I had an issue that required the help of their support team, but they ignored all of my e-mails. One good feature of the site is that they allow you to use your bonus money as if it is real money. So, I deposited some money initially, giving myself $100 of bonus cash. I then cashed out my initial deposit (which took a long time) and played with my bonus money.
The play at the site is very poor, usually very loose-passive. In theory, these are the most profitable tables, but my poker skills at the time could not take advantages. I am now confident that I could grind some nice profit here, but honestly... the site sucks so bad that I have no desire to play there.
A final note, I recommend that my friends start here... at their play tables to get an idea of how online poker works. This way, if they ever progress to playing real money, then they can take advantage of an initial deposit bonus at a legitimate poker site (many sites won't give you an initial deposit bonus if you've had a play money account).
The Poker Room, Full Contact Poker, Hollywood Poker
These are all from the same network, so I can discuss them at the same time (i.e., the games are mostly the same). These sites have a reputation for having a higher rake than the other sites. The rake for the limit games is a little higher than other sites for small pots, but they cap the rake for the larger pots. In the end, I think the rake is about the same as the other competitive sites. The rake for no limit is definitely on par with the other sites.
These three sites usually have reload bonuses, but they clear differently. The Poker Room and Hollywood Poker usually have 7X and 5X clearance rates (so attempt Hollywood Poker first, if possible); these bonuses must be cleared within 60 days and they clear all at once. So, you have to clear (for example) 1000 points to get a $200 bonus. Anything short of that, you get nothing.
Bonuses at Full Contact Poker has a 9X clearance rate, but they have a different system there. You must manually move your bonus money from one account to another, after which you have 90 days to clear the bonus. You can move your bonus in increments as small as $10. This might seem complicated (and I'm probably explaining it poorly), but it's really a nice improvement compared to the Poker Room and Hollywood Poker.
The other complaint about these sites is that they're short-handed games (which I like to play) are typically 5-handed. This isn't something I like, but it's also a major negative because these games break-up very frequently. Full Contact Poker has an added feature where you can have private tables of any size (less than 10). I really like this feature because it allows me to play 6-handed at the site.
In a later blog, I will review the other sites that I've played. For now, I am off to celebrate my daughter's first birthday!
These days, however, I feel like my blog should also contain some useful information from time to time. This blog is cross-posted at www.thepokerforum.com and I have even introduced a few friends from my "real life" to online poker.
Over the two years or so, I have been doing some serious bonus whoring. One ancillary benefit of bonus whoring is that you play many different sites and you get to find the ones that you like the best. So, in this blog and in the subsequent one, I will give my opinions on the various sites that I have played since I began my online poker career.
To list them, here they are, in their approximate order of appearance: (1) Pacific Poker, (2) Party Poker, (3) Poker Stars, (4) UltimateBet, (5) Full Tilt Poker, (6) The Poker Room, (7) Absolute Poker, (8) Paradise Poker, (9) Titan Poker, (10) BoDog, (11) Sun Poker, (12) The Gaming Club, (13) Poker Rewards, (14) Poker Share, (15) Full Contact Poker, (16) Golden Palace Poker, (17) Dream Poker, and (18) Hollywood Poker.
Party Poker
Without a doubt in my mind, Party Poker is the best site for a low-stakes grinder ($1/$2 limit or lower; $50 NL or lower). The games are soft and Party Poker has a reload bonus about once a month that is very easy to clear, even at low stakes. Party Poker is also the biggest site around, so game selection is the best around. This factor is very important. At a tough table? There is likely an easier table just a click away. Want to play Omaha 8/b at 3am? Party Poker has numerous tables going.
I've heard that Party Poker's support is awful, but in 2+ years of playing at the site, I've never needed the help of their support personnel. That must mean something good.
Poker Stars
Poker Stars is the second largest site out there. They have occasional reload bonuses, but they don't clear particularly quickly at low stakes. Poker Stars originally was the best site for tournaments (availability, plus they had good structures) but many of the other sites have caught up considerably. I haven't played at Poker Stars in a long time because their bonuses are not easy to clear and I just seem to have bad luck there (or I played poorly there). The speed of play at Poker Stars is also slower than other sites, so I am more than happy to just play elsewhere. It's a really good site, just not one of my favorites. A more recent note is that they've added HORSE (ring games too), so I might make start playing there again.
UltimateBet, Full Tilt Poker
I like to play at both of these sites, simply because I like the software. That's a clear bias on my part. The games have a reputation for being a little tougher than some other sites, and that's been my experience also. UltimateBet has recently had a flurry of reload bonus offers (they're stackable and they never expire); Full Tilt seems to offer a bonus about once every two months. The catch with both of these bonuses is that they are very slow to clear. Neither of these sites are particularly good for bonus whoring, in my opinion. I play there because I like the site. They both offer some unique games such as Deuce-to-Seven (UB) and HORSE (FTP).
Pacific Poker
This is the only truly bad site, in my opinion. I haven't played there in a long time, so things might have changed. The software is bad (slow + frequent disconnects + difficult waiting list procedure + you can only play one table at a time). They only infrequently have reload bonuses. I had an issue that required the help of their support team, but they ignored all of my e-mails. One good feature of the site is that they allow you to use your bonus money as if it is real money. So, I deposited some money initially, giving myself $100 of bonus cash. I then cashed out my initial deposit (which took a long time) and played with my bonus money.
The play at the site is very poor, usually very loose-passive. In theory, these are the most profitable tables, but my poker skills at the time could not take advantages. I am now confident that I could grind some nice profit here, but honestly... the site sucks so bad that I have no desire to play there.
A final note, I recommend that my friends start here... at their play tables to get an idea of how online poker works. This way, if they ever progress to playing real money, then they can take advantage of an initial deposit bonus at a legitimate poker site (many sites won't give you an initial deposit bonus if you've had a play money account).
The Poker Room, Full Contact Poker, Hollywood Poker
These are all from the same network, so I can discuss them at the same time (i.e., the games are mostly the same). These sites have a reputation for having a higher rake than the other sites. The rake for the limit games is a little higher than other sites for small pots, but they cap the rake for the larger pots. In the end, I think the rake is about the same as the other competitive sites. The rake for no limit is definitely on par with the other sites.
These three sites usually have reload bonuses, but they clear differently. The Poker Room and Hollywood Poker usually have 7X and 5X clearance rates (so attempt Hollywood Poker first, if possible); these bonuses must be cleared within 60 days and they clear all at once. So, you have to clear (for example) 1000 points to get a $200 bonus. Anything short of that, you get nothing.
Bonuses at Full Contact Poker has a 9X clearance rate, but they have a different system there. You must manually move your bonus money from one account to another, after which you have 90 days to clear the bonus. You can move your bonus in increments as small as $10. This might seem complicated (and I'm probably explaining it poorly), but it's really a nice improvement compared to the Poker Room and Hollywood Poker.
The other complaint about these sites is that they're short-handed games (which I like to play) are typically 5-handed. This isn't something I like, but it's also a major negative because these games break-up very frequently. Full Contact Poker has an added feature where you can have private tables of any size (less than 10). I really like this feature because it allows me to play 6-handed at the site.
In a later blog, I will review the other sites that I've played. For now, I am off to celebrate my daughter's first birthday!
posted by frazwood at 9:36 AM
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