Site Navigation: The face of the poker room; the look, feel and ease of use of the site: 9.9/10
Bonus: Sign-up, referral bonuses are a nice perk: 8.9/10
Transfer: Ease of deposit/withdrawal: 9.9/10
Fees: Lack of deposit/ credit card fees: 10/10
Odds: Fairness and chance of winning against the house:9.8/10
Events: Range of events and special bets, e.g over/under, handicap, Asian handicap and first goal score: 9.9/10
Service: Questions or concerns met with a quick response: 10/10
Trust: Length of company history, strength of reputation: 10/10
Total Score: 98.0%
What They Say: PokerStars.com is a fun, safe place to play poker with people from around the world for real or play money. We realize there are plenty of places you can play poker over the Internet, but PokerStars is the only one where you'll be treated like the poker star you are! So we've put together a dedicated and professional service team, and the best online poker software with the most features to keep you playing at our poker site.
PokerStars is a registered legal business located in the Isle of Man, in the British Isles. We abide by the laws and regulations where we do business.
PokerStars is not an Internet casino. Unlike an Internet casino, you never play against the house; You always play against other real poker players from around the world. PokerStars receives compensation for hosting poker games between players by collecting a rake from each real money pot. There is absolutely no charge to participate in our play money poker games. In fact, we encourage you to try our play money games, especially if you are new to cardroom-style poker.
We are proud to offer the most popular poker games from cardrooms around the world such as Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Stud. Real money limits range from $0.01/0.02 to $100/$200. Visit our Poker Room page for more details.
Credit card transactions are processed through our E-Cash subsidiary, Rational Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, Douglas Bay Complex, King Edward Road, IM3 IDZ Onchan, Isle of Man and Openshore Trading Limited, 6 Loanni Stylianou St, 2nd floor, Nicosia, Cyprus.
To download your free poker software and check out the action on PokerStars, go to the poker download page. A more detailed explanation of the installation process is available on the Getting Started playing poker page. Registration is not required to view any of our poker games, so why not check it out? Play poker with the best, play with PokerStars!
From the whole PokerStars team, good luck, and enjoy the games! What We Say: Poker Stars is the largest poker site in the world - an especially impressive feat considering it's not part of any network and has created its staggering player base entirely on its own. The world-famous room offers huge volume in cash games and tournaments at almost any level, making Poker Stars an excellent option for players who enjoy competing in more unusual games.
In addition to massive traffic and game variety, Poker Stars also offers great promotions and an exceptional loyalty program with a huge selection of merchandise, special events and qualifiers to all major poker tournaments.
The Poker Stars software is top-notch in terms of functionality, layout and graphics, and offers fast play and very high reliability. The software also features great multi-table options and a high level of customization, allowing players to upload pictures for use as avatars and choose graphics and sound options.
Because of the massive player base, the opposition ranges from soft to very aggressive, and there are many opportunities to compete with top players for anyone interested in improving their skills. The customer support is well above average, answering questions fast and with high response quality.
The games offered are, of course, Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold'em as well as both Hi and Hi-Lo versions of Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. The site also offers No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo games, H.O.R.S.E., H.O.S.E., 2-7 Triple Draw, Five-Card Draw and Razz. Poker Stars started the micro-limit tables trend when it introduced games for as little as 1¢/2¢ in Hold'em and Omaha Hi. At these micro-limit tables, there is no rake.
In general, the games at Poker Stars vary between No-Limit, Pot-Limit and Fixed-Limit. Full-table games, short-handed and heads-up tables are all available. Due to the size and geographical diversity of Poker Stars, action can be found at pretty much any game at any hour.
Poker Stars offers plenty of tournaments and freerolls with great value and the traffic volume is the best in the industry. Real-money player statistics as of August 2007 show 14,100 ring-game players at peak hours and 112,000 tournament players at peak hours.
Overall, Poker Stars is very professionally managed with a real "feel for poker." They offer massive player volume, game diversity and software quality and generous promotions and bonuses for loyal players. The software is updated frequently to ensure safety and stability, with almost no downtime as a result.
Game Variety:
Poker Stars offers great game variety, with the world's leading heads-up action and the highest volume in all major games, including of course Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold'em and both Hi and Hi-Lo versions of Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. The site also offers No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo games, H.O.R.S.E., H.O.S.E., 2-7 Triple Draw, Five-Card Draw and Razz. Poker Stars also started the micro-limit table trend when they introduced games for as little as 1¢/2¢ in Hold'em and Omaha Hi. At these micro-limit tables, there is no rake.
Sit-and-go tournaments as a standard have a 10-minute increase in blinds, instead of the 10-hands limit practiced at many other sites. The players also get $1,500 worth of chips, resulting in more play and better odds for the good players. For players looking for faster action Poker Stars spreads turbo tournaments with faster blind levels.
The Hold'em tournament tables seat nine players, as do the No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em and Omaha ring-game tables. Fixed-Limit ring-game tables seat 10 players. One more aspect of Poker Stars that makes the site unique is players can play any type of poker in tournament form, as opposed to most sites where only Omaha and Hold'em are spread in tournaments.
The very large player base ensures action at all varieties and stakes of the games, making Poker Stars a great site for all players.
Ring Game Traffic
Ring game traffic at Poker Stars is lower than tournament traffic. Nevertheless, it ranks number one in the world in traffic. A relatively large amount of the players are European and Australian, which makes the site very busy at all times of the day. Poker Stars has peak cash-game traffic of 14,100 real-money players at peak hours as of August 2007.
Competition
The ring games at the higher limits tend to be pretty tough at Poker Stars, and the viewed-flopped percentages at these limits are fairly low, meaning tighter than the industry standard for the same limits. On the positive side, there are many games to choose from, and plenty of good players know how to exploit the tighter games.
For example, at the nine-player No-Limit Hold'em tables ($1/$2 and up), the viewed-flop percentage is often in the mid 20s and low 30s. In Omaha, there are some loose games with viewed-flop percentages up in the 40s and 50s, sometimes even in the 60% range (at $1/$2 and up). As a result of the steady influx of new players and the great game variety, the ring games have become softer and softer. In short, there is no problem finding suitable competition for all skill levels.
The tournament player quality is of a more varying level than the ring games and tends to be much softer. Of course, there are mostly strong players in high-stakes sit-and-gos and the main fixed schedule events. However, a lot of non-experts take part as well because, as the online tournament leader, Poker Stars attracts many new tournament players.
In short, the competition is of average toughness in the ring games, with softer opposition in most of the tournaments. Poker Stars does however recommend players think twice before trying to take on the highest stakes, since they are inhabited by some very talented and aggressive players.
Rake
The rake at Poker Stars is slightly below the industry average, with better offers at micro-levels and somewhat better at the highest stakes. All No-Limit games are raked at 5% with a maximum of $1 and $3 per hand depending on the number of players dealt cards at the table. The rake taken at Fixed-Limit tables also varies depending on the limits and number of players dealt cards in the hand. The average rake is 5%, with slightly better rates at the highest stakes tables and reasonable max. rakes at every level.
Customer Support
Overall, Poker Stars boasts quick e-mail support bolstered by a knowledgeable and friendly staff. However, there is no live or telephone support at this time.
Financial Security
PokerStars has an excellent credit rating, stable financial backing, is profitable, has no recorded financial problems, and is the largest poker site in the world. It doesn't get better than that.
Poker Stars Deposit & Withdrawal Options
Deposit Options: VISA (Delta, Electron, Gift and Prepaid), MasterCard (Gift and Prepaid), NETeller, FirePay, eChecks, CentralCoin, Diners Club International, ePassporte, Solo/Maestro/Switch, cashier's check/money order/bank draft (minimum deposit of $100).
Withdrawal Options: NETeller, FirePay, CentralCoin, ePassporte and eCheck
Go To Poker Stars |
