Summary (7.17)
PokerStars.com is
one of the top two online poker rooms to play at for a number of
different reasons. They have the best software in the industry. They
have the largest poker tournaments online - including a weekly
$1,000,000 prize pool tournament! Poker Stars was one of the original
poker rooms online to start offering real money tables. They have come
a long way since they first opened, and are the standard by which all
other poker rooms are measured against, including
Party Poker.
Software & Interface
(10)
PokerStars has the best software platform of any online poker room. It is obvious that the individuals who designed the software are avid poker players. The action moves quickly and smoothly, and the graphics have a great look and feel. POker Stars has one of the most stable software packages around. While other rooms are up and down with their platform, Stars is always running, never crashing, providing a true to life poker experience. The lobby shows useful information about each table, including average pot size, percentage of players per flop, and the number of hands per hour the table is averaging. This enables a player to pick out a table that is right for there game skill level. The only thing left for Poker Stars to do is create a software that plays on a Mac.
Ring Game & Tournament Action (10)
PokerStars.com has the second highest rated overall traffic in the online poker community. And the traffic for their tournament is #1. This is mainly because Poker Stars is seen as the place online to play tournaments.
After all, it was Poker Stars that sent both Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker to the WSOP to become WSOP champions. Plus, they also signed recent WSOP Champion, Joe Hachem to be part of the PokerStars team. They run a weekly $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool on their site that attracts thousands of players every week. If you've never played in a tournament with a million dollars at stake, then this is your shot. Plus, you can win your way into this weekly tournament for as little as a $5 entry fee. PokerStars hosts a yearly WCOOP - World Championship of Online Poker - in which the prize pool is millions of dollars.
Game Variety (6)
Poker Stars has a relatively good game variety. They offer the standard Texas Hold'em including Limit, Pot-Limit, and No-Limit. They offer Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, as well as Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo. Their table stakes range from $.02/$.04 up to $100/$200. Thier tournament buy-ins range from $.10 up to $600.
The Competition (5)
Poker Stars is the place to play for top level poker players. While a lot of poker pros are not signed up to endorse the site, they are all playing on PokerStars at some time or another. Even at the middle and low level games, you will generally find some very tight and aggressive players. The only tables on Stars that have below average players are the micro-limit games. PokerStars.com is one of the best places to play in order to improve your game. Everyday you will be challenged by better players, no matter what level you are sitting at.
Signup
Bonus & Promotions (5)
The sign-up bonus at PokerStars is pathetic. They are currently offering a 100% bonus up to $50. Yes, that's right, $25. While other sites like
Absolute Poker or
Full Tilt Poker
offer sign-up bonuses of more than $500, Stars is stuck at $50. One can only assume that PokerStars does not feel the need to offer such huge bonus offers because they feel their software and game play is enough to attract players. And they may be right. They have recently initiated a VIP program that rewards their loyal customers by offering Frequent Player Points that can be redeemed for free gifts, as well as buy-ins to private tournaments.
Customer
Service (7)
Poker Stars has good email support, which is very quick and reliable. However, they do not currently offer telephone nor live chat support.
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