Online Poker > Online Poker Room Reviews > PokerStars
PokerStars is the world’s biggest and best poker room. Long renowned for the quality of its online poker tournaments PokerStars has recently become the most popular site for cash games as well, eclipsing its rivals in all departments.
But it is still in the tournament arena that PokerStars is most successful, with more qualifiers to live competitions like the WPT and the WSOP than any other sites. And with two of the last four WSOP winners (Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker) winning their way to the WSOP though PokerStars’ online qualifiers they have shown that low buy-in online qualifiers can truly be the gateway to poker stardom.
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Our Ratings
Promotions/Bonuses
| Sign-up Bonus |
$50 |
| Deposit Bonus |
100% |
| Referral Bonus |
$0 |
| Deposit free bonus |
$0 |
| Paid to play |
$0 per hour |
Graphics
The graphics on PokerStars are what you would expect from the world’s number one poker room. The table image is clear and uncluttered and features software that supports the download of personal images for use as avatars. This makes for interesting (and often bizarre) looking tables, with an array of often hilarious images of poker players in their bedrooms, people’s pets, the cars they wished they drove, guns, hot women and so on. Great stuff!
Playability
Table
PokerStars’ software is exceptional and extremely reliable as well. As the Internet’s number one poker room it is in this department that PokerStars is best, with great gameplay features such as time banks - which stop people deliberately slowing down the game - and hand-for-hand play at the end of multi-table tournaments (which prevents short stacks playing slowly in an effort to scrape into the money). PokerStars also has all the usual tools like notepads for making notes on opponents and statistics for your play (in fact PokerStars originated this tool). They have also introduced a great feature enabling you to shrink and enlarge tables just as you would a normal window, which is great news for people that like to play on more than one table at once.
Lobby
PokerStars’ lobby is very well-thought out and easy to use. Unlike many other sites PokerStars lists Fixed Limit, No-Limit/Pot-Limit, and Play Money games are under separate tabs, making searching for the game you want that much easier.
Player Numbers
Ring
- Excellent. Although most famous for its tournaments, PokerStars is now also the top site for cash games. Real-money player numbers now peak at over 15,000!
Tournament
Exceptional. No site can compete with PokerStars when it comes to tournaments. The weekly Sunday Million tournament now has so many players it often has a prize pool of over $1 million!
Game Variety
Texas Hold’Em, Omaha High. Omaha High/Low, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud High/Low, Razz, 5 Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, HORSE and HOSE.
PokerStars runs un-raked micro-limit tables with stakes as low as $0.01/$0.02 – great for beginners.
Rake
PokerStars’ rake is the industry average – 5 percent up to a max of $1 in low limit and $3 in higher limit games.
Special Tournaments
PokerStars offers the best selection of tournaments anywhere on the internet. Along with the annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (with a first prize of over $1 million), there are regular qualifiers for entry into live tournaments such as the WSOP, the World Poker Tour and the European Poker Tour. PokerStars was also the first poker room to run a WEEKLY poker tournament with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool (they are currently the only site still to run such a tournament). There are also loads of freerolls and loads of other guaranteed pot tournaments, meaning there is something for everyone at all levels of the game.
Promotions / Bonuses
Sign-up
100% up to $50
Loyalty
PokerStars has a Frequent Player Points (FPP) scheme. Earn FPP’s by playing in raked games; you can then use them to enter tournaments and to buy PokerStars merchandise. PokerStars also offers re-deposit bonuses.
Payment Options
Deposit
Deposits made via Maestro, Switch, Solo, ePassporte and non-US NETeller or Instant eChecks will be credited back to the same deposit method up to the amount purchased. Some European VISA deposits will also receive credits.
Any additional amount can be paid via check (multiple currencies available). Players who have previously deposited with ePassporte, non-US NETeller, non-US Instant eCheck, or a qualifying VISA may also choose these methods to receive funds.
Withdrawal
NETeller. Firepay. CentralCoin. Debit Card and Check.
About Poker Stars
Founded in 2001 by ex-IBM programmer Isai Scheinberg PokerStars quickly grew to become the world’s second biggest online poker site overall and the market leader for online poker tournaments.
With over 3.5 million registered users PokerStars has already dealt over 3 billion hands. The first site to introduce multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time banks for tournaments and much more, PokerStars is generally a step ahead of the rest.
The Scheinberg family, who own around 75 percent of PokerStars, are currently looking to sell the company for a price in excess of $2 billion.