Step 1 - See our PokerStars Marketing Code page for complete signup details. Step 2 - See our PokerStars Bonus Code page for more bonus details. Use Marketing Code: flopturnriver Use Poker Bonus Code: First2008
The largest online poker room today! Constantly over 90k users connected. The best site for tournament action bar none, offering many multi-table tournaments, Sit & Go's, two table tourneys, satellite tourneys, and more. Has produced the 2003, 2004, and 2005 World Series of Poker Champions. Offers micro-limit stakes for beginners. Great FPP Program.
Beats (Suck):
Low initial deposit bonus?!? Generally considered a more difficult room to play in when compared to others.
Poker Stars.com Review
is
the home of many recent World Series of Poker Champions, Chris Moneymaker in 2003 (many people claim this is what started the large poker boom), Greg "Fossilman" Raymer in 2004 and Joe Hachem in 2005. They recently have added a lot of new members to their team, including Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, Bill Chen and more. Poker Stars is known for hosting great multi-table
tournaments, and producing great tournament players. In the 2004 World Series of
Poker, PokerStars qualified 316 total players for the event and 28 of them finished in the money.
PokerStars players walked away with nearly $11 million of the $24 million in total prize money.
In 2005 it grew even larger, to 1116 qualifying with 106 in the money earning more than $7 million. 2006 was an unbelievable year for the WSOP main event with the most entrants ever (8,773) with over 1,600 coming from PokerStars alone earning over $10 million! The most recent 2007 main event hosted 6,358 players with 616 coming from Stars. Three players that qualified made the final table earning over $8.8 million combined. PokerStars is pretty much the king of tournaments, especially satellites to larger events and this track record shows it.
Arguably the best and most well known online poker room today,
has come a long way.
PokerStars was one of the originators of online poker and has been around since 2001. From its starting days, PokerStars had always been competing (and usually losing) with the back then dynamite PartyPoker. It was in early 2006 that Stars started to make its move and began implementing a ton of new software changes, brand new tournaments, an amazing FPP system, and break through technology winning over many players. And once PartyPoker closed its services to US customers in November of 2006, Poker Stars' numbers grew to amazing new heights, over 9 million registered users!
PokerStars offers a very wide variety of games, including Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo,
Razz, 5 Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, and HOSE/HORSE. This is pretty much every popular variety of poker played today. Of these games, the limits run as low as $.02 - $.04 up to $100 - $200 for no-limit, which is quite the stretch in stakes. Also, it really doesn't matter if you have a $50 bankroll or $50,000 because there are so many players (usually 14,000+ active tables) so you can easily find a table to sit at for your suiting. Although the nosebleed stakes aren't as popular as they are at Full Tilt, there are still always multiple $25 - $50 tables being played. If Hold'em isn't your game, or if you want to learn a new game, Stars can the best place to learn with hundreds of cash tables running for games other than hold'em. Recently PokerStars just added cash heads-up tables which have been very popular. Most of these can have 3-4 people in line on the waiting lists at all limits during peak hours, and this was an awesome addition for the players!
For all tournaments, sit & go and multi-table,
is king of the online world. In fact, they have 600,000 played per week, which is about one every second! Stars is also one of the few sites that constantly run sit and gos for games other than hold'em. Although they are offered at most sites, they usually never have a large enough player base to get them running. There are too many different types and buyins offered to list them all, but the most popular sit n gos at PokerStars are the turbo's for all buyins (yes even the $5600's usually have a few going), heads up (offer regular, turbo, and no blind increasing), the Sunday Million double shootout satellites, and the ever popular $22 180 player. When these were first released they were only offered during part of the day and the people loved them so much that not only do they run 24/7 now, but the buyins range from $4 + $.40 up to $55 + $5. FTR has compiled a list oof every PokerStars SNG offered. We also go into detail about each one and offer some strategy for how to beat them! To read this and be on your way to winning at Sit & Gos, check out PokerStars Sit And Go Types and Strategy.
As for online multi-table tournaments, PokerStars is should be your home. The variety of tournaments, buyins, guarantees, satellites, games, freerolls, and events are so much higher than any site today it doesn't even compare. They offer a range of buyins from as low as $.10 (yes 10 cents, with $50 guaranteed) up to $10,300, daily and weekly.
Their most popular guaranteed tournaments are the $3 rebuy ($30,000 guaranteed), $5 rebuy ($35,000 guaranteed), $10 rebuy ($55,000 guaranteed), $55 freezeout ($50,000 guaranteed), etc. They also offer special tournaments based on the day, for example the Wednesday Hundred Fifty is a $300 + $20 with a guaranteed $150k. PokerStars lists a complete schedule for all of their tournaments on their website. Don't forget about its Sunday tournaments either, although I don't think you could. The Sunday Million ($215 buyin) hasn't always been $1,000,000 guaranteed and I remember when it was only $200,000 guaranteed which was a huge tournament back then. They also added in the Sunday Warmup ($215 buyin, $400k guaranteed) and the Sunday Second Chance ($215 buyin, $200k guaranteed). Just these alone are bigger than most other sites Sunday main event tournaments! PokerStars is pretty much the father of the Sunday tournaments and still has the largest offered anywhere.
Since 2002, PokerStars has been the host to the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker). It has grown beyound anyone's expectations since it started, from just 9 events and under $1 million in prize pools to 23 events and over $15 million in 2007. This is now the most prestigious online series today, and it is still growing. WCOOP 2008 is now underway, and is even bigger than last year! There is a total of 33 events, with $30 million guaranteed. This is twice as much money as 2007! The main event alone is $10 million guaranteed with a buy-in of $5200, and based on past events the prize pool should surpass this. First place will award over $1,000,000! If you can't afford a direct buy-in, satellites are also running starting as low as $4. Be sure to check out
for your shot at the prize pool!
PokerStars is a registered legal business located in the Isle of Man, in the British Isles. and is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and it's random number generator has been audited and approved by two independent organizations, BMM International and Cigital, Inc.
's software is top notch. It has literally come light years since its release and now has the most up to date features and enhancements anywhere. Just looking at the lobby you will see it is jam packed, and if you aren't use to the software you might be a little overwhelmed at first. But once you get the hang of where everything is, how to sort, filter, and customize it becomes easy. Everything is sorted into by the buttons near the top, and if you select one you can resort based on criteria, then resort again; quite the organization! It really is easy to find what you're looking for after playing for a while and I think PokerStars has one of the best laid out lobbies today.
The tables offered at PokerStars are 10-max (for limit and some sit & gos), 9-max full ring, 6-max shorthanded, and the new heads up. Betting is very easy and the scroll bar can be clicked multiple times which increases your bet by the size of the big blinds. One downside is not having a bet pot (or 1/2 pot) button. While playing, you will notice many features and enhancements that can be changed to your liking which really helps multi-tabling. By clicking on the dealer tray you can access the options menu (can also in the lobby) and can adjust sound settings, 4 color deck, bet amounts, and other common options. Under advanced multi-table options you will see a check box for single click activation (which is very needed for multi-tabling!), and can make tables popup when it is your turn. These are two great features and can help you playing more tables even if you don't have a large or dual monitors.
PokerStars also offers preferred seating for all their tables so you will sit in the same spot no matter what. Stars was also one of the first sites to offer themes and layouts for their tables.
Under themes you can use on of the pre built themes, download or create your own. This can change the background, deck and style of the table. I've always preferred just the normal layout but this makes it very easy for people to adjust the view without much effort if they chose to do so. You can also tiles/cascade tables on your monitor(s) for easy organization. Is your monitor small and can't fit 4 tables without overlap? Well you can resize them as small or large as you need. One of the best things in addition to this is the ability to save your custom layout so that you don't have to adjust them every time. Just select the layout and the tables will change or open the way the layout is set.
You can view hand histories
instantly right at the table. Just click on the last hand # in the upper left corner to open the viewer. Stars has one of the best hand history viewers today. You can expand it as large as you want, quickly copy the test, and sort the hands by any option. The drop down menu is also easy for looking between different tables or tournaments. HH files can also be saved to your computer or requested by support.
There are many other customizations and features to take advantage with in the lobby and at the tables. Just to name some quick are auto-rebuy,
tournament history/statistic/hand history instantly e-mailed to you, transferring funds or T/W dollars, and more.
is a great room and is constantly upgrading their software based on players input.
Poker Stars Poker Room Action
is without question the largest online poker room today. There were times were Stars was behind, but since 2006 they have been a force that no one can touch. The action isn't just attracted to one game or limit either, and with an average of 90,000+ you can find a table for whatever you want. Pokerstars still accepts US customers and has stated they have no intention in cutting them off. This was a great move by them and many US players use PokerStars as their home now. This is because of its great software and VIP program, which is described in detail under the bonus section.
There are many new professional players that were signed by Pokerstars who play at the tables. Team PokerStars isn't as large as Full Tilts dynasty, nor do they play as often, but it is still fun to watch Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein get the $100 - $200 game going. Other members include
Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, Bill Chen, Tom McEvoy and more.
Poker Stars.com Customer and Technical Support
I've found PokerStars support desk one of the best online today. Over the years I have sent many e-mails with various questions and I never had to wait more than 2 hours for a reply. Most were also answered very quickly, some within 10 minutes! Stars also has one of the best support managers for final table deals for multi table tournaments, and show up within minutes of being requested. I have heard many stories and seen replies from their support with extensive research and detail with problems players have had (also they tend to reply in a professional yet humorous tone, which is amusing.) I had a problem once while I was playing in 15 sit & gos at the same time and lost connection to their software. I e-mailed them about the problem and was refunded 4 buyins whereas most sites would have not even considered that. Also more recently an FTR member reported a potential collusion attempt when he noticed two players playing in the same tournaments, from the same location, and not playing against each other. After investigating the problem they deemed the player correct and even moved him up in prize money in one tournament because they concluded they affected the tournament. Very cool. You can contact them via e-mail:
E-mail: support@pokerstars.com
Poker Stars' Ease of Game, Ease of Making Money, Fish Rating
I have experience for a few years on
and have noticed the cash games play much tighter than other online sites. Some people have even described them as a "rock-fest" and there are a lot of people at the lower limits just nut-camping. Of course these players can be exploited, but when just starting off it can be hard to play against these players. I don't have any experience with higher stakes but I know many people who run a profit at $2 - $4 and above but they do talk about the toughness of the games. Since the 2006 US-Ban the games got tougher at many sites, and selection with US players is slim so even though it may be tough PokerStars is still a great room to play at.
PokerStars.com Bonus and Promotions
has one of the best VIP/FPP (Frequent Player Point) systems today.
There are 6 levels you can reach based on how many FPPs you earn in a month (or year for Supernova+), BronzeStar, SilverStar, GoldStar, PlatinumStar, Supernova, and Supernova Elite. There are many great rewards you can achieve by moving up in levels including:
* Earn Frequent Player Points (FPPs) up to 5 times faster.
* Participate in exclusive VIP Freerolls.
* At the higher levels of the VIP Club, use your FPPs to purchase consumer goods, including iPods, high-resolution computer monitors, travel packages, and more.
* At the Supernova level of the VIP Club, use your FPPs to buy directly into the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the European Poker Tour, and the main event at the World Series of Poker.
* At the highest level of the VIP Club, Supernova Elite, you will enjoy free prize packages to PokerStars signature events.
The weekly and monthly freerolls run as high as $50,000 per week and $100,000 per month! That is the largest continuously running freerolls today. Probably the best part of the VIP program is the bonuses they offer to the dedicated players. By purchasing these bonuses with FPPs, it can even out to a decent amount of rakeback depending upon your level.
PokerStars usually offers a first time deposit bonus of 100% up to $50, however exclusive to FTR, you can get more than the standard bonus! By signing up through the links on this page, you will be given the 100% up to $50 bonus plus an additional $25 extra when you earn 100 FPPs! So essentially you will be given a 50% boost on your bonus, courtesy of PokerStars and FTR! Make sure you sign up with the links on this page, and enter the PokerStars Bonus Code First2008 when making your first deposit. Overall, this is a fairly small bonus compared to most other online sites, but does clear rather quickly. To earn this bonus, you will simply need to play on PokerStars and collect the number of Base FPPs equal to 10 times the bonus amount (FPP system described below.) You have six months after your first deposit to earn all the FPPs you need to cash out your bonus. PokerStars also offers reloads and special promotions from time to time so check their site for details. Here is how FPPs are earned:
1. Earn FPP credits for cash game play
First Frequent Player Point (FPP) is awarded for playing a hand in which the rake reaches:
* $0.40 for fixed limit poker games with stakes $1/$2 and lower
* $0.40 for NL/PL poker games with blinds $1/$2 and lower
* $0.40 for "1-on-1" poker games (this applies only to "1-on-1" tables, not to regular tables which have only two players seated)
* $1.00 for all other games
Second FPP is awarded for playing a hand in which the rake reaches:
* $2.00 for all 6-max tables (this doesn't apply for games being played 6- handed at 10/9/8 player tables - just 6-max tables)
* $3.00 for all other tables
Third FPP is awarded for playing a hand in which the rake reaches $5.00.
2. Earn FPP credits for tournament play
Five (5) FPP credits are awarded for each $1 in tournament fees paid.
Only post commentary in your review. If you have questions about the poker room or would like to start a discussion, please post in our Online Poker Rooms forum.
“One of the best” by XBOXXBOXXBOX, 14 Mar 2008
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
This site is amazing. It's very easy to
use and see the rooms that you want. The
customer service is fantastic. The bonus
stuff is done really well.
The only problem I find is the players.
A lot of players will call with pretty
much anything at anytime. I play mostly
"heads-up" games, but again for the
most part, fish.
Other than that one complaint, it's a
great site.
“#1 Poker site” by Knuckles, 19 Oct 2007
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
PokerStars is the class of online poker.
The customer service and security on
this site is outstanding. They only
have e-mail support but it's pretty
fast and more importantly, they have
competent people responding unlike a lot
of other rooms.
They have the most traffic out of any
poker room so you should be able to find
fish around but they probably do have
some of the better playing in the online
poker world.
The bonuses are great when they are
available, it clears pretty fast and you
have 6 months to do it.
The software too is by far my favourite
and they are constantly updating it and
making improvements.
“Can't Collect Winnings” by tripperd, 18 Sep 2007
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Pokerstars or Jokerstars does not let US
players cash out.
I had a $1800.00 cash out PS said US
Postal Service returned undelivered do
to wrong POBOX which was correct ( get
my mail from all other sites ) but not
PS. I have tryed 2 more time with same
outcome no payments recieved, but will
credit my PS account back that amount. I
sure would hate to win a big tourney
payoff
US PLAYERS SHOULD BEWARE OF POKERSTARS
“PokerStars Update” by fishbitetoo, 16 Jan 2007
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I feel an update is in order for this
site. Why? The interface has come light
years since I first started playing here
in 2005.
You can resize the windows to any size
you want. It will also save window
size/position/location, so if you are a
multi-tabling action junkie you only
mess around with getting all the windows
just right once.
There has also been a major facelift
with themes and deck styles. The tables
can have many different looks. You'd
really have to see that for yourself.
Another reason I thought this site needs
an update is because the player base has
jumped tremendously. I can't possibly
say what their average player count is,
but logging in around 7p ET, I usually
find between 70-80k.
I think this site has the best
tournament selection of any site I have
seen. If you are into tourneys this site
is probably what you are looking for.
I don't know about their responsiveness
to collusion as I tend to play tourneys.
However, their response to my questions
about a tournament ticket and setting up
a private tournament arrived in less
than fifteen minutes.
There are fish on here, but as most of
my experience has been here, it is hard
for me to compare. I played cash games
on Party Poker for awhile and the play
here seems slightly better, on average.
Their bonuses are pretty standard.
“Pokerstars is good” by Waterdick, 06 Aug 2006
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Good Interface, Many Players for great
24hr. action. Great customer support,
yet they are lacking in bonuses and
promotions. Also, they have the hardest
players and tables on the internet. If
you are looking for a good, clean site
to improve your game, try pokerstars!
“Three reasons to play poker” by pokerguy, 04 Jul 2006
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
IWANNAWIN:> I wanna win money !!
First of all, all people I know play for
one of three reasons:
1. to have fun
2. to become the best player around
3. to win money (at least they say so; I
doubt all of them really win, and think
that at least in some cases it is an
excuse for wifes/girlfriends/... to have
fun)
To have fun and to become the best one,
Stars is the best place around, period.
When playing "to win money", things
are more complicated though. To start
with, one needs to learn how to play,
and to learn there is no better place
than Stars. Even for seasoned players,
while playing on Party definitely helps
your bottom line, it hurts your ability
to play (just as if German soccer team
would play only with Togo, Trinidad and
alike, they would degrade in a few years
at most). So "to win money" the best
is probably to keep some kind of balance
between Party and Stars (and if you are
REALLY good, who knows - maybe next WSOP
bracelet is shining for you, not to
mention a huuuuuuge pile of money in the
middle of the final table :-) ).
“I DONT UNDERSTAND!!” by IWANNAWIN, 29 May 2006
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I dont understand !! I wanna win money
!! Let me start this out with i am about
to join poker stars for only the mtt
action cause of what i have read about
pokerstars! But what i dont get is how
all these ppl are talking about how
pokerstars is so great because all the
players are better?? Huh? Say whaaat?
Why would i ever play at a site with
better players (ring games)? I want the
fishiest players sitting at my table! I
wanna sit at the tables with a real high
average pot size! I have played about 5
different sites now and always seem to
find myself back at party poker hands
down the most profitable place online
IMO!!! Reading all the posts in this
review is reminding me of all the debate
on moving up in levels because u cant be
the fish at the smaller levels. IMO If
you cant beat the smaller tables where
more fish swiw you arent good enough to
play better at the higher levels!!! Now
im not saying one cant move up levels
and be more sucessful because that
happens all the time BUT!! What i am
saying is that i think to be where i
wanna be at in playing poker is to be
able to beat all levels because your
play is that adaptable!! SO in closing
back to my question why play agianst
better players? To learn? Sorry id
rather get paid in process of becoming a
more skilled player!!
“Only play at Pokerstars” by Gomez, 21 Feb 2006
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I don't know if people care, but many
of these reviews mention the # of
players online, and how Party has the
most. Recently I have seen as many as
80,000 on Pokerstars, usually during
evening hours it is more like 60,000.
There may be more fish on Pokerstars
nowadays than when a lot of these
reviews were first written! 9-player $5
SNG's usually have 2 or 3 strong
players and 2 or 3 complete idiots.
“Fish are all at a Phish show” by Hermit420, 20 Feb 2006
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Tournament action is amazing... HUGE
variety of SnG action as well as an
amazing selection of scheduled
tournaments from freerolls to beat the
champ headhunter bonuses. Ring games I
have found to be full of good players.
Micro games are great for beginners
(.01/.02 NL was great place to learn ins
and outs) although I find in these rooms
the fish hang out (there seems to be no
other place they are found in great
numbers)
“Excellent” by gman, 12 Dec 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
This is by far the best site out there.
Hands down. No questions asked. period.
Anyone serious about the game of poker
plays here, and it is a true joy to sit
down and play a great game of poker the
way it should be played. After all of
the countless sites i've played at I
can finally play a game of poker where 3
people are not all in on the first hand,
or there is a raise EVERY cycle, or
consistently raising 15 times the big
blind. Now some may say this is a
disadvantage and that you want to play
against fish. Well I strongly disagree.
Poker is a beautiful game and if you
want it played right, play here.
“Best Site Out There” by zarryL, 12 Dec 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
For solid players, this is the best site
out there tournament action is a must if
you play here.
“really good site” by STIdrivr, 02 Dec 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
This is my favorite site.
“Best Tournament Site” by protell, 22 Oct 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Poker Stars is the site that really
changed my game around. I had played on
Party Poker originally and lost some
money playing some fishy rookie poker,
pretty much matching the style of play
of the majority of people there I played
with. Pacific Poker was similar but I
had read a couple of books by then and
my game had definitely improved, but I
would get frustrated by the extremely
loose aggressive play of a few people
and start playing bad poker matching bad
plays with more bad plays. Finally I
found Poker Stars and my game improved
immensely. Players are much more
predictable, definitely better but this
forced me to improve my game to match.
This is when I finally started making
money on the Sit-n-Go's, probably about
$1000 in the last few months. Not a lot
but at least my account is going in the
up direction while my game improves as
well. NL Hold-em Tourney's are my
favorite and this definitely the best
place for small and large tournaments of
any kind. Once you become a shark
perhaps you can then go and prey on the
fish on Party Poker, but if you are
fairly new and truly looking to improve
your game, I highly recommend Poker
Stars. They don't have the initial
sign-up bonus that other sites do,
however the do regular "player
appreciation" and other types of
redeposit bonuses. Best site out there
in my opinion.
“Always a challenge” by Kebron, 08 Sep 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
For 6 months, I have been a player at
PokerStars. I am now used to the folks
who go All in with garbage the first few
hands and think they are unbeatable. Of
course... someone will get them. Then
there are the sitters... (mostly in the
play money games) These folks sit out
during the whole game and suddenly come
to life at the final table with a puny
stack and are gone just as fast. Since
these 2 things are predictable, one can
develop a strategy.
Take those 2 things away and you get a
superb software, GREAT poker players
thet will challenge you to the end,
incredible customer support and with the
Frequent player points you can enter
tournements worth a lot of money.
“Poker Stars Owns” by Smack29, 01 Sep 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I have played them all and keep coming
back to stars for the better action.
The tounry are the best, and the ring
games are profitable for good players..
The fish factor goes away at around 1/2
NL and 3/6 limit. 2/4 NL and 5/10 limit
games are very well played. The tounry
stats on PS are not matched anywhere.
You always know your position and all
other sats. And if you want good
support, no question PS is the best..
You can have answers back in min, not
hours.
Good Luck all..
“Crazy bettors” by nlcatter, 27 Aug 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
the ones who make it a crap site
stay in on 7 4 offsuit they go to river
on every hand
so yes you can make money but the other
morons
who stay at any level and go to river
kill any leading good hands
the ones who call an obvious Flush on
flop and
continue to river runner runner to get a
boat !
I lost AK - flop AK2 turn A river 2
to a 22
but that player had REASON to bet and I
call that a
Good hand
the network goes down for 1 or more
players
so disconnects suck!
“1500 chips” by ERock, 25 Aug 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Pokerstars has a big advantage over
Party Poker/Empire Poker and most other
poker rooms, and I haven't seen it
mentioned in any reviews. At Pokerstars
you start a tournament with 1500 chips,
vs. 1000 for Party Poker. As a result,
skill is more likely to be rewarded
because you have to play a long time
before you worry about being blinded
out. On Party Poker, if you lost a few
hundred chips, you're short stacked and
the blinds creep up very quickly. In my
opinion, the starting chips alone make
Pokerstars tournaments far superier to
Party Poker.
“Classiest Pokerroom” by Bizzle, 11 Aug 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Pokerstars is the classiest online
pokerroom you'll find: it's a virtual
Bellagio. The table appearance and cards
are aesthetically nice. The personalized
logos can be blocked, to keep a clean
look, or kept visible depending upon
your choice. The software has never once
been a problem for me. The action on
this site is perfect. There are tons of
SnGs, tons of daily & weekly monster
tourneys and satellites, and the ring
games are always busy. Personally, I
steer clear of the ring games because I
feel there is a significant amount of
collusion, which is further benefited by
the fact that there's only 9 players at
a N/L table. The low/mid stake SnG's
are soft and fun. I have never had a
problem, but I've heard that the
customer support is very strong. The
strength of play on this site is a bit
exaggerated; there are lots of terrible
tourney players, but at least 3 of the
final 4 players in a SnG will be good.
Pokerstars has recently started 20%
deposit bonuses again, which is a nice
feature for an established site with no
need to give handouts. The fact that you
can accumulate points by playing in
tourneys and not just ring games makes
the bonus worthwhile.
“Perfection” by Stokenut, 04 Aug 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I love this site and that is all there
is to say. Other big site advertise with
annoying ads like Popups but all you
ever see of PS advertising is the odd
banner here and there. The software can
be used very easily and there are a lot
of fish. Theres nothing wrong with this
site is is Perfect!!!
“Not too shabby” by jgoldstein, 02 Aug 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I decided to try PS based on word of
mouth from several friends. I had been
playing on Pacific Poker and was going
ballistic over all the software
problems. I have quickly come to love
PS. The card shuffler seems to be more
normal, which drowns the fish. The
software doesn't disconnect, so monster
pots I win per hour allow me to make a
larger profit. There's not much to
gripe about really. Yeah, the graphics
are lame and the bonuses aren't as good
as other sites. But, I can make money
easily and that's all that counts.
“My Favorite” by Chubb Daddy, 21 Jul 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Poker Stars is by far the most
comfortable and best looking site.
There are no cheesy characters seated in
chairs or pic of empty chairs. (What's
the point of chairs on-line?) You
upload your own pic, and can block
annotying pics of others (or their
kids).
Interface is excellent. The only
connection problems I have had were due
to my own connection, not their servers.
Like I said, the asthetics are superior
to all other sites. There is also an
option to show bet amounts for those who
complain about having to mouse-over the
chips. Poker Stars is designed to look
like an on-line poker room, not some
cheesy immitation of a smokey live game.
Very user -friendly indeed.
ACTION - The action is great. Contrary
to reports of 10,000-15,000 players, it
is actually not unusual to have 30,000
on-line at once.
Tech Support - Every question or problem
I have ever had has been immediately
dealt with and responded to. I was even
able to pull-out of a tourney I
satellited to and sign up for a Round 2
at a later date.
FISH - If Poker Stars had the fish the
other sites do it would be heaven. But
then it wouldn't be Poker Stars.
Don't play here if you are new or
looking for easy money! This is the big
leagues of on-line poker. You play here
(yes to make money) but also to sharpen
your skills against the best talent
possible. There are fish here, but not
as many, and players are infinitely more
sophisticated than at other sites.
Poker Stars is a tough site to win at,
but its players are viciously loyal. I
guess it's just more fun to play
against real competition.
Bonuses - Poker Stars used to offer no
bonuses. Now they do occassionally.
Not the best site for bonuses, but they
don't need to be. It's a site like no
other.
Best site for real competition/Worst
site for fishing.
And now a note to you Poker Stars
regulars. There are some new rules on
avatars:
1. No more sunsets and blue tree-lines.
Go on-line, download an image, and use
that. Everyone and their dog uses the
images that came on their new computer.
It's not cool.
2. Pictures of one eye are played out
(yes, even if it is a red or glowing
green eye!)
3. Quit using pictures of your kids!
It's annoying, not cute and there are
plenty of pervs on-line - You don't
want pics of your children floating
around.
4. Guys, for your own protection, quit
using pictures of you and your
girlfriend. She may think it's
special, and you may think it makes you
look like a stud, but what really
happens is we immediately identify you
as an insecure chump with an ego that
can be expolited. It's an embarrasing
tell. Lose it.
5. Finally, we know you are not Tom
McEvoy or Chris Moneymaker when you are
playing in $1+.20 tourneys and
free-rolls. (Not to mention, we all
know their real screen names.) Stop
using their pics. It's not
intimidating, you just look stupid.
“Tough” by golf1886, 08 Jul 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
A lot of action and great tournament
play, but unfortunately there are not
many fish. I play .50/1 NL and it is
much harder to make money consistently
compared to Party Poker. There are far
less bad beats, but because the play at
high levels is SO strong many very
skilled players can make more money by
playing lower limits. I only play Party
skins now for ring games and keep some
money at Stars for the occasional MTT.
“PokerStars Rocks” by Tj, 05 Jul 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
you all are idoits if u think this game
is rigged.."oh i see lots of 4 of a
kind ect ect" thats because u see alot
of hands....and for seems like u get
beat on the river? ITS POKER!!! Yes this
game is hard to make money..but if you
are a skilled player with some luck you
can easyily go in there one day with 3
bucks and come out with 100k+ in a
couple of days(asuming u enter satellite
to a 500k game and win both of em) This
site is always great for learning
poker..its easy to just rip apart my
friends when we play now..there is
getting less and less "Fish"
everything else rocks
“Best Tournament Site” by tdmlb24, 04 Jul 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I came here to play tournaments and they
have the best tournaments by far with a
reasonable amount of fish at the $5 SNG
SNG
“riverstars?? you're a fool” by fiegs, 28 Jun 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
"well great game but seems to work win
few hands lose few hands to be fair on
the river makes me laugh all time as u
can almost say what cards come out but
overall good gaming wouldnt risk real
cash lol too many sitters and hands seem
to well obvious.just moaning lol"
I have been playing in pokerstars for
about 8 months now, and i think that
this person's review should be totally
and completely disregarded...think about
it...he didn't play for real money!
He's playing with tables full of people
playing WAY too loose because there's
nothing to lose. This person's
thinking skills are about as flawed as
his grammar skills. The only thing I
don't like about pokerstars however, is
that a lot of the games are very hard.
There aren't many fish on this site.
“Poker Stars” by realgenius, 20 Jun 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I've been playing Poker Stars
exclusively for the past 6 months. I
personally love the interface, very
professional, and I love that you can
have your own personal avatar. Brings
personality to the tables, and helps get
some conversation going. I started
playing ring games, but I would not
advise this for anyone. Collusion is a
big part of ring games in online poker.
Stick to the SNG's if you want to get
experience and make money. Once I
switched to SNG's I've been making
money ever since. There are alot of
above average players in the $5 SNG's,
so you really need to hone some skill
and stay disciplined to keep your head
above water. My only complaint is the
lack of bonuses. But look at it this
way. It's by far the best site, with
the best players, they obviously don't
need bonuses. And anyone who calls it
"RiverStars" comes from the Phil
Helmuth Bitter School of Bad Beats. It
happens to everyone, no matter where you
play.
“The best place to have fun playing” by Nobody, 13 Jun 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Guys, please stop this nonsense about
rigged sites. The only (proven) way
sites stole player's money is much
simpler than making biased shuffle -
PokerSpot was the most prominent
example. I'm 100% sure that _none_ of
the big rooms is intentionally rigged;
as for Stars' - I had doubts about them
at some point (after a bad beat streak
obviously) and asked them to send me the
whole history of my play there; when
I've got it, I made all kinds of
statistical analysis with it (and I have
a degree in maths) - and came up with
nothing beyond statistical expectations.
So until somebody will provide a
mathematical proof (rather than
emotional "he got one-outer, it should
NEVER happen, at least not to me") - I
won't even consider such a possibility.
Face it, guys - bad beats is an integral
part of poker. And those who cannot deal
with it, just should not play poker,
ever - there are other ways to have fun
in life.
“Way too many fantastic hands” by Sam Smith, 23 May 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I started playing Poker Stars after
having a very successful three months of
low-limit playing in a brick and mortar
casino in Florida. I grew suspicious of
this site after I saw what I considered
an inordinate amount of spectacular
hands like 4-of-a-kind almost every time
I played. Indeed, two nights ago I
recieved two 4-of-a-kind fives within a
half hour of each other. At a tourny
last night, I witnessed a royal
flush---followed on the very next hand
by a four-of-a-kind and 15 minutes later
my Ace high flush was beaten by a
straight flush. Today I played for one
hour at a low limit table and witnessed
a four of a kind, and once again, my ace
high flush was beaten by a straight
flush.
When I played nearly every day for three
months in Florida, I witnessed a grand
total of one straight flush and seven
fours-of-a-kind. I just can't believe
all the fantastic hands I see on Poker
stars are random. I left Party Poker
for the very same reasons although I did
not see anything as dramatic as I did
last night at Poker Stars.
“Simple and Clean” by Wylie Wayne, 23 May 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
It just works and is easy to get on and
easy to find your way around the site.
Room names are strange and take some
getting use to. Customer service is
quick and clear. Players are generally
nice and fast, not too many that are
idiots are last long. Games are fast
paced and varied players. Great place
to get experience and to meet all types
of competition. Tried several of the
others and just felt at home here.
“POKER......"STARS?"” by politz, 23 May 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I've been a regular (daily) player
on this site for two months now, and
manage to make a little cash on the
micro-limit tables here. At the .02/.04
tables the wild gamblers are abundant
and tend to get in pissing contests with
each other. Any tables above .02/.04 get
tighter and tighter the higher up you
go. Most players here are tourney
players, and they possess decent holdem
skills. When they need $5. to play in a
tourney they swim down to the aquarium
and try (some desperately) to make it
quick.....it shows. The only reason I
keep a bankroll here is because it is a
great place to get a warm-up before I go
to the easier sites. Pokerstars players
will keep you on your toes. If you can
make it here, you should have no trouble
elsewhere...
“Nice place to learn Omaha High/Low” by xm, 17 May 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
since it offers the "big" tables of
Omaha High/Low games.
Starting from 2000 chips, I have 5 mil
now just in a matter of a month. Lot of
fun.
“great site” by gman, 08 May 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
EXCELLENT site... doesn't get any
better!! Favored hands actually win
when expected...a far cry from the other
sites... And WOW ..what a surprise... it
actually takes skill to win on
Pokerstars... Who would ever have
thought?
“Torn Also” by MikeOhio, 28 Apr 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I am also torn. I feel there are much
better players on this site. As a
result, it does seem harder to make the
cash. I have however had , what seems
to be, way too many "caught it on the
River" loses. Does anyone have any
feelings either way about computer
generated opponents on this site? I
heard a rumor about that kind of thing,,
does it really happen?
“The Worst” by A fish, 06 Apr 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
PokerStars, the worst on-line casino I
know of.
Don't ever listen to the ones who
applauses PokerStars in this forum. Most
of what they say are not true.
Card shufflings are not natural random,
but are probably fixed. Certain players,
to me, maynot be real players. I mean
real "human". Tournements not quite
many as others claim. Connection is
often slow. And the one thing I still
don't get it is it takes instanly to
tranfer fund from Neteller to
PokerStars, but takes 48 hours to
transfer back if you want to cash out.
One thing I like here is PokerStars
offers fast games as well as "no-all-in
games". Besides, tournments for private
groups available.
I never come back here again.
The rating stars are default, I don't
rate.
“Poker Stars!!” by matt, 21 Mar 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
WOW!! That is all I can say about Poker
Stars, it is amazing! I have improved
my poker game so much since I started
playing on Poker Stars, I don't think
it is a coincidence that the last two
WSOP Champions (Raymer and Moneymaker)
came from Poker Stars. I would recommend
this over any other poker site although
it is a little harder to make money, but
that is because the competition is
better!
“Too tough here” by dar103, 23 Feb 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Been playing at Stars for over a year
and just can't make consistent money
here at NL ring games. The play here is
too tough, however it has made me a
better player. I can tear up other
sites with the play that I've learned
here at
the micros. There is always an ample
supply of games and tourneys at the
levels I play. The interface is great
and the lobby has all the useful info.
I've
only ever witnessed 1 server crash.
Support has been great whenever I've
contacted them, very helpful. No
initial bonus and very rare reload
bonuses.
To summarize: great software, great
tourneys, professonal players.
“blah” by golf1886, 19 Feb 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Great for tourneys, support, and ease of
money transactions, but absolutely
nothing else. I play all my ring games
at Party and make about 1000 bucks a
month, but I can't consistenly gain a
profit on ring games at Stars. There
are always plenty of SNGs and MTTs at
every buy-in so I play all my tourneys
there.
“Poker Stars by a Landslide” by Mr. X, 29 Jan 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
If are looking for true to life poker
games and the video poker juiced action
you'll find at Party Poker and it's
associated skins, this is the place for
you. Don't be lured by bonuses, VIP
points and gimmicks, you're better off
trading all that for honest games. No
wonder the pros play there.
“Poker Stars” by Boyzy, 19 Jan 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I started off playing tigergaming poker,
and poker stars just added a whole new
element to online poker and its just
awesome
“Poker Stars” by Warrior Zen, 12 Jan 2005
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Not many fish, the ones you met don't
stay fish long or go broke
“Simply the best” by WhoCares, 22 Dec 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
After trying all major ones, I'm
currently playing exclusively Stars.
“Stars is best” by Nemo, 18 Dec 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
Stars wins hands down in 2 categories -
improving player skills (well, for those
who don't beleive it - remember where
last 2 WSOP champions came from), and
having fun from playing the game. Action
is very good, interface is good, support
is one of the best, current 1B bonuses
are exceptionally good. Not that much
fish though (well, you can't get
everything in one place).
“Pleased.” by smiles20, 08 Dec 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I have played on Poker Stars for about
8-9 months now. I am fully satisfied
with the web site and software, but as
some may contest it is difficult to find
the fish sometimes. Tourneys is most
definently where the money is to be
made. $25 and up on sit&go will get the
dummies out (that will call a raise with
K 8 os), But is just right if your a
solid player. I usually place every time
and normally win a few hundred dollars a
week. Happy Hunting.
Remember, stay out of ring games here
and focus on tourneys only, If money is
what your after.
“Pokerstars.com” by Faus, 07 Dec 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I have just switched from another online
poker room. The reason for the switch is
the numerous tournaments they have. I am
trying to stay out of ring games and
play tournaments solely. I think the
site has a lot to offer. It is very
professional in its lobby. However, I do
not like their actual poker rooms. By
this I mean the overall appearence. It
is like looking at a nice Italian
Restaraunt and then going inside and
eating chef-boyardee. Their software
seems a little outdated and could use a
make-over. I also do not like the 9
player max. It is not hard finding a
table with what you want at all. Their
Tech support is very quick with their
response. And as everyone else has said,
people are a little tighter at
pokerstars. I think the tightness of
players is just a result of many good
players playing poker like it is
supposed to be; and not a game where you
try to get lucky, but skill is used
instead. No matter where you go there
will be fish. Whether it is at a $10 buy
in at pokerstars or a $1000 at the Los
Angeles Poker Classic, there will always
be a few fish in the sea. Some of those
fish Really suck,i.e. getting beat by a
K2 when they runner runner the boat.
Pokerstars.com does not really give any
bonuses.
“Poker Stars Tournaments” by Yaba, 11 Nov 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
They have the best tournaments on the
Web. If tournaments are what you want
PokerStars is it.
They have a wonderful variety of low
stakes penny games, and high stakes
games.
There is enough players that you will
usually be able to find an active table
for the game you like best (not always
though).
The action is only OK.
The software and user interface is
superiour.
The support is fantastic.
I believe that it is more difficult to
cheat or collude on this site than
others (they have "no-all" tables and
they have support staff who try to
monitor games).
I have played on Empire, PokerStars,
Tiger Gaming, Paradise and PokerRoom.
If you want to play only one site, I
recommend PokerStars - I do think that
you should play more than one site
though.
If you are looking for Freerolls, you
should have a few different sites going.
I no longer play for no money much but
will still play the odd free-roll when I
am on a bad streak but need a fix.
“Poker Stars Review” by Ripptyde, 25 Oct 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
well I might have to reconsider my
previous review of PS since most
everyone here thinks that it is too hard
to make money on that particular site.
Personally I like the interface but I do
find that it takes rooms a little longer
to fill up as opposed to Paradise.
I've never played on Empire or UB but
from what I am hearing, Stars is a
difficult site to profit on....
I've been doing fairly well with the
turbo SnG's and made it deep in the
occasional multi's....but to be quite
honest I would prefer to play against
seasoned players as opposed to
fish....at least the experienced players
respect the raise.
But maybe it is time to shop around a
little for another site. Ive just
stayed with Poker Stars because I like
the two table 18 player turbo
tourneys....but the consensus here seems
to be that it is the most difficult site
to profit on
“Pokerstars is great (in my humble opinion)” by dog1dog2, 23 Oct 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
I love Pokerstars. It seems to be the
best set up, most proffesional site out
there, in my opinion. Even though there
are plenty of good players on
pokerstars, the recent WSOP publicity
has caused an insurgence of fish at low
limit SNG tournies and ring games. I no
longer play on any other sight...sign up
bonuses only happen once, and pokerstars
has frequent "deposit bonuses" for
existing players...great sight, great,
quick support, great tournies.
“Torn about this site” by jmrogers7, 08 Oct 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
INTERFACE: Hate it. Very distracting
to me for whatever reason. Also am not
a fan of the full tables only seating 9
people.
ACTION/EASE OF GAME: Although there is
plenty of action at many tables there,
to me it gets boring fast as I have
found more tight players here than any
other online room. Even multi-tabling
gets boring for me here adn that is not
usually the case for me at all anywhere
else. I have yet to happen upon a table
where it was actually "fun". I am
ahead at this site but it is just plain
boring. I do, however, like the SNG's
and the Turbos that they offer. Also,
the 1500 starting chip amount for
SNG/Turbo's is absolutely a saving
grace for this site in my opinion.
TECH/CUSTOMER SUPPORT: I have not had to
deal with support so I cannot comment
here. i will give it a 3 based on not
having yet had any experience with
them.
BONUS: I have yet to take advantage of
any bonuses at this site so I cannot
comment. Alsthough, they doo not offer
an inital signup bonus which is a huge
minus.
“PokerStars Review” by VeraN, 15 Sep 2004
Interface: Action: Support: Fish: Bonus:
If you're main goal is to win fast
cash, this isn't the place for you. On
the other hand if your main goal is to
learn, and improve your game, then this
is the perfect place for you.
The players here are good. You won't
find too many fish here compared to
other sites because the fish realize how
good players on this site are and they
just leave.
While many complain about the interface
being ugly, it has a professional and
clean simple feel to it.
Customer support is top notch. They
will answer/solve any questions or
problems you have with professionalism
and with liability.
Unfortunately the site does not offer
sign up bonuses, and it rarely offers
bonuses at all. However, on certain
occasions they will dedicate a lot of
prize money such as their anniversary
celebrations.
Overall this place is for players who
are dedicated onto improving their game.
It's not a coincidence that two world
series of poker champions are from
Pokerstars.
Yes
“One of the best” by XBOXXBOXXBOX, 14 Mar 2008
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