What do you look for when choosing an online site?

DP_Machine

Hey everyone - just checking to see what factors play into a player's decision on deciding which online poker site to play on? I'm checking in to see the different reasons that may come up. There's obviously the problem of the US legislation if there's anyone here on the forum who may live in or want to play players who live in the US. Curious as to what other reasons may be.

I've been an online player on-and-off for almost 4 years (started off at PokerRoom since it was around back then) but since the poker explosion, there's been a huge jump in the numbers. Wondering how someone can differentiate if they're looking for a new site to get onto.

Thanks in advance for putting in!

moose

1. traffic
2. rakeback
3. overlays
4. rakeback
5. reload bonuses
6. rakeback
7. decent software
8. rakeback
9. player rewards
10. rakeback

Marty Smith

I have a rule NOT to reload, and haven't for several years now, but I will give a poker site $50 to try it out and challenge myself in building a bankroll. Therefore I look at the STT structure and the traffic on those tables.

To me, if those tables are busy and profitable the rest of the site will be doing reasonably well too, and I can build my roll with a view to moving up to MTT's once my bankroll permits.

margaud

Marty,

Let's say you've built your online bankroll to 10k in total across all sites. Are you really going to grind a $50 roll on a new site playing microstakes? I somewhat agree with your approach but I simply can't see it happening in the example I've given.

One other thing is, only depositing $50 won't fully utilize any first deposit bonuses.

For me I factor in the following:
1. bonus/rakeback
2. traffic
3. deposit/withdrawal methods
4. software

Marty Smith

Good point, but I have done exactly that... otherwise no, for most players that is unreasonable and I agree. The point was though that if there ain't good sng action the site cant hold a salt shaker for me.

blueodum

Very good question...

I'll provide an explanation for why I consider each factor important.

1) Variety of games available, both NLHE and other games.

Where there is a large player base, a discerning player ought to find profitable games by spending a bit of time looking. The worst thing for me is to play at a site where there is so little liquidity that I am forced to play at tough tables.

My long-term goal is to become expert in all forms of poker, so I spend at least 20% of my poker-playing time playing non-HE games. The best sites for non-holdem/non-omaha games are PStars and FT; there is good Omaha variety at most of the European-based networks.

2) Rakeback/bonus/other loyalty schemes

This helps your bottom line. It's one reason why I completely gave up playing at Pacific Poker and a few other sites. But this factor is secondary to #1 - for example, perhaps the best rakeback scheme is found at WPEX, but the low "liquidity" of the games means I don't play there very often.

3) Software

I can't stand glitchy and slow software - Party probably has the worst among the major sites, and has led to a huge reduction in my play there. PStars has the cleanest software, which makes multi-tabling smooth. FT is a notch slower. UB has the quickest software I've seen, but I no longer play there (see below)

4) Reputation

After recent events, I will never again play at Absolute or UB (owned by the same people). People who scam their own customers in such an overt way deserve to be shunned.

5) Ease and speed of depositing/withdrawing.

I used to play a lot at Victor Chandler when they were part of Tribeca, and would probably continue to play there now, but they do not offer either Moneybookers or Click2Pay as deposit options. I also appreciate PStars and Party for the speed of withdrawls to Moneybookers. Some sites take 24-48 hours.

joshua

Nowadays there are a great number of online poker sites on the internet that's why you shouldn't need to search for a long time. But you can have some doubts what to pick and where to start if you're a new player. At first you may be tempted to go on to the sites with big bonus offer, bright flashing lights and the promise of money but don't be taken in by them. Are you mostly a middle stakes cash gambling player looking for a big poker bonus and the amount of players or is support of poker room and the software more important to you? Before you start playing and making deposits keep in mind what will be a positive experience for your development.


Many factors come into play when deciding where i would like to open an online poker account. First, I need to ask myself some basic questions about my play.

• What limits, and what games am I looking for?
• Are satellite tournaments important to me?
• If I am a cash game player, is getting my rake back important to me, or would I rather build up player points, and go with a room where I can get cool things as a reward for my loyalty/play.
• Is the sheer number of players important to me? would I rather play at a smaller room where I can get to know certain players tendencies, and take advantage of this?
• Are the people involved in the room important to me?

I see these too…………..
Ring game vs. tournament traffic.
Game variety.
Game selection and profitability.
Client software experience.
Customer service.
Loyalty program.
Financial reputation.

sharpe88

Noone mentioned softness of the games ?

I feel Party is still #1 in this respect