PokerStars Review

Summary:
This is our PokerStars review in a nutshell. PokerStars has more players than any other poker room. They must be doing something right. The combination of their Sunday Million tournament, excellent customer service, and brilliant software distinguishes PokerStars from the rest of the pack.

PokerStars Player Base

With over 145,000 players online at peak times of US evenings and weekends, PokerStars have around twice as many players as their nearest rivals. Part if the reason for this is that PokerStars were in a great position to pick up players when some major sites pulled out of the US. However, their game selection, first class loyalty program and cutting edge software continue to keep them well ahead.

There are many new players online at the lowest stakes, however on the whole the opposition tends to be a bit tougher at PokerStars than other online sites. High-Stakes professionals as well as low limit ‘grinders’ who play many tables can be found here.

The majority of players at PokerStars can be found playing tournaments, the cash game tables are also busy – with a wide selection of game types and betting structures on offer.

PokerStars Software Client

The PokerStars software is cutting edge – both in the feel and the usability for players. The lobby is divided into categories based on the game types, with separate tabs for tournaments, sit and goes and special events. Once you choose a game the large list of tables on display can be filtered by betting type (fixed limit / No-limit etc) and by stakes. There are also special filters available for both cash games and tournaments to ensure that your personal preferences can be saved.

Cash table listings show all the information you need to make a fast selection, including stakes, number of players, percentage of players to each flop and average pot size. Tournaments are displayed in chronological order with late registration available for 2 minutes after each tournament begins.

The tables themselves are fast to load, and look great with large action buttons and simple pre-selection options too. An innovative feature is that players can upload their personal picture or icon to display at the tables. The tables are fully resizable and there are options to automatically tile them and to save your preferred layout.

PokerStars Poker Cash Games

As you would expect the largest online poker site also has the largest selection of cash games. Texas Holdem is the most popular but only one of many games on offer. Others include Omaha (including hi-lo, pot-limit and fixed limit), Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, 5 card draw, 2-7 triple draw and mixed games including HORSE and HOSE. The large player base at Stars meaning tables are always available at a variety of limits, whichever game you prefer.

Betting limits start very low – for the No-Limit Holdem games 1c / 2c blinds with a $1 minimum is the lowest possible. The majority of players can be found at levels up to $1 / $2 though there are many higher stakes tables readily available – going up to $200 / $400 blinds for the high rollers.

In addition to the standard 9 player tables, 6-max and heads-up cash games are also available at a variety of buy-in levels. Pot-Limit and Fixed-Limit betting structures also attract large numbers of players.

PokerStars Poker Tournaments

PokerStars host the biggest tournament prize pools online and also the largest fields. Their tournament selection is unsurpassed with something to suit every one of their players in terms of game type and buy-in level.

The showcase tournament at PokerStars is the ‘Sunday Million’, this $200+$15 event attracts many thousands of entrants and regularly features prize pools in excess of $1.5 million. For those with smaller bankrolls the ‘Sunday $100k’ makes a great alternative. This is a $10+$1 entry event and features the biggest field of any online poker tournament – regularly exceeding 15,000 players.

Satellite tournaments make up a large part of the PokerStars tournament schedule. For as little as $3 it is possible to win seats in the Sunday Million or super-satellite entries to televised live events. Satellites are available in a number of multi-table, re-buy and sit and go formats.

The Sit and Go selection at PokerStars is also excellent. These start at just $1 and go up to more than $2000 entry. Turbo, 6-max, heads-up and multi-table sit and go tournaments are available – as are a good variety of game types.

PokerStars Bonuses And Promotions

The sign-up bonus at PokerStars is a 100% match on your first deposit up to $50. This is fast to clear requiring just 500 ‘Frequent Player Points’ (FPPs). This sign-up bonus is lower than many other sites – however PokerStars make up for this by offering one of the best player loyalty programs online.

This is known as the PokerStars VIP Club and features many levels depending on the number of FPPs you earn. The points are can be exchanged for goods from the PokerStars store ranging from books to an Aston Martin. They are also used for freeroll and satellite entries, including weekly and monthly ‘VIP Freerolls’ with very large prize pools.

PokerStars Customer Service

The customer service department at PokerStars is contacted via e-mail and is available 24/7. Their reputation is as fast and fair – any dispute will be sent to the relevant department (security / payments etc). For the larger buy-in tournaments there are also staff available to facilitate final table deal making.

PokerStars Banking

PokerStars do not have the wide range of deposit options available at some poker sites, however there are options for players from all geographies. These include Visa, Mastercard and Diners Club Credit Cards, Neteller, ePassporte, Paysafecard, moneybookers, UseMyBank, Western Union and various forms of local bank transfer. Using the cashier is safe, fast and easy – with a transaction history available directly from the cashier window.

Conclusion / Final Thoughts

PokerStars is the number one online poker site for a good reason – or rather a number of good reasons. Their software, game selection and loyalty program are all industry leading. At the middle to higher limits the opposition at PokerStars is somewhat tougher than many poker sites – though the lower levels have their share of inexperienced opponents.