Best Online Poker Sites

Do you know how to guarantee that you’ll have a good time playing poker online?

You sign up (only) to the best online poker sites. It’s the only way.

But do you know what the best online poker sites look like? Or, the differences between a bad poker site and a great one?

We do. The differences are night and day.

How We Rate

Safety & Security

You should be able to gamble online without fear. So we only recommend licensed sites that use the latest security and encryption techniques.

Bonuses

Maximize your bankroll with fantastic bonuses. Our recommended sites offer valuable bonuses with fair terms and conditions, including manageable wagering requirements.

Games & Betting

The best sites have the best wagering options. That’s why you will find extensive games and betting opportunities on our recommended sites.

Banking

Getting your money to and from your account shouldn’t be a hassle. We only recommend sites with a variety of convenient banking methods, including cryptocurrency and e-wallets.

Back in the day when we played at PokerStars, we would also spend some time at Full Tilt. The rest of our time playing cash games was at Absolute Poker.

PokerStars was the best poker room because it had:

• The best software.
• The most game options and variations.
• The biggest guaranteed prize pools, tournaments, and tournament series.
• The best and fastest support staff.
• The best VIP scheme.
• The most traffic (which is the most important quality).

And so on. Because they were so dominant then, we have no doubt they’re still leading the pack in most if not all of these categories today.

But the other two? They didn’t even come close.

It’s still the same today. The landscape has changed – many pros have moved to playing offline, and many (if not most) poker sites have decided to focus on the needs/wants of recreational players.

But even though the landscape has changed, the traits that make up the best poker sites will always stay the same.

As we normally do, we have ranked the best sites here by several different categories. Below you will see them broken up into different regions from around the world. As many of you probably already know, most sites accept people based on their physical location because of legal issues.

So what we have done here is have created different rankings for several regions so that you can easily find a site that accepts poker players from your own location.

We do our very best to only list sites that are safe for any customer to use. If we wouldn’t be comfortable depositing our money with a poker site, then we would never recommend that to our readers. So you can be sure that any of the places we suggest are legit sites that will keep your money and your personal information secure.

We have also broken down the best poker sites into different categories as well. Below you will find several different characteristics and features that we separate our rankings into.

This allows our readers to find the very best site for exactly what they are looking to play for. Some need a site that offers a great mobile experience, while others are searching for the biggest bonuses. You can find all of that and more here.

Nearly every poker site offers freerolls. Too many options can make it difficult to choose just one or two. So, here are the things we look for:

We would rather join a poker site that offers freerolls on a regular basis, even if the prize pools are smaller. Regular tournaments provide more opportunities to play and increase your chances of cashing, compared to sites that offer freerolls randomly. Opting for a site with a scheduled frequency of freerolls, such as every four hours or twice per day, allows for consistent tournament participation.

Another thing we look for is larger prize pools. Because you don’t want to play for your share of $10, which might be split between 10, 25 or 50+ players.

We recommend looking for sites that offer a minimum of $100 for their freerolls. A cash can get you $5, $10 or even $20. A couple cashes – much less wins – will go a long way once you make the switch to the micro stakes.

Some poker sites let everyone sign up to their freerolls. Which means you might have to battle 4,586 players for your share of a $50 prize pool.

We prefer to find poker sites that cap the number of entrants. We’ve seen freerolls where the fields are limited to 600 or 1,000 players – the top 50 (or less) are paid.

That’s a lot of players. But it’s doable (and on a somewhat consistent basis).

Bonuses and promotions in poker often have specific terms, such as earning player points to clear a deposit bonus. Similarly, freerolls on poker sites may also have varying terms, including restrictions on cashability or requirements like wagering or making a nominal deposit before cashing out. It is advisable to select a poker site with minimal terms and restrictions to maximize your enjoyment and flexibility.

How do you find the best poker sites for guaranteed tournaments?

If you want to find a site that runs the best guaranteed MTTs, you need to do some research first. You want to find a site that constantly runs high-quality guaranteed tourneys.

The following is what we recommend you look for.

Traffic (or the player pool) is important. You need other players for tournaments to run in the first place. Larger player pools are also necessary if you want to play tournaments with large guarantees.

While overlay tournaments can provide value, poker sites that consistently offer large guarantees without sufficient player participation often end up canceling the tournaments. So it is preferable to join a poker site with a large player base, and frequent guaranteed tournaments, rather than relying on occasional overlay tournaments.

We’re talking about guaranteed tournaments, so obviously any site you join will have to offer these tournaments.

Beyond this, we also recommend considering the following.

The goal is to find a site that caters to what you like, and that offers the most variety, convenience, and value.

Another thing you might want to look into is whether the poker room focuses on recreational players or if they accept everyone.

Poker rooms that choose to focus on recreational players often do the following.

These rooms will usually have additional features that will benefit recreational players. Here are a couple of examples of what you can find.

These rooms try to discourage pros from even joining. These are great rooms to look for if you just play for fun.

There are a lot of variables that make up a high-quality high-stakes poker site. The following are the most important variables, as they will have the largest impact on whether games actually run and the money you can make.

Comparing the rakes of different poker rooms is crucial to find the one with the lowest percentage and a cap on the amount collected, especially considering the potential high pot sizes. It also wouldn’t hurt to find a room that has a “no flop, no drop” policy. This, of course, depends on how tight you and the table are playing.

A traditional VIP program will give you points for every dollar you pay in rake. Earn enough points, and you’ll move up in levels. Each level will have different perks you can claim or unlock.

With rake-back, you’ll have a deal with the room to receive a percentage of the rake you pay paid back to you. Rooms usually pay as much as 50% of the rake you pay back to you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Many rooms have adjusted their business model to focus more on recreational players. One of the biggest changes that these rooms have made to do that is in adding anonymous tables.

Anonymity helps weaker players by making it harder for better players to keep tabs on them or try to track them down. This helps recreational players feel safer or that the games are fairer.

This is without a doubt the most important variable. If there isn’t enough traffic for the games and stakes you want to play, then for one thing, you won’t be able to play or play often. It will also mean that most of the variables above are pointless to think about.

Finding the “best” poker site for Mac users isn’t any different than finding the best poker site for everyone else.

For that reason, we’re not going to string this section out. What we’re going to do is give you a checklist to use. Just go through each question and check it off.

There you have it. Go through this list, and the more of these questions you can check off, the more likely you’ll enjoy playing there.

Finding the best SNG poker site can be challenging due to various factors, with one important consideration being the traffic on the site. To evaluate the player pool, check the lobby to see the number of players registering for games and use the “running games” filter during peak hours to get an accurate assessment. If there is insufficient traffic for the specific games or types you prefer, joining such a site would be impractical as there would be limited SNG opportunities and idle funds in your account.

Traffic isn’t the only thing that matters, though. There are other variables that you need to consider before you give a poker site your business.

We can go on and on, but we think you get the point. There are a lot of variables to look for and compare in order to find the best poker sites for SNGs (or any other poker format).

Let’s now talk about how to find the best sign-up bonus for you. You’ve probably heard us say this a bunch of times in other articles and reviews, but the best depends on the site and person.

That said, the variables each person should use to find the best bonus are the same – only they lead to different answers.

Anyway, let’s look at those variables now.

Additional perks that are a good value include:

We wouldn’t base our entire decision on additional perks, but you can use them as a tiebreaker between two or more rooms you’re thinking about joining.

The features above are the features we think the best online poker sites for cash games should have. That’s not enough for a poker site to be THE best, though, let alone the best for you.

You need to drill down a little further. Check out the following questions that we recommend you ask.

The more boxes you can check off, the better your chances of finding a poker site you enjoy logging into for cash games.

That’s how you find the best poker site for cash games.

It’s not easy to find or choose the best poker sites for multi-table tournaments to recommend to our readers. Every online poker room is different. Just because we found an excellent poker site for cash game players, that doesn’t mean that they’ll work for MTTs. So, we can’t just wing our recommendations.

What we do instead is spend a bunch of time, money, and resources testing every site to ensure they meet our standards for MTT players. And during that process, we ask ourselves the following questions.

Here are some of the features that we look for when ranking the top online poker sites for MTTs.

Those are just a few of the features we like to see from online poker sites. Many sites offer these features and then some.

The only way to know for sure is to read our reviews. We spend a lot of time going through each site, testing their software, noting the games and stakes they offer, and ensuring their software works flawlessly.

There are a few reasons why you should consider joining an anonymous poker site; here are the main ones.

Poker players who use HUDs are already experienced, educated, and informed. They already have an advantage over most recreational players.

Poker sites that allow software, note-taking, player searching, and have full-blown lobbies compound the advantage these players already have.

They allow players to collect hundreds of hands’ worth of data every hour. And these players can search the site for weaker players to target.

Anonymous poker sites remove these advantages. They even the playing field.

If you happen to be at a particularly tough table, all you have to do is get up and leave. An anonymous poker site provides a small amount of concealment.

No one can track you. And notes and tags are temporary.

You may be asking yourself what criteria we look at when deciding if an online poker site is good for beginners or not. First and foremost, we make sure the site is safe, secure, trustworthy, and pays out quickly.

Once we verify all of this, we begin looking at the criteria specific to a great online poker site for beginners.

Below, you’ll find some of the criteria that we feel are important.

Online gaming can be overwhelming for newcomers, but a good poker site will simplify the process of signing up, making deposits, and navigating the gameplay interface, ensuring a user-friendly experience for beginners.

Most online poker sites offer players the flexibility to choose their stake levels, allowing beginners to start at lower stakes while experienced players move up. However, some sites provide separate beginner tables to protect new players from more skilled opponents, although this approach may limit opportunities for skill improvement and self-challenge.

To ensure a positive online poker experience as a beginner, it’s crucial to choose a site with exceptional customer service that can promptly address any questions or issues that may arise. Look for sites with 24/7 support and accessible options like phone or live chat, staffed by knowledgeable agents who can provide reliable assistance.

So, say you want to find a poker room/VIP combo on your own – how do you find the best one? What do you look for? What matters the most?

Here’s what we recommend you do and look for when you research what poker rooms you want to join.

Which one is better? It depends on the type of player you are.

The first thing to look for if you want to find the best poker sites with satellites is very obvious.

This means every poker site must have the following.

The second thing to look for is to make sure the site you are signing up for offers more than just one category of games. Even though signing up for a poker site is not hard, you would want it to be worth your time. To find a great fit for you, you can start by asking these questions:

Every site is different. They offer different games, variations and betting types. Some sites offer everything while most sites offer bits and pieces of what you can play in their main poker room. So, if there’s something particular you’re looking for, you might want to do your homework and read a few reviews before you get signed up to one.

Let’s look at what you can find right now when you join one of the poker sites we’ve reviewed and currently recommend.

Play cash games or their speed poker game, Zone Poker. Game options include Texas Holdem and Omaha.

Play Texas Holdem, Omaha and stud cash games starting at .01/.02. You can play tournaments and SNGs too. They also offer Snap Poker, their speed poker variation.

888 Poker’s app also comes with features like Quick Start, where all you need to do is log-in and tap twice to start playing. Another feature is their web-cam tables.

Play no limit and fixed limit holdem cash games in heads-up, six max and full ring variations. You can also play knockout and double or nothing SNGs. Carbon’s mobile poker games are compatible with iOS, Android and BlackBerry.

Only Android users can play here. They offer Holdem and Omaha cash games for .01/.02 to 5/10 per hand. Some of the available features include sound, animation, deck colors, table popup messages and auto switch table (likely for multi-tabling). Right now they don’t offer tournaments.

Their apps are compatible with both Apple and Android. You can also play in your browser, but it’s only compatible with Apple devices. The options they have include Twister Poker, SNGs, their speed poker game and regular cash games. You can play in tournaments, too.

That’s a short sample of what’s available to mobile poker players. It’s much more than what was available a year or two ago.

This isn’t nearly as serious or as important, but some of the more entertaining sites would have 3D avatars or webcam tables. One site that comes to mind, that’s apparently no longer around, is PKR. Their poker platform was like playing a video game. You could make your avatar do tricks and talk trash to other players. And you could use your money or points earned to buy new tricks, clothes, and so on. Just like a modern-day video game.

None of these qualities are important, and they won’t make or break a site for most people reading this. But they will definitely offer a unique experience that will earn them the right to call themselves the best site for recreational players.

It’s a short list, we know. But pros don’t really need a lot outside of the basics to dominate and make money playing poker online.