WIth the huge popularity of Texas Holdem, thanks to the World Series of Poker on ESPN, a large number of players from all over the world are playing poker online. If you intend to play online poker please be aware that the games go by very fast and you can play hundreds of hands in a very short time. This tends to make any weak spots in your game huge liabilities. So pick a limit that you can affford to play and perhaps lose at. You can always play for fun at any of these sites to get a feel for the interface. It is your money to lose, or win, play responsibly.
We presently have reviews of the following online poker rooms.
Pokerroom is a good site, has all the basics covered. The graphics are slick although I prefer a more basic layout, with that in mind I tend to set the option to not display the avatars. The site is reliable and the competition is easy. The really nice feature is that they have a version that runs on linux or mac as a java application so you do not have to install any software. The "tag the fish" feature is nice, unless you are a fish of course. The feature seems unique to poeker room and allows you to attach a flag to a player, red, yellow, or green. This icon is visible in table views so you can find or avoid players that you have met before and proved to be easy or dificult.
I find Pokerroom's graphics to be very pleasant. I like their downloadable software better than the Java version, but the Java version is still convenient for those with Macs or are averse to downloading. The downloadable version has the best system of player notes I've seen out of any major poker room's software. You are able to color code different types of players, so you can quickly categorize certain players as "fish" or "sharks." However, one aspect of the software I dislike is they make it difficult for you to request hand histories. You have to request them by the hand number; you cannot just request your last 5 or so hands to be sent to your email address. Also, if you plan on playing no-limit games, I suggest you check the "show stack amount" option under the preferences menu. This way you will not confused by how much people bet at no-limit games.
Use the following bonus code to claim a bonus on your first deposit at Poker Room :
FIRST100 to get 20% of your deposit (up to $100 bonus.)
Perhaps the most interesting is the "Grand Tournament," which is a $1000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event that will take place January 1, 2005. There is no entry fee to this tournament (Poker Room will not charge an extra fee in addition to the buyin like poker rooms generally do), and Poker Room will actually add $50 each entrant who signs up. There will be many satellites for this tournament throughout December.
Poker Room also has many smaller promotions, such as daily freerolls and freerolls for players who play a lot at Poker Room.
The site displays the flop % and average pot size which is very nice. This allows you to tell quickly how loose/aggressive a table is.
Texas Holdem, Omaha hi-lo, omaha, 7-stud, 7-stud hi-lo
Fixed Limit: $.25-$.50, $.50-$1, $1-2, $2-4, $3-6, $5-10, $10-20, $25-50, $50-$100 (all are popular for holdem, $1-2 is popular for the other games) Pot Limit/No Limit: $.25-$.50, $.50-1, $1-2, $2-$5
Single-table and Multi-Table Texas Holdem
Minimum Deposit: $10
