Winning Online Poker

Note: All ratings out of 10 possible, 10 being the best and 0 the worst

Overall real money rating: 7 (Site security: very secure)

Overall play money rating: 8

Poker Stars is similar to Paradise Poker in some ways: It has good software, a good support team, and tighter games than most sites. However, it has a big edge in tournaments; this is the best tournament site out there.

Maximum Tables You Can Play at One Time: 5

Beatable Games: 5 (ring games) / 6 (tournaments)

Though the games are by no means unbeatable here, they are a big step down from looser servers like Party Poker. This is especially true for the 7-stud games. However, the server does attract its share of poor tournament players, many of whom were drawn to the site by Chris Moneymaker's World Series of Poker victory on TV.

Game Selection: 8

Although Poker Stars offers only the five basic games, they have a wider range of limits than any other site, and the pot-limit and no-limit games are especially popular. You can usually find your game running whenever you want.

Player Traffic: 8

A lot of players flocked to Poker Stars following Chris Moneymaker winning the 2003 World Series of Poker, and their user traffic has gone way up of late. Even limits as high as 100/200 hold 'em or 5/10 pot-limit Omaha frequently have full games running.

Deposit Bonuses / Player Rewards / Jackpots: 3

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Though Poker Stars occasionally offers 20% re-deposit bonuses open to all players (not just new users), they do not offer a deposit bonus specifically for first-time players. The bonuses they do offer are relatively easy to clear at 5 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) per dollar, but very difficult to clear in 1/2 or .50/1 games. You can also use your FPPs to buy various merchandise such as poker books, Poker Stars apparel, or even a set of authentic clay poker chips for your home game.

Software / Peripherals: 9

The Poker Stars software is very good. It includes innovations such as a time bank to think about close decisions, and you can choose a personalized picture to represent your player, rather than a generic avatar or just a name. One annoying feature is that the pot-limit and no-limit games only allow 9 players per table; I am not quite sure why this is so.

I also appreciate that their pot-limit and no-limit games do not have all-in protection. This prevents your opponents from intentionally disconnecting to avoid calling a large bet or raise, which is good not only for the integrity of the game but also for your bankroll.

Tournaments: SNGs 9, Multi-Tables 10

Poker Stars is the best tournament site on the internet. It includes a huge selection of one-table and two-table sit-and-go tourneys, as well as the biggest and most diverse selection of multi-table tournaments. There is a broad range of buy-ins, from $1 to $200, and a variety of games, including rarely played tournament games such as 7-stud and pot-limit Omaha/8. If you are mainly interested in tournaments, this is best site for you.

Customer Support: 9

Stars does not offer 24-hour live help, but their e-mail support team answers most questions quickly, and they are more helpful in solving your problem than most servers.

Server Quality: 8

Stars rarely has server errors or downtime. This has never been a big problem relative to other sites.