Online Poker Rooms & Sites

Full Tilt Poker is one of the most famous poker sites in the business, sporting great promotions, super high-stakes games and the largest line-up of professional poker players. Launched in July 2004, the room has since attracted a lot of players and has created a sponsored team of world-class poker pros including Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Mike Matusow and Erik Seidel. Full Tilt Poker's software is updated frequently and offers great playability, multi-table mini views and superb graphics. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get a $600 bonus at 100% deposit match.

The Full Tilt Poker software features innovative graphics with cartoon-style avatars, and several table sizes and backgrounds. High quality and unique, the software is in line with the very best in terms of functionality; it runs quickly and is very reliable, and all updates take a minimal amount of time. Full Tilt Poker continues to grow exponentially and offers plenty of guaranteed tournaments and satellites to live poker events. Besides the nice sign-up bonus, there are always a number of other excellent promotions, like WPT and WSOP qualifiers and freerolls. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 10,500 ring-game players and 70,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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(Note: this poker room does not allow U.S. players).

CD Poker is one of the most popular rooms on the iPoker network, offering relatively loose and easy-to-beat games with highly playable software. CD Poker also offers one of the best bonus and loyalty packages in the industry, giving players every chance to build their bankroll. The game variety is good and the software offers good graphics and playability. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get a $600 bonus at 200% match PLUS an extra $20 bonus with first deposit over $20.

The CD Poker software offers good functionality and is very stable. The graphics are good, and overall the software offers premium playability. The games are generally quite loose, with plenty of opportunity for skilled players to earn money. The site's time clock requires players to act quite quickly, which helps improve the overall game pace. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 10,000 ring-game players, and 55,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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Ultimate Bet was one of the first big sites to enter the online poker market, backed by WSOP record holder Phil Hellmuth. In 2007, a merger plan with Absolute Poker was signed, and in late 2008 the two rooms completed the shift to the new Cereus poker network, greatly increasing the player base and traffic volume. The action at Ultimate Bet is well-distributed along its great array of games and some of the best players in the world battle it out at their high-stakes tables. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get an exclusive $1,500 bonus at 150% match.

Ultimate Bet has always been somewhat of a pioneer when it comes to poker software, and even though players at times have complained the software is not as graphically appealing as some, it has always been on the forefront of security and stability. The software allows for many different table views and sizes, fast card dealing and many great features that make multi-table play easy and smooth. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 2,100 ring-game players and 14,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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(Note: this poker room does not allow U.S. players).

Hollywood Poker is part of the Ongame network, one of the largest poker networks in the world. The player base is widespread but mainly European, and because the network is so big, it offers up a fairly good balance of both soft and tough games. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get an exclusive $500 bonus at 1,000% deposit match.

Both Hollywood Poker and the Ongame network are growing quickly, and offer plenty of guaranteed tournaments and satellites. Hollywood Poker itself is endorsed by many big name celebrities - most prominently acting icon James Woods, who can be found at the tables frequently. There are lots of special promotions as well, including regular money-added tournaments, Top Set and Quad Aces payouts and Celebrity Invitational tournaments. The weekly Celebrity Classic is always a favorite, paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

The Hollywood Poker software comes in both a download and no-download version, and the download version offers great 3D-graphics, featuring nice looking avatars and many pleasing functions. The software is stable, clean and in line with the better software on the market. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 9,000 ring-game players and 45,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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Carbon Poker was the first site on the Merge Gaming network, created from the player base of Poker.com. And since the Merge Gaming network allows U.S. players, network growth has been fast. Carbon Poker is doing everything in its power to attract players and offers some very nice promotions, very playable software and nice graphics. Sign up through a PokerListings.com link and get an exclusive $1,000 bonus at 200% deposit match.

For being a new poker site on a relatively young network, Carbon Poker already sports decent player volume. At any time, several hundred players are logged in and playing, with the most players active at European peak hours. Because a lot of the players are beginners, the skill level is relatively low at most games, making them profitable for skilled players.

The most well visited tables are Texas Hold'em, with the viewed-flop percentage normally in the 40s or 50s. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 500 ring-game players and 2,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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(Note: this poker room does not allow U.S. players).

Everest Poker has moved its way up to a strong and stable position in the industry while still being one of the fastest growing poker rooms if you look at player-percentage growth. Since its launch, Everest Poker has grown quickly thanks to its multilingual software and a truly international approach to their development. Everest Poker doesn't currently offer any games besides Hold'em and Omaha, but the Limit and No-Limit action in Hold'em is massive and easy to beat. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get an exclusive $300 lump sum sign-up bonus.

The Everest Poker software comes in all major languages and includes French, Japanese, German, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Spanish. The software itself is of very fine quality and runs smoothly; it is popular among many players. The traffic at Everest Poker has built up steadily since its inception and now stands strongly in the top ten of all poker sites. Everest Poker is one of few sites that really has profited from U.S. online gambling legislation and seems to attract new players every minute. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 7,000 ring-game players and 16,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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PokerStars is the largest poker site in the world and offers a particularly good variety of games, including many super high-limit events and some of the rarer mixed games. The room sponsors many of the world’s most famous poker players, including Canadian prodigy Daniel Negreanu and WSOP Main Event winners Chris Moneymaker, Joseph Hachem and Greg Raymer. The site is home to players of all skill levels from many countries around the world, and so boasts a massive and diverse player pool. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get an exclusive $100 bonus at 200% deposit match.

With a nice look and quality feel, the PokerStars software is among the best in the world. It offers players innovative functions, lightning-fast game play and great multi-table options. It's also fully customizable and very stable. Players can upload their own images for use as avatars and can change the table size of all the poker games. There are three styles of card graphics to choose from, and 11 themes for the overall appearance. Tables can also be cascaded and tiled, and all visual and audio options can be turned on and off.

Overall, PokerStars boasts top-notch software with a great look and feel. Even as the world’s largest poker site, it's still growing quickly and it offers the best volume of guaranteed tournaments and live poker event qualifiers in the world. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 22,500 ring-game players and 155,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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(Note: this poker room does not allow U.S. players).

bwin poker is not only a part of the Ongame network - one of the largest poker networks in the world - it's actually the owner, as the originally Swedish-owned network was bought by bwin in 2005. The software is very good and comes as both a download and a no-download version, making bwin poker a good choice for players using a PC or a Mac. An added edge is that bwin poker and the Ongame network offer mobile gaming with both play and real money. Sign up through PokerListings and get an exclusive $500 bonus.

The most notable advantage at bwin poker is the three different versions of the software. The download version is for PC only and offers very nice, crisp 3D graphics and excellent game play. The software is both fast and stable and offers a very nice playing experience, although it is a bit resource intensive for multi-tabling. For Mac users or people with slower processors, the no-download or mobile platforms are great alternatives, offering a streamlined version of play that compromises little in quality. The Ongame network is also one of the largest in the business and offers very good volume in both cash and tournament play. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 9,000 ring-game players and 45,000 tournament players at peak hours.

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(Note: this poker room does not allow U.S. players).

Party Poker is one of the leading online poker rooms in the world, sporting massive player volume in both cash games and tournaments. Party Poker has been able to maintain loose and juicy games over time due to a constant influx of beginners and gamblers looking for action. Party Poker offers great promotions and very reliable software, making it a very good all-around poker room. Sign up through a PokerListings link and get a $500 sign-up bonus at 100% deposit match.

Party Poker became the world's largest site in ring-game traffic in late 2002 and early 2003 after its legendary launch campaign. It has since dropped down in traffic due to American online gaming restrictions, but it still maintains a very solid player base. With its phenomenal growth, Party Poker has added servers and increased bandwidth to secure full reliability for over 100,000 simultaneous players. The software is highly functional, fast and very reliable. In terms of big events, it hosts the flagship "Party Poker Million" annually, and offers many guaranteed tournaments and satellites. Real-money player statistics as of December 2008 show 9,500 ring-game players, and 60,000 tournament players during peak hours.

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