Choosing the right Poker Room for you!

I've got a silly question

Let's say there is Titan Poker and William Hill poker - they are both iPoker.

So available games are going to be exactly the same right on both of those poker rooms right? ♦

Hey adasko99,

Pretty much. Although each skin will have a small number of exclusive games relative to their members.

This is also the case with MicroGaming and Ongame..

Regards

Laz

I think this applies mostly to promotional MTTs (most notably, VIP freerolls) and points-to-cash SnGs. As far as cash tables, I'm not aware of skin-exclusive (or at least promotional) tables now except for Bet365 Premium tables and Everest's Trickett Bounty (invitational); William Hill stopped running Gold tables this January, there were exclusive cash tables at such skins as Paddy and Betfair too, but now they're gone.

So, apart from the split of low stakes NLHE/SnG/HU pools between iPoker2 (consisting of all Pokerstrategy partner skins except Mansion) and iPoker1, tables are basically the same (all iPoker2 skins see each others' tables except Bet365 Premium seen only from Bet365 and Trickett Bounty seen only from Everest).

Beginners' tables (that can be accessed from a skin only within 90 days upon signing up with it) seem to be shared across the entire iPoker2.

Mods, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Hey, I'm atm playing 3,5$ STT on pokerstars, but unfortunantely my account there is not tracked with PS, so im looking for an alternative to just grind a few points for silver(maybe gold depends, but nothing crazy high) status.

Of the ones you have here i have played a bit on poker770, coral poker, the old unibet(new one sux...) and Titan. I dont really like the iPoker network. It got crazy high rake on low sit n goes, and volume sux (as im at gmt+11 i dont play EU peak times atm). I would be playing some on US evening time though.
And i hate their pokersoftware :P, I just love the pokerstars software.

So is there a nice poker room with decent low stake sit n goes where i can earn some decents points and of course some money?
Rakeback of some kind would also be nice.

Hey simm1,

It's difficult to find a room outside Stars for people in our time zone. (I'm in Australia GMT+10).

What type of SnGs do you prefer?

6 or 9 players
Turbos or non turbos
Regular or DoNs

What times of the day are you regularly playing?

The more information you can give me will allow me to find the best options for you.

Regards

Laz

Atm im playing mostly 50-50s and some 9 mans (different ones), i dont mind DoNs either, i seem to be doing best at 50-50s atm, but i dont have any big preference, whatever is best on the site.
Also prefer non-turbos, but i usually play like half and half.

When it comes to time its very variable, sometimes i play a couple hours at 10am, mid day or late evening, so shouldn't be that hard to find a time of day where there is a bit traffic, as this is for no mainly just to get some points and not only play there.
Thanks for your help

Hey simm1,

The first screenshot is from PKR with 2k players online.

The next is from Ongame (PokerHeaven). I have included this one because you have the opprtunity to play on 2 networks in 1. If you signed up for Pokerheaven on MicroGaming, you would get a 200% deposit bonus and 30% rakeback for life. You could then login to their Ongame room using your MG details and play using your MG balance.

And this is from a Microgaming room with about 3.5k players.

My stars account is untracked as well but with our Bonus points promotion, it's super easy to reach at least silver. Rake 1SP (between .25c and .40c) on any day on a tracked account and we will give you 10 bonus points. I used to play a $3.50 MTT once a day on PKR for 10 days to get my silver status in the past.

I would recommend PokerHeaven (MicroGaming) for the reasons listed above.

If you have any further questions, fire away.

Regards

Laz

Originally posted by Lazza61
I used to play a $3.50 MTT once a day on PKR for 10 days to get my silver status in the past.

Did you really get committed for that long for just bonus SPs? A Super / Ultra Turbo is way, way faster

Originally posted by tonypmm

Originally posted by Lazza61
I used to play a $3.50 MTT once a day on PKR for 10 days to get my silver status in the past.

Did you really get committed for that long for just bonus SPs? A Super / Ultra Turbo is way, way faster

Played it specifically because it was PLO8 and very soft fields. ♠_evil:

Hi,

looking to move my roll from Party now that they have introduced those stupid "Casual Csah Tables". Tried playing at my usual time yesterday and instead of my usual 6 tables I was only able to get on 1 as there were no "normal" tables open.

1. Which game type you play? No limit cash, a few NL tournaments when I am in the mood and have the time.

2. Which limit do you play? NL10 - may drop to NL5 for a few K hands on a new site initially to allow me to get used to the software.

3. Short handed or full ring tables, or even Heads-Up? Full ring - I dislike short handed tables and will leave a full ring table if less than 7 players.

4. How much do you play? 1 - 2 hours, 3 - 4 mornings a week (10:00 - 13:00 ish GMT)

5. How many tables do you want to play? 4 - 6 at present

6. What are your goals for the next 3+ months? Looking to build my roll to move up to NL20 - I also plan to withdraw 50% of profit every 2 months.

I have an untracked account on stars but rarely play there as I don't like the site. I have played WH, Titan, 888, Blue Square, in the past.

I am limited in when I can play so I am looking for a site with reasonable traffic between 10:00 and 13:00 GMT that will allow me to play up to 6 tables.

Hey Fagin,

Unfortunately there is not much we can recommend. Full ring cash is pretty much dead and buried. Even fast-fold variants are 5 or 6 max.

I checked iPoker - 0 players
PKR - 0 players
Microgaming - 2 tables at NL10 ( 1 with 8, 1 with 3 )
Ongame - 0 players

I checked around 12:30 GMT.

You may need to consider change if you are unhappy at Party.

Regards

Laz

"Full ring cash is pretty much dead and buried" - that is a shame - it seems that even in poker aggression is winning out over skill.

From my limited experience of 4 and 6 max (less than 40K hands) the games are primarily about aggression and position with little else, particularly skill, being of any importance. I am sure that many players will argue that there is still plenty of room for skill, perhaps I just don't see it.

Looks like I may have to forget about getting points on PokerStrategy and go back to 888. At least I was making money there.

Originally posted by Fagin
From my limited experience of 4 and 6 max (less than 40K hands) the games are primarily about aggression and position with little else, particularly skill, being of any importance. I am sure that many players will argue that there is still plenty of room for skill, perhaps I just don't see it.

yeah that doesn't make sense

anyway you said that you don't like stars, but if you really need your fullring fix i can only recommend that for you. decent traffic etc

Just looked at 888 and found 11 NL10 full ring tables open at 10:50 GMT.

I may have to forget about my PokerStrategy status and make some cash there. Only issue is that PT4 can't find my HHs from there but I can work on that.

Hi Lazza, thanks for the heads up!

I will be playing 6max No Limit Holdem pretty much exclusively. I might play the occasional MTT on a Friday night for a change of pace, but I'll moslty be sticking to NLHE 6max BSS.

I'll be starting out at NL25, but plan on moving up after 25-50,000 hands.

I plan on playing around 3hrs a day for the next 5 weeks. From the third week of July I plan on playing 6hr a day.

If fast poker is available (zoom etc), I will be playing three tables at a time, but eventually want to add another table. If not, then I will play 6 tables at a time (I only have one screen right now).

My goal is to beat NL100 in three months time.

I'm looking to change sites from Pokerstars as my account there isn't tracked. I would also like to get the chance to clear a decent welcome bonus. I have also (breifly) held accounts with Full Tilt, Paddy Power, and Party (Party account is tracked here)

My main focus is finding a site where I can improve my game at NL25-NL50, while clearing a welcome bonus.

What poker site is best for aul Creamy G?

Hey Creamy G,

What time zone are you in and what times of the day are you likely to be playing?

This will ensure I can find somewhere with sufficient traffic for when you'll be playing.

Cheers

Laz

Laz, I play anytime from late afternoon to midnight GMT/wet. Sometimes I play after midnight too, though mostly just evenings. Play time varies as I work in a bar and keep funny hours. I live in Ireland if that helps.

Hey Creamy G,

I've narrowed it down to a choice between an iPoker or MicroGaming skin. They definitely have superior deposit bonuses and better rake to StrategyPoint conversion.

Both iPoker and MicroGaming are Euro and/or GBP. These screenshots were taken around 23:00 GMT (Midnight BST).

iPoker (screenshot from Titan)

NL20-50 Regular

NL20-50 Speed (Fast Fold)

MicroGaming (screenshot from 24h poker)

NL20 Regular

OnGame

NL20 Regular

NL30-50 Regular

At that time there was no fast fold running at MicroGaming (Blaze) or Ongame (Strobe) at your limits. This may explain why there are more regular tables running at those sites than iPoker.

I included OnGame because if you chose to signup through PokerHeaven (MicroGaming), you would also be able to access their OnGame room using your MicroGaming account and balances.

Most iPoker and MG skins offer a 200% first deposit bonus. When you add to that rake races, PokerStrategy Depositor's freerolls etc, there is no shortage of extra money to shoot for.

For a full list of our partner rooms go here.

iPoker partners - Poker770, William Hill, Gala, Coral, Titan, Bet365, Betfair, Winner, PaddyPower, Everest, Ladbroke's and Mansion.

MicroGaming partners - 24h Poker and Poker Heaven

Ongame - Poker Heaven and Euro Poker.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers

Laz

Hey laz, thanks so much for all your hard work, I really appreciate it.

I just have one more question: I already have an account on paddy power - it was the first site I played on, around 5 years ago. Do you know if I'll still get a welcome bonus at other ipoker sites? Betfair might be a good choice, as they run satellites for a lot of big live Irish MTTs.

Also, will a new ipoker account (at betfair for example) be tracked here, given that I have an account at paddy power?

Hey Creamy G,

All iPoker skins run independently of one another. So you could sign up for more than one site and claim bonuses for all.

As long as you use our download links and marketing codes then you will be tracked,

Regards

Laz