The Top 7 Online Poker Sites
There are a ton of poker sites out there, but not all online poker rooms are good poker rooms. Some have weak players; others do not. Some provide soft competition consistently while some don't. Some have long, drawn-out waits for games; some don't. You get the idea. So we did the idea for you. After having played more than 7.5 million hands on dozens of online poker sites since 2004, we know a good site from a bad one. Below are our picks for the seven best online poker rooms on the Internet today. ### What Makes a Good Poker Site?
If you were going to meet someone for the first time, you'd want to gauge what they're like beforehand, right? Well, same deal with online poker rooms. There are plenty of rogue reviews out there pushing whatever affiliate pays them the most so it's up to you to discern fact from fiction. Our goal is to give you an honest look at what each online card room has to offer. We'll talk about the games (and lack thereof) at each site. We'll touch on the software - both the good and the bad. And we'll even dig into the community itself to let you know what sort of opponents you'll face at said table. Because let's be honest here - one of the main reasons people pick a new poker site is to play where the fish are.
Best Casino Games for Beginners - See If You Can Beat The DealerThere's more fishin' to be had at online poker than in the Amazon.
While that may be true, it's hard to justify setting up a new home if you hate it there. Thus it's important to find a place that balances decent competition with a cushy virtual chair, intuitive layout and features you actually use. Everyone's different though. That's why we've outlined the best poker rooms across a wide spectrum of the industry. Whether you're a newbie looking to learn the game or a seasoned pro hunting high-stakes games, our list of the top poker sites should help steer you toward your perfect match. Click the review links below to learn more about each poker room or jump straight to the best poker site list.
1. 888Poker
The 888poker brand has been around for over a decade now and although it didn’t start strong, it certainly does now. This used to be one of the worst poker rooms you could play at but things changed drastically after the merger with BSIP in 2017. Delicious puns aside, this deal gave 888poker the traffic it needed to run bigger events and offer stakes most grinders only dream of. It also allowed them to launch exclusive software features like the unintrusive snap cam which makes this already great poker site the overall best one. Yes, there are downsides such as no action or rewards in other poker formats besides Texas Hold’em but 888poker is still the best poker site for all cash game enthusiasts, especially No-Limit Hold’em players.
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888poker Biggest Benefits:
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Great traffic = lots of action
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Innovative software (e.g., Snap Cam)
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Solid rakeback system
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Easy to reach masters at open communication
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Great tournament series with big guarantees
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Bigger buy-ins than $5 / $10
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Not the best cash games software
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Almost exclusively Hold’em
2. partypoker
partypoker was once the biggest name in online poker but after the UIGEA in 2006 they took too long to optimize for the US market. This gave competitors like PokerStars room to take the lead and never let go. However, partypoker has made huge strides ever since they brought on CEO Roar Givens in 2014. They quickly became the best poker site again for online tournament organizers by running events back to back, investing heavily in Women’s Poker and hosting the legendary Heavy Championship of Poker ()**, a three-day event featuring 20 pound cash prizes and a championship belt. partypoker also became the best poker site for trying out new innovations, such as Cinch tables (that automatically put you on a table about to start), podcast tables (where you can discuss hands with Patrick “pads” Leonard) and the short deck format (without the deuces). If partypoker keeps this innovation up, they might become the undisputed champion again soon.
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2. PokerStars
It might seem odd that PokerStars isn’t our number one pick but it’s truly just a close second. PokerStars is the largest online poker site and arguably offers the most . Action is never an issue and you’ll always find the wildest games too. In fact, you’ll probably find more fish here than at any other poker site because PokerStars is where most recreational players go to get their fix. The rake is a little bit higher than most competitors and the software isn’t perfect either, but this much traffic comes at a price. Games are available 24/7 up to the highest stakes you can imagine and the SPINS games offer insane wins without having to play for days.
What will happen when Stars come to the USA?
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3. GGPoker
GGPoker doesn’t operate in Europe but that might change sooner rather than later. For now, you can only play from India, China and a few other countries in the Far East. This gives GGPoker the luxury of not having to support the often complex legal situations European and American operators must endure. Instead GGPoker can focus on making the best poker site possible. They even created their own rewards program called Fisherman which allows the most active players to win back almost all of the rake they paid. Promotional periods like the Dota 2 Million Dollar Prize Pool and the Wheel of Rakeback also keep players excited and happy to come back every day. Even the most critical will agree this is one of the best poker sites for software. Features such as the labelled hand strength and the streaming side booth make analyzing hands fun again. This is why GGPoker easily becomes many players’ favorite these days.
Why doesn’ utilise European or American markets?
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steps on how to open an online casino in 20244. Unibet Poker
Unibet is one of the biggest betting sites in the EU so offering a poker client was a natural next step. This makes Unibet Poker a fantastic choice for players who also enjoy sports betting and casino games. In fact, you rarely see anyone playing poker at Unibet with more than one table. This creates a lot of opportunities for newbies, especially during the peak hours. Cash games are difficult to scale at small stakes so they remain soggy at most poker sites but that’s not an issue at Unibet. Tournaments are a different story. Although the weekly Sundays offer over €50,000 in prize money, most tournaments remain empty unless re-entries are included. At least the software supports four-color decks by default and there are some unique gambling features such as the gambling slider which lets you choose your own risk/reward.
How good is Unibets poker offering really?
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5. 888poker
See above.
6. William Hill Poker
William Hill isn’t a bad poker site but it’s clear they aren’t putting much effort into improving their poker client anymore. Most players only stick around because of the excellent sports betting opportunities but even those are getting less appealing by the month. First, the French left due to ARJEL regulations. Then the British gambled less following the COVID lockdowns. Now pretty much all the action happens in the micro to small stakes. It makes setting up Williams Hill Rakeback deals somewhat easier but it also makes grinding tough. On the brightside, the soft competition remains as solid as ever for new players. Tournaments are another matter though. Most are empty unless re-entries are included so attempting to host a Weekly Sunday with a £22 buy-in might not be the smartest move. At least the 888poker-powered client still works well so players willing to look beyond the surface might find some value.
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What’s the real state of at William Hill?
7. Paddy Power Poker
Paddy Power is one of the best poker sites for software but unfortunately it uses the old IPN network which hasn’t seen much love lately. This means features such as filter searches, multiple viewables and the ability to multi-tabling using more than one monitor simultaneously are nice but limited. On the brightside, there are very few sports betting sites integrated into the poker client so a Paddy Power Poker account is valuable for certain types of gamblers. Unfortunately the traffic levels aren’t so Paddy Power would be worth it even without the integration. Most games remain empty except the wild ones during peak hours so most of the action happens outside the standard hold’em and pot-limit Omaha offerings. There are daily tournaments, of course, but most are empty unless re-entries are included so attempting to host a Weekly Sunday might not be the smartest move. At least the soft competition remains as solid as ever for new players.
Get £20 free + 100% up to £300 when you sign up through our 888poker review.
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Finding the Right Poker Room
What makes one online poker site better or worse than another is subjective. Some players prefer soft competition over everything else while others will take a tough field over beautiful, user-friendly software. We tried to balance all aspects of online poker when choosing the best poker rooms but it’s impossible to please everyone. We suggest reading the full reviews and checking out the poker rooms for yourself via the links on this page. Most people won’t have a bad experience at any of the sites listed above but it’s important to know exactly what you’re signing up for so there are no unpleasant surprises.
Legal Online Poker Rooms in the United States
After years of uncertainty and limbo, regulated online poker is finally gaining ground in the US. Five states currently offer legal, licensed poker online: New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Delaware. Players sharing a liquidity agreement can play against each other, meaning MSR and WSOP share player pools in NV, NJ, PA and/or DE. In NJ and/or EV, 888poker/WSOP shares players with Caesars/Harrah's and the Borgata. These legally regulated sites are the only ones able to offer World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet events online.
In Pennsylvania, the only legal poker options available right now are provided by the 888 family - 888Poker / WSOP here also share a player pool with the land-based Hollywood Casino. In Michigan, the first regulated online poker offerings launched in 2021 and it's expected that more casinos will follow suit and bring their poker offerings online in the near future. With legalization comes trusted depositing and withdrawal methods, strongly secured accounts and trustworthy conflict resolution.
For US players outside those states, there are a couple sweepstakes-based poker sites available like , and . But outside of those, Americans are generally limited to unlicensed, unregulated sites operating outside the US. We recommend extreme caution if you choose to play on them - do your research extremely thoroughly before depositing and while you may be able to find soft spots, the fields are likely to be tougher than licensed sites.
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