| PokerStars Highlights | |
|---|---|
| U.S. Players | Yes |
| Poker Network | PokerStars Network |
| VIP Club | Yes |
| Bonus | 100% Initial Deposit up to $600 |
| Bonus Code | STARS600 |
| Bonus Difficulty | 5/10 |
| Multi-Tabling | 12+ |
| No Limit Stakes | $.01 - .02 up to $100 - $200 |
| Limit Stakes | $.02 - .04 up to $1000 - $2000 |
| SNG Stakes | $1 + $.20 up to $2100 + $90 |
| Minimum Deposit Amount | $10 |
| Compatibility | Windows 95+, Mac Download |
| Supported Languages | English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Nederlands, Italiano, Magyar, Svenska, Dansk, Norsk, Suomi, Português, Polski |
| Pros | PokerStars is the largest online poker room today. They accept all US players! PokerStars has arguably the best tournament traffic and schedule. Their cash games fill up throughout all limits. |
| Cons | Cash games and SNGs tend to be filled with regulars - table select well when possible! |
Online poker juggernaut PokerStars is not only the largest online poker site currently open to American’s, but the largest one in the whole wide world. It opened in September of 2001, and survived the onslaught that the now infamous UIGEA law brought with it towards the industry and American Poker Online.
PokerStars, despite being the largest online poker site, is not one to rest on its laurels as they also have one of the most consistently favored interfaces, excellent account security, excellent speed of game play, and unbelievable game availability. Also in PokerStars repertoire is the fact that it is owner and part owner of various poker tours around the world; the European Poker Tour (EPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), Italian Poker Tour (IPT), Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), and North American Poker Tour (NAPT).
As we all know, the passing of the infamous UIGEA law made ripples in all parts of the online poker industry. One site to have emerged with less damage from that debacle though, and is now stronger than ever, is PokerStars. PokerStars has been in the online poker business since 2001, and has accepted players from all over the world, including American poker online players, to play on the site since its inception, and continues to do so to this day. It's not hard to see why it's currently the most well-liked poker room, which is why people from all over the world, including the USA, flock to it in droves also currently making it the largest online poker room.
Then there is the signup bonus. You will be given a 100% First Deposit bonus of up to $600, and there is a killer feature here that most other sites do not have. Say, you do not have the full $600 in order for you to take advantage of this excellent bonus when you are ready to deposit, but you really want to play and only have like $50 on hand. No worries, because PokerStars employs what is called a Multi Deposit system, a first for online poker, and enables you to deposit the full amount to get this incredible bonus in up to three deposits within 60 days of the first deposit. This system also extends to whatever reload bonuses the site may offer to you from time to time. This means that you will have up to three chances to deposit enough to take advantage of the full bonus, essentially giving you the chance to max out any bonus the site will ever give!
PokerStars also boasts of having some of the best tournaments online, and you will be able to find them running pretty much around the clock. There is always a good tourney for you to enter, in pretty much any of the poker variants. Also popular on PokerStars is its STEPS system, which allows you to qualify to bigger buy-in land tournaments for a fraction of the price of the buy-in. Imagine qualifying to the WSOP Main Event, a $10,300 buy-in tournament, having used nothing but some Frequent Player Points (FPPs)! On PokerStars, that is indeed possible thanks to the STEPS system. You can also qualify for any events in the following tournaments via PokerStars: European Poker Tour (EPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), Italian Poker Tour (IPT), Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), and North American Poker Tour (NAPT). PokerStars also sponsors an event in the World Poker Tour called the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).
As was mentioned before, PokerStars has been a major player in the online poker business for a very long time. When the UIGEA was passed in an effort to curtail American Poker Online, a difficult and unattractive endeavor, PokerStars did the right thing and stood by its customers' right to entertainment, and kept doing business as usual with every American player it had and every new one that came after that. As a PokerStars player, not mattering where you are from in this beautiful globe we live on called Planet Earth, you can rest assured your money is and will always be safe in your account.
Being the largest surely has some benefits, in pretty much all areas of life. In the case of PokerStars, the site benefits from having insane amounts of player traffic at all times of day. Basically, the lowest point of traffic during a day that PokerStars gets is like the best pretty much all other sites could possibly hope for. The benefit for poker players is that there's always a game running in any of the variants of poker, be it 50c/$1 blinds No Limit Hold'em Cash Games, $16 NLH Sit-N-Go Turbo's, $215 Razz Multi Table Tournament, and even 5c/10c Fixed Limit Badugi Cash Games. No matter what you want to play, there is always a ton of tables running with eager participants in it. All you have to do is sit at any given table and enjoy the action PokerStars provides you!
The site's software is top notch, in terms of user-friendliness, stability and security. The games are transparent, and are constantly being checked for fairness by several online poker player communities and pass each and every test with flying colors. You can order an RSA token for use when logging in for additional security, making it pretty much impossible for thieves and scammers to gain access to your account and its funds. The available games selection on PokerStars is huge, and consists of staples such as No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha, but also of less popular games such as 7-Card Stud, 5-Card draw lowball, and Badugi. Needless to say, whatever you crave to play at any time of the day, PokerStars will be able to satisfy your needs. Other features include a graphical hand replayer, advanced multi-tabling options to make playing on as much as 24 tables at the same time a breeze, customizable table and lobby graphics, and excellent game play speed.
PokerStars has repeatedly been called the "Best Online Poker Site" by most, and it's truly a deserved title if there has ever been one. It just does not get any better than this. Start playing on PokerStars today!