The Best Online Poker Rooms

Pokerstars is without doubt the #1 online poker room with the busiest network and a massive selection of daily tournaments. It runs on it's own busy network and is represented by a wealth of poker pros including Negreanu, Raymer, Moneymaker and Hachem. It is also the only poker room (as I write) to offer a stanadlone download client for Apple Mac poker players.

New poker players might find it a tad daunting in that you get a large number of very experienced and clever players at Pokerstars, and it probably lacks teh "coolness" of Full Tilt Poker (see below), but most players aspire to Pokerstars at some stage so chances are you will end up here one day. My suggestion would be to install it now anyway, have a look around and if you feel you're not quite ready for full-on poker, then grab one of the other poker rooms below too so you have a choice. Visit Pokerstars...»

Full Tilt (or "FTP" as it is commonly known) is currently the "cool" place to play. The software is pretty easy to use and it has a very busy network that is proprietary with a unique design. The support is a tad slower than most poker rooms and the bonus is distinctly average, but it's a easy to use interface and is supported by poker stars like Ivey and Benyamine. It's a very popular poker room and the tournament choice is good for newbies and pros alike.

Of all the poker rooms I've tried, I have to admit to finding this the friendliest place, although it's not without it's idiots, and as for action - there was always plenty at any time of day. Definately recommended if you don't mind slow support. Visit FTP...»

You can't really talk about the top poker rooms without a mention for World Poker Tour who unsurprisingly have their own poker room, although US players should note that they are not accepted here (unlike FTP and Pokerstars above). WPT differs from the other poker rooms above in that they have chosen to go on a pre-existing poker network, in this case the Cryptologic network which, while not as busy as the rooms above, does have a much broader cross-section of players and is probably the pick of the bunch for newbies.

That said, Crypto's "Pro View" module in the software is really awesome and makes it easy for experienced players to multi-table quickly and easily. As you'd expect, you can easily join the WPT and EPT qualifiers at World Poker Tour and go for a chance of a seat in the finals. Well worth a look. Visit WPT Poker Room...»

Bet365 is different to the other poker rooms above in that it is not just a dedicated poker room, but also offers an excellent online casino and sportsbook. Thus you can transfer funds between all 3 and it makes life easy for the more "complete" gambler. Also worth noting that, like the WPT above, it doesn't take US players.

Bet365 is the most popular portal in Asia and in the Top 3 in Europe for several reasons, but mainly because they provide multi-language support and very quick payouts. As far as the poker room itself goes, it runs on the very popular and busy iPoker network and like most iPoker poker rooms has a large selection of poker tournaments, satellites and qualifiers. It's a top-notch room and a good place to start, especially for less experienced poker players. Visit Bet365 Poker...»