PokerStars Review

PokerStars Poker Room Review

Overview

Pokerstars is one of the largest online poker rooms on the planet. At the time I visited it to write this, there were 146,935 players online. That level of action going down in one place is epic, and guarantees that you’ll never be without a decent opponent or two when you sign on.

PokerStars is a legal poker site, and is licensed and regulated on the Isle of Man, technically bringing it under the UK’s stringent regulation policies. This also makes it one of the safest places in the world to play.

Games and Software

PokerStars runs on their own proprietary software – they don’t license it from existing vendors. The upside of this approach is that it helps to cut down on the problem of poker bots, since the software isn’t available anywhere else in the industry.

PokerStars provides a download version of their software for both Windows PCs and Apple Macs, which is unusual. There is no Instant Play version of the software at this time.

PokerStars offers the following forms of poker: Texas Hold’em, Omaha Poker, Omaha-8, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High/Low, Razz, HORSE, 5-Card Draw, and 2-7 Tripple Card draw. There are literally thousands of tables available, offering heads up play, sit and go, and both single and multi table tournaments, around the clock.

Bonuses and Loyalty Programs

Sign up for a new account, and you’ll be rewarded with a 100% deposit match up to $50, using the coupon code Stars50. The bonus will be automatically awarded once you’ve earned sufficient Frequent Player Points (FPPs).

If you’re used to playing at online casinos you may think this bonus is a bit on the small side, but consider the following. Poker is a player versus player affair – PokerStars merely hosts the games. At an online casino, the idea of giving you a large bonus is to get you to play slots, and there is no such incentive here. Huge bonuses would be pointless for the house.

Still, PokerStars do reward their players in many other ways. For example, every game you play earns you FPPs, which can be spent on all manner of goodies – PokerStars merchandise, for one thing, or seating into big tournaments with guaranteed prize pools. There are also regular daily freerolls that you can take part in, and a VIP program that earns you even more rewards.

Payment Methods

A broad range of deposit methods are supported at PokerStars. These include most major credit and debit cards such as Visa, Maestro and Mastercard. You can also use Internet payment processors such as NETeller, InstaCash, eChecks and FirePay, and if all else fails you can still use a bank draft or a money order.

Safety and Customer Service

PokerStars take their security seriously, and have built encryption into every level of communication that occurs between their software client on your system and their servers. Your information is safe.

Should you encounter difficulty, there is a detailed FAQ available on their site. At this time, PokerStars offers only email support for direct customer queries, but they have a dedicated staff standing by to answer them 24 hours a day.