Pokerstars Poker

Pokerstars Poker Review

It’s hard to say what the biggest online casino or sportsbook is. There are certainly a lot of sites that claim to be number 1, but they can’t all hold the title. 

When it comes to poker, however, everyone plays second fiddle to PokerStars. It’s by far the biggest poker network on the web and generates the sort of numbers that other operators can only dream about. 

If you play online poker, you have a PokerStars account. It’s as simple as that.

If you’re new to this site and are wondering what all the fuss is about, or you’ve been away for a while and want to know why PokerStars is still number 1, check out the following review.

Welcome Promotions

PokerStars offers all new players up to £50 in tournament tickets when they deposit at least £10. The funds are given as cash and Spin & Go tickets. Spin & Go is a Sit and Go variation that randomises the prize pool before the game begins. It means you could end up playing for over £500 despite only buying in for £5 and going up against two other players.

You will receive the bonus in increments over 6 days and have 24 hours to use each of the free tickets you receive.

Other Bonuses

PokerStars has a loyalty program that gives you points in exchange for accumulating rake. These points can then be used to play hands of video poker for a chance to win a jackpot. They can also be swapped for tournament tickets and other prizes.

You don’t need to be a big spender or even a frequent player to benefit from this program. If you don’t gamble much or often, you should look into the site’s many freerolls and satellite tournaments. The former are completely free to join and give you a shot at winning modest prizes. The latter offer a potential route to big-ticket tournaments.

One of my earliest experiences of PokerStars was winning s 6,500 player freeroll that earned me around £200. It might not sound like much considering the size of the field or the fact it took 7 hours of play, but I learned a lot from that tournament and that’s what freerolls are all about.

If you’re more toward the pro level, check out the regular 7-figure poker tournaments and multi-day events. You can win life-changing sums of money and earn yourself a name in the online poker community. Who knows, you could be sponsored by PokerStars one day.

Variations, Games, and Features

PokerStars has become the barometer against which all other poker sites are measured. And not without reason. 

It does a few things really well.

Firstly, you have the layout. In my opinion, it’s faster, slicker, and easier to use than any other network out there.

Secondly, the game layout is just as slick and stylish. Poker sites often struggle to find the right balance between speed and style. They either put too many animations and graphics into the game and create something frustratingly slow, or they take everything out and create something bland.

With PokerStars, every player is represented by a small circle featuring their avatar and a text with their name and chips. Games move quickly and I rarely experience any annoying timeouts and disconnects.

Finally, the sheer size of the PokerStars network means there are more players here than anywhere else. 

This does two things. 

Firstly, it means tournaments fill up pretty quickly. Sit and Go tournaments are loaded almost instantly—there are always players waiting—and multi-table tournaments have thousands of players and huge prize pools.

This is true regardless of what time you play. I don’t play as much as I used to, but not too long ago I would play at all hours of the day and I never had an issue finding a game.

The second benefit is that you don’t need to limit yourself to Texas Hold’em. 

I personally enjoy playing No Limit 5 Card Draw, and PokerStars is pretty much the only place I can do that. This is also where I discovered Badugi, a unique poker game that I have only seen here and at 888poker.

The tournaments aren’t as big or as frequent for these alternative games, but you still don’t need to wait very long and there’s always some action somewhere.

Other variants include Stud, Omaha, and mixed games.

And there’s more.

A number of years ago, the poker world was dominated by PokerStars and Full Tilt. Players were always split between one or the other and while many preferred PokerStars for its variety, Full Tilt was the only one to have Zoom Poker.

But then Full Tilt went under, PokerStars acquired it, and these days PokerStars has several variations of Turbo/Zoom poker. These games give you a new way to play and are perfect for impatient players who are tired of long-winded MTTs.

Deposits, Withdrawals, and Customer Support

PokerStars accepts a few different payment options, including debit cards, Neteller, MuchBetter, Skrill, and PayPal. Withdrawals are incredibly quick and there is no fee.

The last time I made a PokerStars withdrawal, I received an incoming funds notification email from PayPal before I’d even closed the PokerStars cashier. You can’t get much quicker than that.

Verdict: PokerStars Review

It’s hard to find fault with PokerStars as it’s by far the biggest and best poker network out there. If I had to highlight any issues, it would be the support, which is not as quick or as easy to use as perhaps it should be.

That would be nit-picking though, and overall, it’s as close to perfection as you’re going to get from an online poker site.

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