In this detailed article, we explain exactly how the PokerStars Stars Rewards program works, how little rakeback you can expect to receive, and who (if anyone) the program is actually good for. We compare Stars Rewards to the old Supernova VIP program, and explain why PokerStars made such a radical shift in their approach to loyalty rewards. Originally, we hoped this new focus on losing players was an attempt to better sustain the poker economy, but additional changes to Stars Rewards made it clear that PokerStars are only interested in maximizing profits at the expense of their customers.
Full Tilt has essentially disappeared as an online poker site. While they used to be a giant in the industry, providing some much-needed competition to PokerStars, they have since been absorbed and assimilated. Even their revolutionary Rush Poker has been rebranded to PokerStars' copycat, Zoom Poker. These days, Full Tilt is nothing more than a PokerStars skin, and without the competion The Stars Group is free to continue making incredibly unpopular changes.
PokerStars is the largest online poker site in the world. However, since being purchased by Amaya (now called "The Stars Group"), they have implemented a number of unpopular changes. The most recent (and radical) change was to eliminate the incredibly popular Supernova rewards program and replace it with Stars Rewards, a program that gives random rewards, and rewards losing poker players. The Stars Rewards program has had a huge negative impact on the earnings for top online professionals.
The Stars Group (AKA Amaya) have now absorbed Full Tilt into the same network as PokerStars. Around the same time, they scrapped the Supernova VIP program, and implemented several other very unpopular changes to the network. Find out how these changes will impact you, and determine if either PokerStars or Full Tilt poker are still the best online poker sites for you.
Party Poker was the first online poker site to capitalize on the poker boom and became one of the biggest poker sites. Although no longer the biggest, their merger with Bwin has ensured a very healthy amount of traffic. Following the merger, both sites completely overhauled their promotions in an attempt to attract more casual players.
PartyPoker offer a unique sign-up bonus that puts FREE cash in your account. What's even better is that you can use this free cash to earn even more free cash, tournament tickets, and deposit bonuses with their "Get Started" Missions. PartyPoker have also recently revamped their loyalty rewards program, replacing it with a much simpler weekly cashback!
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In this detailed article, we explain exactly how the original PokerStars Stars Rewards program worked, and include a link to an analysis of the changes PokerStars have made since (most of which reduce the garbage rewards even further). In its original design, the Stars Rewards program appeared to be an innovate attempt to better sustain the poker economy (by rewarding the players who feed it: the "net depositors"). Sadly, PokerStars have since shown their true intentions with additional rake increases and rewards reductions.
Since purchasing the Rational Group in August 2014, the Amaya Gaming Group have implemented plenty of unpopular changes at PokerStars. The latest is to increase PokerStars rake for a variety of games. Click the "read more" button to learn about the Nov 2014 rake increases at PokerStars, and whether they will affect you. In addition to discussing the changes implemented by Amaya, we will also highlight the best alternative online poker sites for players adversely affected by these changes.
Although there are several casinos in Villahermosa, Mexico, only 1 offers poker: Crown City Casino. Although their poker room has 3 tables, they typically only have games on Fridays and Saturdays. Unless there's a tournament, the games do not start until fairly late (9 - 10pm), and may not start at all. They play exclusively Texas Hold'em with blinds of $25/$25 MXN or $25/$50 MXN.
There are several decent poker rooms in San Jose, Costa Rica. If you are looking for action, your best bet is Pot Limit Omaha at the Taormina Casino or Grand Casino Escazu. There is also plenty of No Limit Hold'em in either colones or US dollars.
There are plenty of casinos in Bogota, and many of those casinos have poker. While the weakness of the Colombian peso makes for a very inexpensive trip, it also makes it difficult to find a game with higher stakes. However, Bogota is absolutely a city worth visiting, even if the lower stakes makes it a challenge to pay for the trip with poker winnings. The people are incredibly friendly (as long as you stay in safe areas), the women are drop dead gorgeous, and the food is delicious. Although the stakes are somewhat low, the locals give plenty of action!
Only 3 casinos in Panama City have active poker games, but each have regular games every night with stakes ranging from $1/$2 to $25/$50. While the rake is excessive, there is plenty of loose action that more than makes up for it. Between the availability of high stakes and the abundance of loose action, Panama City is one of the best places to play poker in Central America.
I headed to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to check out the poker scene there. I somehow managed to show a profit despite some abysmal luck, but did not much enjoy the trip. The most commonly spread games are tough to beat due to high rake and short buy-ins, and the atmosphere at the tables is one of the worst I have ever encountered.
There is plenty of poker activity in Santo Domingo, with a wide variety of casinos offering Texas Hold’em, 3-card Hold’em (a Dominican specialty), and Omaha. Between the high rake and incredibly short buy-ins, there is rarely much money on the table, and it is possibly the worst playing environment I have ever encountered. The locals tend to be loud and obnoxious, the dealers have no control over the game, and the poker room managers seem to make up the rules on the fly.
Although the amount of poker in Bogota was disappointing (especially considering the city's population), this was still one of my favorite poker trips. The reasonable prices, excellent dining, friendly people, and abundance of stunningly beautiful women made for a wonderful vacation. Sadly, the locals seem to prefer playing tournaments (and I was looking primarily to play cash games). However, the cash games I managed to find were loose, with plenty of action, but fairly small stakes.
Many of the world's best poker players have achieved celebrity status, whether due to their excellent play, outstanding results, or the strength of their personalities. However, there are plenty outstanding poker players whose results have not earned them the recognition they deserve. In our opinion, the play of these 9 players in 2014 is worth noting, and each of them has the potential to become a household name within the next few years.
Most people recognize Jennifer Tilly from her movie roles in films such as Liar Liar, The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Bride of Chucky. Poker players will recognize her as the busty beauty frequently gracing the tables with her presence, taking down more than her fair share of pots. Unlike many of the other poker beauties we will feature in this series, Jennifer is not just some random hotty who played a poker tournament once. She has cashed in 53 major tournaments, with total winnings of $891,254!
️️Tournament poker strategy has evolved a lot since the start of the poker boom, which was fueled by Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP Main Event win in 2003. Long-time players can remember the Harrington on Hold’em series of poker books, which introduced groundbreaking information in those early days of online poker. Add modern-day poker solvers and poker players who excel at data analysis to the picture and what you have is a very different game!
️️This may sound like clickbait nonsense, but we will break down exactly how to earn more money from rewards and promotions than you will pay in rake with either Americas Cardroom or True Poker. Not everybody will be able to do so - you will have to play a LOT of poker. Nor are you guaranteed to make money. If you are a losing poker player, then even 160% rakeback may not bring you back to even...but it WILL reduce your losses! To learn how to earn as much as 162% rakeback, click here to read the full article!
The two biggest factors for calculating your minimum tournament bankroll are ROI and tournament field size. In this article, we present tables that not only allow you to easily estimate your required poker bankroll, but also show you why you should be playing smaller tournaments! If you feel you are a winning tournament player, but are not getting the results you feel you deserve, then the problem may be with your bankroll management, not your play.
Nobody wants to spend their entire life trying to grind their poker bankroll from $5,000 to $10,000 by playing $1 poker tournaments! If you want to play multi-table tournaments, you need to do some things to mitigate the variance in your results or you either risk going broke, or being stuck in an eternal grind.
Primarily playing large field poker tournaments is one of the easiest ways to go broke! Winning players can play thousands of these events without showing profit simply because the poker variance is so high. If you believe you are a winning poker player, but are not getting the results you expect from tournament play, then you will find the information presented in this article as helpful as it is shocking!
Despite winning the WSOP Main Event in 1980 and then again in 1981, by 1997 Stu Ungar was deeply in debt and had to be staked $10,000 to play the WSOP Main Event that year, which he won, splitting the $1,000,000 prize. By 1998, he was broke again and in October borrowed $25,000. A month later he was found dead in a hotel room with just $800.
True Poker offers one of the best rewards programs available online, as well as the best rake races for both cash game and sit-and-go poker players. Strangely, despite being the best overall poker site with regards to rewards, the traffic is lower than many other networks.
Americas Cardroom offers two excellent loyalty rewards programs. Use ACR Promo Code "ACRELITE" to join the Elite Benefits program to earn achievement bonuses up to $147,000/year, plus Combat Points you can convert to cash! Use ACR Bonus Code "ACR27RB" to instead get 27% rakeback.
In addition to offering one of the best rewards programs available online, Americas Cardroom also give $50 in FREE tournament tickets to all new players who deposit at least $25, as well as a 100% first deposit bonus up to $1,000! This is in addition to their fantastic weekly cash game, sit & go, and freeroll rake races!
The Winning Poker Network hosts some of the best online poker sites, such as Americas Cardroom and True Poker. Find out how to take advantage of their amazing promotions and discover if either of these sites is the best online poker site for YOU!
Combined traffic from France, Spain and Portugal makes PokerStars Europe the third largest online poker network! Our detailed site analysis compares PokerStars.PT rake, promotions, freerolls, sign-up bonuses and more to help you determine if Poker Stars Portugal is the best online poker site for you.
Combined traffic from France, Spain and Portugal makes PokerStars Europe the third largest online poker network! Our detailed site analysis compares PokerStars.FR rake, promotions, freerolls, sign-up bonuses and more to help you determine if Poker Stars France is the best online poker site for you.
Combined traffic from PokerStars.FR, PokerStars.ES and PokerStars.PT makes PokerStars Europe the third largest online poker network! Our detailed site analysis compares PokerStars.ES rake, promotions, freerolls, sign-up bonuses and more to help you determine if Poker Stars Espana is the best online poker site for you.
PokerStars players in France, Spain and Portugal can now play in a combined player pool with PokerStars Europe. The combined traffic from these 3 countries makes PokerStars.EU the world's 3rd largest poker network. Unfortunately, since PokerStars needs to pay taxes on their earnings (and they're too greedy to take a hit on profits), the rake and fees on PokerStars Europe are much higher than on the PokerStars.com network.
Players from India can no longer play on the main PokerStars site, but instead must play on the newly launched PokerStars India site, which only accepts players from India. Although the Stars Group continues to provide software and support to PokerStars India, the site is actually owned by Sachiko Gaming. The software client (and even the website) are almost identical (since they are legally using PokerStars' software), but there are a few differences.
Winner Poker is a fantastic poker site, offering some of the best poker bonuses available online, but only for very specific players. For example, the Winner Poker sign-up bonus is one of the best available, but only for players who generate between $5,000 and $25,000 in rake & fees annually. Their tournament fees are also very competitive, and their VIP rewards are excellent for players who generate between $100 and $1,000 per year in rake and fees.
William Hill used to be one of our favorite online poker sites, offering VIP rewards that exceeded even those offered by PokerStars' Supernova Elite program. However, major changes to all of the iPoker network sites has greatly diminished our opinion of the site since their loyalty rewards program has been utterly gutted!
Of all the iPoker sites we have reviewed, Boylesports Poker offers the best sign-up bonus by far. Although the 200% bonus up to €1,000 is less than other sites offer, this bonus is earned at 30% rakeback, making it much better. You can also receive €5 in free tournament tickets with a deposit of just €10! Read our full review to find out how to earn the most from the Boylepoker sign-up bonus.
The iPoker network used to be the biggest true online poker network. However, recent changes to their loyalty program have resulted in a drop in traffic. However, poker sites on the iPoker network tend to be affiliated with the biggest online bookmakers in the world, and thus attract plenty of gamblers who know little to nothing about the game of poker. But does the softness of the opposition offset the massive reductions to their rewards programs?
When bwin and PartyPoker merged their traffic, they created one of the biggest poker networks. However, this also resulted in a change to bwin's poker promotions, adopting PartyPoker's simpler rewards structure that seems to primarily target casual players. So, are they one of the best sites for casual players? What about players who generate more than $1,000/year in rake & fees?
Despite being one of the largest online poker rooms, 888 Poker typically offers very mediocre rewards to its players. However, the site is still a very good choice for specific players, especially those that enjoy playing freerolls. Unlike many online poker sites that offer many low value freerolls, 888 Poker offer higher value, less frequent freerolls, which allows you to gain excellent value without wasting too much time. The site is also a good choice for players who generate less than $1,000/year in rake and fees.
The 888 Poker network is one of the largest online poker networks thanks to an aggressive marketing strategy. Although the majority of the players on this network play on the flagship site 888 Poker, there are several other sites that share this network (although all are owned and operated by 888.com).
Stop paying high SNG fees! Compare the best online poker sites for Sit & Go Poker with our comprehensive SNG ranking tables. Our comprehensive rankings compare fees for various buy-ins and table sizes with rewards and promotions for different volumes of play to help you find the best SNG poker site for YOU!
Our detailed MTT ranking tables compare fees for various buy-ins with rewards and promotions for different volumes of play to help you find the best online poker tournament site for YOU! We even have different ranking tables based on your commitment to playing freerolls.
Whether you prefer to play full table, short-handed or heads-up cash games, our no limit cash game rankings tables can help you find the best online poker site for YOU! Our detailed rankings tables allow you to find the best combination of low rake and high rewards based on your specific preferences (table size, stakes, volume of play, etc.).
Players from India can no longer play on the main PokerStars site, but instead must play on the newly launched PokerStars India site, which only accepts players from India. Although the Stars Group continues to provide software and support to PokerStars India, the site is actually owned by Sachiko Gaming. The software client (and even the website) are almost identical (since they are legally using PokerStars' software), but there are a few differences.
