How to Choose an Online Poker Site

Your choice on online poker site can affect your game play. You need to choose a poker site based on size, reputability and reliability. There are certain things you would expect your online poker site to offer you such as promotional offers and tournaments, but what about the basic requirements you may have as an online poker player?

When you start looking for an online poker site to join you will be welcomed by hundreds of sites, the majority of these are sister sites to larger online gaming sites, but as of February 2010 there were five hundred and forty five poker sites to choose from online.

Here are three things to look for when looking for an online poker site for you:

1. Size

A larger and reputable site is essential when choosing an online poker site. These sites normally have thousands of members from around the globe, this means when you have the urge to play, there will be opponents to play against.

PokerStars for example, is considered the largest online poker site in terms of the number of players they have online at any given time, in fact they are twice as big as any of the other online sites.

It’s all very well these sites have enough players, but do they have enough tables to meet the amount of players online. You want to be able to find a table, sit down and play against someone. You don’t want to end up where there are no tables available or worse no one to play against.

2. Games

The larger sites usually offer a wide variety of online poker games from the holdem games to stud games and draw games to the unusual games. There may also be mix games in there where you can play a variety of games at one table.

It’s important any site you choose offers you variety, but over and above this they should also offer you information on how to play the game along with the game rules and winning hand combinations.

3. Promotions

Promotional offers are another important consideration; you want to enjoy a good deposit bonus when you first join the site, but what about after that? You want to enjoy level up rewards, VIP club points and cash rewards and you want to enjoy various promotions and competitions where you can win some amazing prizes.

4. Tournaments

Tournaments are where you get to play in a competitive environment, but you also get to win good cash prizes. The online site you choose should offer you a wide choice of tournaments from fun daily tournaments to the big cash pay-out tournaments, such as Sunday Millions offered by PokerStars.

5. Free Poker Tables

A site offering free poker tables is a big plus, this enables you to learn and master any of the games offered by the site and play with play money rather than your own. It’s an opportunity to learn the game and put your strategy to the test.

http://www.pokerstars.co.uk/poker/getting-started/free-poker/ also enables you to enter free roll tournaments where you play with play money but have the opportunity to win real cash prizes.