Best Online Poker Room

[Notorious H.O.P.]

Now that the semi-monthly poker game I used to play in has become a quarterly game or worse, I've decided to try online poker. I've played in a few games on PartyPoker using a friends account and have had some decent success in doing so but I'm looking to start with my own account.

I know several people in here have mentioned playing in various online poker rooms but is there any one site that is an almost consensus "best online poker room"?

I'm looking for a max initial deposit of $50, hopefully something with a decent bonus on first deposit and/or reloads (a reasonably obtainable bonus), semi-frequent opportunities for free invites into cash tournaments (the more frequent the better obviously), both play and money games and good software.

I know the above describes most poker rooms but I know there will be some good suggestions from my fellow SpursTalkers. I just don't want to deal with trying 5 or 6 different rooms if people before me have already tried several and can produce a Top 2 or 3 list that I can sample and choose my favorite. Any help would be appreciated and I'll see you at the tables.

[MannyIsGod]

It really depends on what you want the most out of a room. There is a long list of great rooms, but they all have different attributes that make them good.

The 2 best for me are Party Poker and Poker Stars and are the only 2 I play at the moment barring any bonuses that I am trying to take advandtadge of.

Party Poker features some of the softest games on the net, and anything short of 3-6 limit and $100 NL are good bets for easy cash games. The software is good as well, and they tend to offer at least one month reload bonus for around 20-25% up to about $100. Free money never hurt anyone.

I don't like their tournaments though. They leave you too shortstacked to start with and it turns into a race situation. However, they do have very poor compe ion in their tournaments right up to about the 100 dollar buy in so you can make quite a bit.

But for me, Poker Stars is where its at for tournaments. They have tons more and the structure is much better. The skill level is better, but not overly so and you can still beat the game quite well up to the medium buy ins.

BTW - I'm talking all single table tournaments here. I don't play many Multi Table tourneys so I'm not sure where the best of those are.

Stars has tough ring games though. They are way rougher than Party, and you won't win nearly as much there if you're a good player, and you may not win much at all if you're only a decent player. They offer a reloads every now and then, but they don't have a first deposit bonus which sucks.

So I play Party for ring cash games, and Stars for tourneys.

I've played Poker Room and they are pretty decent as well. They have a monthly reload bonus and have decent games but the ring games are pretty tight as well.

Pacific is super loose and probably has the worst players you can find anywhere online, but their software just sucks ass. They also have one of the higher rakes online which makes it much harder to beat the lower limits.

I play Hold 'em exclusivly so I don't know what to tell you if you play Stud or Ohmaha.

[SmotPoker]

Pacific poker is aight.

[Notorious H.O.P.]

Thanks Manny. I should have also said that while everyone wants to play somewhere where there are soft games, you also don't want to play somewhere where half the table is gunning for gutshot straight draws that wind up busting your pocket cowboys on the rivers over and over. For sure, the pot padding is nice when people play wrecklessly but if you're consistently busted by poorer starting hands no matter how aggressively you bet, then that gets pretty frustrating.

[Jimcs50]

I like Fulltiltpoker the best. You have the most tournaments and you get to eithet play against the pros or just watch them play and chat with them. In favt, Phil Ivey was playing a play money, 20-40 game the other night and you could actually play against him. There was quite a waiting list, but you never know, you might see him sign up and you can jump in first.

The graphics are the best too and you can see your last hands at the click of a button.

[MannyIsGod]

Thanks Manny. I should have also said that while everyone wants to play somewhere where there are soft games, you also don't want to play somewhere where half the table is gunning for gutshot straight draws that wind up busting your pocket cowboys on the rivers over and over. For sure, the pot padding is nice when people play wrecklessly but if you're consistently busted by poorer starting hands no matter how aggressively you bet, then that gets pretty frustrating.

Well, my current aim with my online poker playing is to maximize my profits. Its all about the money with me. And yeah, playing at the loose tables will get your premium hands cracked quite a bit, but the situation you describe is incredible positive expected value. You're going to make a load of money on tables like that.

Give me a table where I have 4 or 5 people chasing a 11:1 draw when I have a made hand. I play limit and you get used to being drawn out, but as Jess can attest I still sometimes feel like throwing my monitor across the room because of an asshole with 92o cracking my rockets or the dip with the runner runner flush that screws up my flopped nut straight.

[MannyIsGod]

I love Ivey, he's the best pro IMO. I never want to play against him though.

[SequSpur]

Poker is gambling. You may get on a hotstreak. You may go through dry times.

I was playing last night, I had a straight and 5 hearts, either way a decent hand, went all in and lost.

Pisses me off.

But that is poker. A game of luck.

[MannyIsGod]

Poker is not a game of luck. When you have the exact same odds as the people you are playing against luck does not determine who will win in the long run. You're not playing against the house with losing odds and you're not pumping nickels into a slot machine. You're playing against opponents who - like you - think that you have to be lucky to win. That you have to be lucky enough to get pocket aces in order to win.

Play 10 thousand hands, I'll tell you how many times you should have Aces. And the actual number will be damn close for everyone. The more hands you play, the closer to the mean you'll be.

So if everyone is going to get the same cards the same amount of times, the only difference is in how you play those cards.

[SequSpur]

If you play in a tourney where beginners are winning, I would call that luck.

When cards are blind, you don't know who has aces or not. Because pots can be stolen before any cards are seen. That is called pure luck. Do you take a risk on dropping your whole stack just to see some cards? Uh no.. you fold.

What is the percentages of a A K hand? Doesn't a pair of 2s beat that? Luck.

Dude, gambling, poker, horseracing, sportsbetting is all about luck. Who woulda thought the Spurs would've lost to the Hawks?

Luck.

[MannyIsGod]

People like Sequ are the people who will be paying my tuition next semester.

[SequSpur]

People like Sequ are the people who will be paying my tuition next semester.

See ya on the corner holding up that sign.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

If you play in a tourney where beginners are winning, I would call that luck.

When cards are blind, you don't know who has aces or not. Because pots can be stolen before any cards are seen. That is called pure luck. Do you take a risk on dropping your whole stack just to see some cards? Uh no.. you fold.

What is the percentages of a A K hand? Doesn't a pair of 2s beat that? Luck.

Dude, gambling, poker, horseracing, sportsbetting is all about luck. Who woulda thought the Spurs would've lost to the Hawks?

Luck.

Then some of these pro poker players are the luckiest guys in the world.

[MannyIsGod]

Johnny Chan is the luckiest man alive, only followed by Doyle Brunson.

[SequSpur]

The best player doesn't always win just as the best starting hand doesn't always win. Poker has luck. That luck keeps people playing for years even if they consistently lose

Do a Google search on this, and pull out your notepad and learn a life lesson.

[SequSpur]

How many people in the US play Poker? How many are on TV? Maybe .005%?

Luck.

Alot of those guys on TV are in the circuit. They aren't beating millions of players every day just to get in. They are already there, because of experience, charisma, whatever.

[MannyIsGod]

Poker is not a game of luck. It's a game of skill
- David Sklansky

Most people underrate luck in the short run and overrate it in the long run.
In other words, a good player could have a losing week but could never have a
losing year.
- David Sklansky

[SequSpur]

So if everyone is going to get the same cards the same amount of times, the only difference is in how you play those cards.

If you're raising blinds, you aren't going to play 10 thousand hands.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

poker is a combination of luck and skill

[MannyIsGod]

We're not talking about whether or not getting to the final table at the WSOP involves luck. We're talking about whether or not poker is a game that requires skill to beat or simply involves luck.

Anyone who can understand simple college level statistics - its not even that complex - can gain a simple understanding of the principles that make poker profitable. Its about expected value.

If you and are betting on a situation that has a certain outcome a certain amount of times, there is an expected value on the bets. For instance, if we bet 1 dollar each time on a coin flip, each of us has an EV of zero. We'll break even because heads will come up half the time and tails will come up the other time.

But if we are betting on an event that occours one way 70% of the time, and 30% of the other one of us will make money in the long run. Why? Because one situation will win more in the long run, much more. So while my pocket aces may lose to 72o 17% of the time when heads up, I'll gladly max out the bets in that situation because I have positive expected value.

So then poker turns into a game where you maximize betting when the odds are in your favor, and simply not participate when you are on the losing end of the deal.

And thats the most basic element of what makes poker a (easily) beatable game. You'll win a small perecentage of the hands you see, but by maximizing those hands you'll make a profit overall.

But what the do numbers have to do with it? Its all luck!

[SequSpur]

Poker is not a game of luck. It's a game of skill
- David Sklansky

Most people underrate luck in the short run and overrate it in the long run.
In other words, a good player could have a losing week but could never have a
losing year.
- David Sklansky

Look who you are quoting....... A dude that has won.

Ask the millions that are playing on the net right now, if they didn't get their asses booted by a lucky turn or river card.....

How many times did you get booted this week? What about the GTG?

Poker is a lucky mofoing game.

Good Luck Manny......

[MannyIsGod]

If you're raising blinds, you aren't going to play 10 thousand hands.

WTF are you talking about? I have over 60 thousand of my own hands logged. Not every game played is tournament structure.

[MannyIsGod]

Look who you are quoting....... A dude that has won.

Ask the millions that are playing on the net right now, if they didn't get their asses booted by a lucky turn or river card.....

How many times did you get booted this week? What about the GTG?

Poker is a lucky mofoing game.

Good Luck Manny......

Not nearly as many times as I won. And thats what you don't understand.

The point isn't to win everytime, it is to play when the odds are in your favor because in the long run that will ensure a profit.

[SequSpur]

Bro, a game like Blackjack has statistics.

In Holdem, there are to many factors into winning and losing. In Holdem, you can play conservative and watch all the suicide bombers kill themselves off one by one and then leave the real poker to those that understand it. If you get at a table where everyone is playing conservative, it can be along night.

Statistics in holdem was invented to make it seem that the game is actually tough, prestigious and a certain skill level. It also helps players feel important that they can be called a professional at something rather than get a job and then playing for fun.

Beginners are winning every day, so actually it can be compared to a pull of a slot machine.

A holdem game can end in one hand. No statistics involved. Statistics are overrated if your playing a game with beginners and professionals, which is usually the case on the internet.

[MannyIsGod]

Ok dude, I give up. I guess I'll see you on the corner then.