What makes a good poker site?
There is a lot more to a poker room than its bonus and graphics (although the sites themselves might not want you to know it).
Good poker sites have:
- Smooth, easy to use, and glitch-free poker software. Just sign up, download the software, and go to the play money tables. The play money tables use the same software as the real money tables. If you like the software at the play money tables, you will like the real money tables.
- Lots of player traffic so tables are always running. Go to www.PokerScout.com to look at poker traffic rankings. You want a website that has lots of players so that there is always a game going on when you sign in.
- Good payment processing, including lots of deposit options such as credit cards and eChecks, and lots of withdrawal options such as paper checks or bank wires. Check out the "Banking" or "Real Money" page of the online poker room. It should have all deposit and withdrawal options you have at the poker site.
- Responsive and knowledgeable support teams to handle any potential problems. Visit the website's "Support" page. Call, email, or chat with the support team. Ask a few basic questions.
- A sign up bonus with easy to understand and easy to clear requirements. Check out if the bonus is really something you can withdraw, meaning it is "clearable", or if it is just a marketing scheme. Check how many days it takes to clear the bonus. Sixty to ninety days is reasonable. Check also that you get your money after you clear the entire bonus. And check if you need a bonus code to actually redeem the bonus.
- Reward programs that offer tangible rewards such as cash-back, merchandise, or freeroll entries (pretty much anything above and beyond reload bonuses). This is the trickiest part of playing online poker. Just make sure there is actually a rewards program, that you understand how the rewards are given, and that the poker site actually follows its own rewards program.
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