Poker Stars Review

BACKGROUND

Poker Stars is a registered legal business located in San Jose, Costa Rica. The site has been around since 2002, but has grown dramatically in size since its inception.

GAMES OFFERED

Poker Stars is the home of the world series of online poker (WSOP) the largest online tournament. Poker Stars is by far and away the biggest tournament site.

	Hold'em	Omaha	7-Card Stud	5-Card Stud	Draw	Crazy Pinapple	Razz
High
Low
Hi/Lo
Hi/Lo 8 or better
Pot Limit
No Limit
Multi-Table Tournaments
Tournament
5-Card
7-Card
1/1

$0.02/0.04 to $30/$60.

1/1 tournaments are available at this site.

SITE MEMBERSHIP

Poker Stars is a large poker site with up to 5000 member online during peak times. The site is probably the third largest site, behind Party Poker site and Paradise Poker. If a big tournament is taking place, such as the World Series of Online Poker (WSOOP) site numbers swell to around 7500 or so. Generally, the tournaments are a real favorite at this site, but structured, no limit and pot limit games still offer some good value. The pot limit Hold'em games are growing in popularity and at times offers excellent value.

GAME PLAY

Tournament action at this site is unparalleled. Tournaments run 24/7 and range from very popular sit and go tournaments to huge multi-table tournaments. The structured games here are a fraction on the tight side from my experience. You really have to hunt around to find a good game. Pot limit games offer some good value as well as the low limit games.

SOFTWARE

Poker Stars software is right up there with the best on the net. The server runs incredibly smoothly. The software developers here have done an excellent job. Poker Stars was the first site, as far as I am aware, that offers players the option to upload a photograph (gif file) as a playing ID. This simple feature is really popular and I am sure has added to the sites popularity and membership base. The site also has excellent statistics available. You can check things like the amount of hands you have won as a percentage, the number of pots you have been in etc.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

PokerStars to not have 24 hour online support like some sites. However, you can email the site an replies are generally pretty prompt.

PROMOTIONS

PokerStars have a Frequent Player Points (FPP) system that will reward players for playing at the site. Players can accumulate points by playing in ring games and in multi-table tournaments that include a tournament fee. Theses points are redeemable for special tournament buy-ins, promotions, as well as various other prizes which will be announced from time to time.