It's important to know when signing up for a new poker room how big the sites player base is, the quality of the software and also the reliability of the site operator and network.
Most poker sites are part of a network of sites or "skins" - This maintains a better volume of players by pooling them and offers a better variety of games across all stakes.
If you have found poker software which you are comfortable with it's worth checking out and playing the other sites in the same network. You can gain additional bonus sign-up money from bonus hunting while continuing to play on a familiar platform. Most networks allow this, but some require signing up with same details and a common ID across the same network.
Poker Stars & Party Poker dominated the market, with 80% of online players having played there at one time or another. FullTilt Poker has recently approaching Party Poker for 2nd place as a result of the US poker bill. New poker rooms offer increased bonuses and incentives to try them out, many offering newer and innovative software as well as attracting new inexperienced players making for some of the easiest to win poker games online. Newer & smaller mid size sites like Bodog Poker also tend to have a lower number of entries for guaranteed tournaments offering even better odds of picking up prize money.
Below is a list of poker sites and which network they are part of - Ranked in order of network / poker site size starting with the biggest players in the industry. In brackets the approximate peak daily real money player numbers.
Poker Stars (26,000) - Very big tournament site, had a reputation as a tough site, but growth has made it more suitable for novice players. Now offering a deposit bonus and the promotions and tournaments offers are huge. PokerStars isn't as tough in the lower limits.
iPoker Network / Playtech (9,000) - Growing quickly and has good volume in peak hours. Good playability & graphics. Very loose players across the sites.
OnGame / PokerRoom Network / OnGame (5,000) - Stylish and very playable software. Network has very high volume and has great range of games. Great choice for Macs.
UltimateBet / Excapsa Network (2,250) - UltimateBet which has very good player volume and great software. Couple of small skins but you can't sign up at more than one site in network. Generally moderate quality players.
Microgaming / PrimaPoker Network (1,600) - The software is functional and the sites within the network have regular promotions, good sign-up bonus & terribly loose Players.
Cryptologic Network (900) - New Software is much improved, efffective and the sites in the network have regular good bonuses, promotions & very loose players.
Action Poker Network (150) - Graphics are OK and has good lobby info. Very small player base. Good bonuses are attracting loose Pacific Poker style players.
4kingpoker.com is not a poker room operator. Online Poker is not legal in all juristictions around the world, so please ensure that it is legal in the country / area you reside in. 4kingpoker accepts no liability whatsoever for the information contained on this site. All information is for entertainment purposes only.
