PokerStars
Poker Stars, established in 2000, has grown immensely over the past 8 years to become the world's largest online poker room in regards to player traffic - an especially difficult task considering they are not a part of any network or shared player base. An extensive tournament schedule, valuable promotions and intense range of action, from micro-limits to high-stakes, has drawn more players to Poker Stars than any other online poker room.
PokerStars - The Nuts
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PokerStars - The Rags
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A unique feature of Poker Stars is that their large variety of games can all be played at tournament level. The massive player activity ensures good action at all game varieties, levels and stakes. Lower limit Holdem games offer fairly soft competition in ring games. Tournament play can get a little tougher. Generally, the bigger the tournament/prize, the more fierce the competition will become, especially towards the final table.
| PokerStars No Limit Poker Games | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Holdem | Omaha Holdem | Omaha Hi-Lo | Seven Card Stud | Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo |
| Five Card Draw | 2-7 Triple Draw | Razz | H.O.R.S.E. | H.O.S.E. |
| PokerStars Limit Poker Games | ||||
| Texas Holdem | Omaha Holdem | Omaha Hi-Lo | Seven Card Stud | Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo |
| PokerStars Pot Limit Poker Games | ||||
| Texas Holdem | Omaha Holdem | |||
For those newer to PokerStars smaller stakes are available from as little as .02sb .04bb and .01sb/.02bb in the No Limit Holdem area of the lobby. High stakes poker players will find Limit Holdem stakes of $200sb $400bb and No Limit stakes as high as $100sb $200 bb.
Play At The Largest Online Poker Room
PokerStars Player Traffic
With the highest player traffic in the world, (January 2008) activity can be found in all game varieties at all levels. In fact, if you think over your choice in sit n go tournaments on this site to long, you'll find yourself waiting the minute or so before the next one starts as you'll have missed the one you were originally aiming for. The massive player base includes many from the poker players from the US, Europe and Australia, keeping the action running at nearly all hours of the day.
As of January 2008, peak hour ring game traffic averages 17,400, tournament traffic 135,000. Limit and No Limit Holdem ring games with low stakes, $1/$2 and under, easily offer a 40-50% viewed flop, sometimes as high as 60%. Higher stakes see tighter competition. The level of the tournament coincides with the level of competition, high-stakes equals very tight play.
PokerStars Poker Software
The privately developed and owned poker software that powers Poker Stars is available but download only, though as of December 2008, a downloadable Mac version is also provided. The impressive software platform is very reliable and stable, fully functional, graphically appealing and offers many useful features and customizable options. Multi-tabling is well suited, allowing players to participate in unlimited simultaneous tournaments, or up to 8 ring games at once.
Poker Stars provides frequent updates to the software, though surprisingly, there is little or no downtime as a result. Even with 135,000 active players participating in tournaments at peak hours, the software continues to run flawlessly, without interruption or loss of speed.
Mac Poker at PokerStars
In December of 2008, PokerStars underwent the largest upgrade to date, installing a beta version of Mac compatible software. Almost identical to the PC version, the new Mac poker software currently only lacks the Preferred Seat and Layout Manager features.
Poker Stars Poker Lobby Information
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Poker Stars Bonus Codes & Promotions
PokerStars To start off the new year, throughout 2008, new players at Poker Stars can receive a 100% matching bonus of up to $50 on their first deposit, using Bonus Code "First2008". Valuable Reload Bonuses are offered on occasion through email, so keep an eye out for those as well.
Register For Your PokerStars Bonus!
Clearing Poker Stars Bonuses
When a player receives a first deposit bonus at Poker Stars, it will be held in a separate 'pending bonus' account. To release the bonus, players must earn FPP (frequent player points) equal to 10 times the bonus amount ($50 bonus = 500 points). The player has 6 months to release the full bonus in one lump sum.
PokerStars Poker Tournaments
To register to play in a PokerStars tournament, choose the "Tourney" tab, then the "Sit & Go", or "Events" tab from the main PokerStars lobby.
The tournament schedule at Poker Stars is intense, with a constant array of tournaments ongoing at all times. The schedule is loaded with guaranteed tournaments, freerolls, freezeouts, satellites to major events (WSOP, WPT, EPT, WCP, etc.) and turbo's for those who enjoy the fastest paced action.
Low level tournaments are consistent, offering juicier competition, while larger tournaments are a littler further in between, presenting tougher opposition. High stakes $500+ buy-in tournaments are easy to find, with downright fierce action near the final table.
Each Sunday, players can partake in the most famous tournament at Poker Stars, the 'Sunday Million', a $1,000,000 Guaranteed tournament with a minimum first place prize of $100,000. In recent months, the player attraction to the Sunday Million has been so overwhelming, the prize pool has risen as high as $2.4 million. Direct buy-in is usually $215, or $535 on the last Sunday of each month. Enter satellites all day, every day, for as little as $3 to win your way into the online poker rooms biggest guaranteed event.
Another Sunday tournament occurs before the 'Sunday Million', known as the 'Sunday Warm up'. This $500,000 Guaranteed is held at 12:45 ET (17:45 GMT) each Sunday, with a minimum $75,000 to the first place winner. Direct buy-in is $215, or as low as $3 by winning one of the many Sunday Warm up satellite competitions.
Every Saturday at Poker Stars, players can enter a Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo tournament with a buy-in of $215. The prize pool is determined by the number of player entries.
Major Tournaments at PokerStars
PokerStars Freerolls are scheduled throughout each day at Poker Stars, commonly awarding entry to bigger freerolls and other events. Three times a day, players can compete in a $250 Freeroll, costing only 10 FPP to enter. Loyal players are often invited to exclusive freerolls worth at least $1,000 and as high as $10,000.
PokerStars Customer Service
Poker Stars customer support is a win lose situation really. On the plus side, support is lightning fast, reliable and always friendly. On the downside, however, support can only be contacted via email. The FAQ section is pretty useful for general questions and information about the online poker room and it's many features.
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Depositing and Withdrawing at PokerStars
Poker Stars provides an extensive list of deposit and withdraw methods, making it as easy as possible to make payments and transfer funds to/from the online poker room. This is especially appreciated by US players who often have difficulties with fewer payment methods available. Recommended for US players is ePassporte, Cashiers Check / Money Order, and eCheck.
All other Poker Stars players are able to utilize the following deposit and withdrawal methods after installing a Pokerstars download :
PokerStars Poker Deposit Options:
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PokerStars online Poker room Withdrawal Options
- Check
- NETeller
- FPS (ePassporte)
- VISA
- Maestro
- Solo
- MoneyBookers
PokerStars Company Information
Poker Stars is a privately developed and owned online poker room, residing in and regulated by the laws of the Isle of Man, in the British Isles. Poker Stars holds a gaming license from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, located in the Mohawk Indian Nation territory of Canada.