PokerStars is home to some of the most inspiring poker professionals. It is home to Chris Moneymaker (2003 WSOP champion), Greg Raymer (2004 WSOP champion) and Joe Hachem (2005 WSOP champion). It is also home to Daniel Negreanu, one of the most recognizable names in the world of professional poker. More so than these celebrity endorsements however, PokerStars is home to online poker excellence.
| Cash Game Choice | 10/10 | Support Options | 9.0/10 |
| Cash Game Traffic | 10/10 | Financial Security | 9.0/10 |
| Cash Game Competition | 9.2/10 | Deposit and Withdrawal Choices | 9.0/10 |
| Rake Costs | 8.0/10 | Overall | 9.1/10 |
Cash Game Choice – (10/10)
The only word that can be used to describe the excellence of the PokerStars cash game offering would be the word ‘wow’. No matter how you slice it, PokerStars has one of the best if not the best cash game choice in the world. In addition to all of the normal and hi/lo variants of the big three online poker cash games (Hold ‘Em, Omaha and Seven Card Stud), you can expect to find the following cash game tables at PokerStars:
5 Card Draw
8 game forced rotation
Badugi
HORSE
HOSE
Various mixed games
Razz
Lowball Single Draw 2-7
Lowball Triple Draw 2-7
With all this choice, you’ll never get bored at PokerStars. It can realistically make the claim that if it doesn’t have a cash game variant, you’d be hard-pressed to find that variant elsewhere. This is a claim that only PokerStars can make.
Cash Game Traffic – (10/10)
The cash game traffic that PokerStars is able to bring to the table is traffic that is so immense that no other site even comes close to matching it. On average, you can expect to see between 20k and 25k players in cash games on PokerStars. That is fully 5k more than the number two site according to the best cash game poker numbers available. On average, those numbers are split percentage wise in the following manner:
85% of the players play Hold ‘Em variants
7% of the players play Omaha variants
3% of the players play Seven Card Stud variants
1% of the players play Five Card Draw variants
4% of the players are split between the remaining cash game variants
Even though these numbers are approximate between the different cash games, they are enough to illustrate that PokerStars has decent traffic counts to most of the games that they offer. This means that if you’re a big fan of any uncommon game, Poker Stars is your best chance of being able to find that game online.
Cash Game Competition – (9.5/10)
PokerStars has some of the softest competition that you are ever likely to find at the online cash game tables. The fact of the matter is that the large player counts that the cash games at PokerStars have are player counts that work in favour of making the competition that much easier to beat. For that reason, you can expect Poker Stars competition to remain soft relative to most other websites for quite a long time to come.
Rake Costs – (8.0/10)
In most cases, you’ll find that the rake at PokerStars works out to an effective 5% of the pot up to a maximum of $3.00. This might work out slightly different depending on the game specifics and the time at which the rake is taken, but on average that is the rake that you’ll get. Within the industry, this is exactly standard.
Support Options – (9.0/10)
PokerStars has two methods of support available. You can start by looking through the FAQ and other help documentation available on the website. If that turns out now to answer your question, you can take it to the next level by sending an e-mail to support@pokerstars.com. Both of those support methods are solid without being overwhelming in terms of high quality. Also, the lack of additional support options does give PokerStars a lower than expected grade within this area.
Financial Security – (9.0/10)
The financial security at PokerStars is beyond reproach. They’ve been operating for nearly a decade now and have yet to have any major breach of their security arrangements. With them being the most tempting target in online poker, this is a direct testament to the financial security that you can enjoy with them.
Deposit and Withdrawal Choices – (9.0/10)
The following deposit methods are available:
E-Check
Visa
MasterCard
Debit Card
Bank Draft
Check By Mail
Click2Pay
ClickandBuy
Moneybookers
EntroPay
Money Order
NETeller
Wire Transfer
PaySafeCard
Web Money
Ukash
The following withdrawal methods are available:
E-Check
Visa
MasterCard
Debit Card
Wire Transfer
Check By Mail
Click2Pay
Moneybookers
NETeller
Web Money
Overall – (9.1/10)
PokerStars is the best online poker site around. Nobody can argue with that.