Players Only
PlayersOnly Poker opened in 2006 on the Cake poker network, joining a small but growing group of poker sites accepting not only U.S. players, but also U.S. credit card deposits.
The poker room has, in an extremely short period of time, grown incredibly quickly and offers maybe the loosest and juiciest games available online. A lot of the player base comes right through the sportsbook and casino, so a large portion of the players are rookies and very easy to beat.
The software and graphics are quite nice, but thankfully not at the expense of functionality - the site was developed by a group of poker players really looking to "reinvent" online poker and keep things geared towards the player, so functionality was also kept a priority.
The software offers basically everything most poker players need - table stats, quick play, multi-table ability for over 10 tables simultaneously and lots more great support features.
The games offered are all variations of Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo. The games vary between No-Limit, Pot-Limit and Fixed-Limit, with full-table games, shorthanded and heads-up tables all available. The games are concentrated in No-Limit Hold'em, especially at the small and middle limits, but at peak hours players can be found at pretty much any limit and game.
PlayersOnly Poker offers a decent amount of tournaments in both Omaha and Texas Hold'em. The traffic volume overall is in the lower segment of the industry, but it is growing quickly. On the promotional side, PlayersOnly Poker offers WSOP freerolls and a nice sign-up bonus, among others.
Real-money player statistics as of October 2009 show 1,700 ring-game players at peak hours, and 6,000 tournament players at peak hours.
Full Tilt
Launched in 2004, Full Tilt Poker is now by far one of the biggest and most famous poker sites online, growing daily and always pushing to build its reputation as a market leader.
Adding to its visibility and prestige is of course "Team Full Tilt," the site's main sponsored pros and the bulk of its ownership group, including poker legends Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and Andy Bloch.
The site's famous catchphrase is "Learn, chat and play with the pros," and they definitely live up to it, with the main sponsored team plus with a growing list of Full Tilt "red pros" found playing regularly at a variety of limits.
For the regular player there's action at virtually any game and limit 24/7, with games offered including Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, Five-Card Draw and Razz.
Full Tilt Poker is also one of few sites with mixed games like H.O.R.S.E., H.A. and H.O.S.E. in both cash games and tournaments, making the game variation one of the most extensive and impressive online.
Full Tilt Poker's software has some very innovative functions, is very stable and features excellent graphics - definitely measuring up as one of the best in the industry. The cartoon avatars are a bit tiresome to look at after a while, but not a huge obstacle to overcome.
Same goes for the perpetual spamming and $5 transfer requests in the chat wherever the pros are, but that can also easily be turned off.
For those that want to look like the pros, the points shop is excellent, offering players all sorts of FTP merch that can be bought with their Full Tilt Poker points.
Overall, Full Tilt delivers what you expect - plenty of tables and games to pick from, a strong pro presence to give you the cool "poker experience" and a chance to watch some super sick games at the marquee $500/$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em tables.
The hard work and huge advertising budget has definitely paid off, as real-money player statistics as of October 2009 show 10,500 ring-game players at peak hours, and 70,000 tournament players at peak hours.
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Ultimate Bet
ltimate Bet is one of the world's leading poker rooms and a real innovator in the business, with many new software features added over the last few years and a nice, sleek look and feel.
It’s also the home of several poker pro endorsers – most famously 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke – who can be found at the tables occasionally to chat with.
The biggest news lately, however, is UltimateBet completing its merge with Absolute Poker in Nov. 2008 to form the new Cereus poker network, making it one of the busiest poker rooms in the world.
Ultimate Bet has always featured massive promotions and a great frequent player program, and with the added clout of the Absolute Poker player base, player perks have only got better.
Traffic is now much more consistent 24/7 and complements the great game variety, which includes ultra high-limit games, mixed games like H.O.R.S.E. plus Blackjack and Elimination Blackjack.
The Ultimate Bet software is very good and very fast, with quite a few innovative functions. The graphics are also crisp and clean and offer a great playing experience, with the added bonus of now being able to upload your own personal image for your avatar – a nice feature.
With the merge, traffic volume is now in the top five of the industry and essentially double what it was before. Real-money player statistics as of October 2009 show 2,100 ring-game players at peak hours and 14,000 tournament players at peak hours.
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Absolute Poker
Absolute Poker is an established poker room, mostly known for a few major missteps in the past, that has taken a big step towards the future with a new ownership group and a merger with Ultimate Bet.
Already offering fund transfers between the two sites, in late 2008 the two rooms completed the shift to the new Cereus poker network, greatly increasing the player base and overall traffic volume.
The new motto for Cereus is "Bigger. Badder. Better." and it's hard to disagree for the most part, as Absolute Poker has created an overall high-quality poker room, offering great, easy-to-use software and an excellent playing experience.
The Absolute Poker software went through a major update as a result of the merge and now offers all the features expected from a major player in the online poker community - fast play, good looking graphics, nice statistics functions and really great multi-table functionality.
The game variety at Absolute Poker is also very good, offering Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, H.O.R.S.E. and H.O.S.E. The action is still somewhat concentrated to Texas Hold'em, and in particular shorthanded games, but Omaha is picking up in popularity as are the mixed games.
Overall, the new team behind Absolute Poker has created a high-quality poker room with reliable and fast software, and the merger with UltimateBet will only make the playing experience better and better.
Players are also taking note, as real-money player stats as of October 2009 now show 1,800 ring-game players at peak hours and 9,000 tournament players at peak hours.