Carbon Poker is giving its players all 4 shots at getting in on the $100K Freeroll action:

The first option is through one of CarbonPoker’s five Daily Freeroll Qualifiers running through May 28. These are considered Step 1 Qualifiers that seed the top performing players into a Step 2 Qualifier taking place on Saturday, May 29 in which the top 500 performing players will move on to the $100K Freeroll Main Event.

The second option is to make a cash depsosit before May 29 using bonus code “100MAYPK” and receive, on top of a 100% match/reload bonus up to $500 you also get a free seat in a $100K Depositor Qualifier running May 29 from which the top 500 players will advance to the $100K Freeroll Main Event.

The third option are the $100K Player Qualifiers running til May 29. These are Turbo MTTs with VIP Points as buy-ins (either 500 VIP Points to buy-in directly or 150 VIP Points for each of two consecutive days) running three times daily, capping the player pool at 2,250 and advancing, depending on the qualifier, from 10 – 25 players to the $100K Freeroll Main Event.

Or you can skip all that and go the fourth route which is to simply earn 45,000 VIP Points between April 15 and May 29 to get your $100K Freeroll Main Event seat. The $100K Freeroll Main Event takes place on Sunday, May 30 and there is absolutely no direct buy-in for this event. Just download CarbonPoker.com (it’s on the Merge software which is really good) and create your account, pick one of the four ways to qualify for this event.

This is the biggest of Carbon Poker’s guaranteed tournaments, but far from the only one. CarbonPoker offers an ongoing schedule of multi-table online poker tournaments with a wide range of enticing guaranteed prize pools.

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These are just like they sound, based on the same impatient technology as the Rush Poker cash tables, with a few tournament-friendly tweaks.

Tweak #1: the Quick Fold Button. FullTilt has instituted a Quick Fold button in Rush Poker Tournament play to get you out of a hand you want no part of and off to another hand just being dealt without even having to wait as long as it takes for initial betting to get to you.

Speaking of initial bets, here’s Tweak #2: Blinds. Since moving the button around the table in a clockwise circle won’t work very well (or fairly) when players are constantly table hopping, the players in each hand to be on the small and big blinds are the two players at each table who haven’t been on the small or big blind, as applicable, the longest at their given table.

Tweak #3: Tables in Rush Poker Tournaments go increasingly short-handed as the number of players decreases. Tweak #4: Time to act in Rush Poker Tournaments is shorter, more like a turbo or speed tournament than a standard NL Holdem tournament.

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Given that PokerStars is the most popular USA poker room and PartyPoker was once in that same position, pitting the two against each other in a heads up match is valuable. Both have legions of fans and can boast a long history of evolution within an industry that can be unforgiving to the less adaptable. The key point to remember is that PartyPoker no longer accepts players from the U.S. They closed their doors years ago.

Below, we’ll compare PokerStars versus PartyPoker with regards to their respective software, traffic, bonuses, tournaments, and customer support. If you know very little about either poker room, consider the following comparison a speed course.

PokerStars Vs. PartyPoker: Software

Both poker rooms provide their members with software that is both reliable and intuitive. We’ll describe PokerStars’s download first. The lobby is organized in a way that makes it incredibly easy to find the type of game and stakes you’re looking for. Once you enter a room, you’ll find the tables are clearly rendered; everything is simple to read. Plus, you can resize the table easily as well as multi-table. Another item we liked is that the color scheme was changed awhile back from a black base to more eye-pleasing earth tones.

PartyPoker’s software has also been developed with a keen eye for intuition and readability. Their lobby is organized differently and is a little difficult to navigate. However, once you grow accustomed to it, you’ll be able to find everything easily. The graphics used on the tables are less appealing than those used in PokerStars’s software, but they won’t get in your way.

PokerStars Vs. PartyPoker: Player Traffic And Competition

PokerStars is the leviathan of online poker rooms. They gained the lead in player traffic at the end of 2006 and have aggressively expanded that lead since. There’s also a huge disparity in skill level at PokerStars; the reason is partly due to their promotions. Nationwide television ad campaigns and a growing online presence have attracted waves of new players. However, as a result of the fish, sharks have predictably circled. Join for the fish, but keep your eyes open for lurking sharks.

PartyPoker has a large player base, but it’s smaller than PokerStars and comprised entirely of non-US players. Before abandoning the US market, they enjoyed the distinction of being the largest online poker room (based upon membership levels). Non-US players will find plenty of action at all of the tournaments as well as at the individual ring games. The average competition at PartyPoker is a little stiffer than at PokerStars. But, with a little reconnaissance, you’ll be able to identify the fish and sharks.

In our opinion, PokerStars is a much friendlier place to start.

PokerStars Vs. PartyPoker: Bonuses And Promotions

PokerStars offers one of the easiest-to-clear bonuses when compared to other major poker rooms. It’s a 100% match up to $600 which is par for the course with the major online poker sites today. They also have a perpetually rotating list of promotions in order to keep player activity high. They finally revised their miniscule $50 bonus when Full Tilt Poker started gaining market share.

PartyPoker used to offer a miserly 30% match sign-up bonus up to $150. They have since changed that to a 100% match up to $500. Even though the ceiling on their bonus is much higher than PokerStars’s bonus, it’s more difficult to clear (though you’ll have six months during which to do so). Like PokerStars, PartyPoker has a long list of promotions, including those which rotate and others that are ongoing.

PokerStars Vs. PartyPoker: Tournaments

Tournament selection is definitely an area of strength for PokerStars. Plus, not only is their tournament structure well thought out, but their prize pools are typically enormous. Their regular tourneys include the Sunday Million and Sunday Warm-Up as well as a huge list of ongoing Sit N Go’s, freerolls, and satellites. If you’re planning to play in tournaments, you need to join PokerStars.

PartyPoker also has a strong list of tournaments though their list has less breadth than PokerStars’s schedule. That said, their membership base is large and active in the daily and weekly tourneys, so prize pools for the multi-tables can grow to be reasonably large. Unfortunately, since they don’t allow US players, we no longer participate in the PartyPoker tournaments.

PokerStars Vs. PartyPoker: Customer Support

Both PokerStars and PartyPoker have strong customer support. Their staff is responsive and knowledgeable which means they can actually provide answers in a timely fashion. We’ve played at poker rooms that included a “support” page on their website, but failed to provide anything resembling true support.

At PokerStars, you can contact a representative through email. PartyPoker provides email and phone options through which to contact them.

PokerStars Vs. PartyPoker: Overall Verdict

So, who’s better, PokerStars or PartyPoker? In our book, Pokerstars edges out PartyPoker by a respectable margin. That’s not to say that PartyPoker is not a high-quality poker room. In fact, if they allowed U.S. players, we’d definitely participate. There’s a reason why they were enormously popular in the U.S. a few years ago and why they’re still popular overseas today.

For more information, read our highly popular PokerStars vs Full Tilt Poker article and the in-depth first person online poker reviews we link to from our home page.

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Quick PlayersOnly.com Facts

• USA Players Allowed
• Highest % of Visa and Mastercard Deposits Accepted
• $1000 matched at 110% with PlayersOnly.com Bonus code: KAP1000 *poker only
• Cash Game Texas Holdem from .02/.04 up to $25/50 NL and up to $100/$200FL
• Visit PlayersOnly

Playersonly.com Poker Tournaments

Most poker tournaments are NL Texas holdem, although there are Omaha tourneys as well. Tournaments happen every day, from freerolls, to satellites, to large guarantees with soft fields. Here are some of the promotional tournaments offered at Players Only.com Poker room.

• $150,000 Guaranteed $150+12 – $31,125 1st place prize.
• Lots of satellites to internal tourneys and World Poker Tour events
• $30 rebuy and addon with $20k guaranteed
• $3.30 rebuy with $1,000 guaranteed
• $500 Friday Night Freeroll
• $500 Welcome Player Freeroll (small tourney for new Real money players only).

PlayersOnly.com Poker Table & Lobby

Here are screenshots of the Players Only Poker table and lobby.

The software is very user friendly even if you have not played online poker before. The buttons are easy to read, easy to press and they don’t jump around on you based on whether or not it is your turn to act. There is also a handy betting bar that lets you easily size your bets using your mouse instead of typing in certain amounts.

The lobby is pretty straightforward with easy sorting options. I found it easiest to find a game by clicking on the Texas Hold’Em tab and then sorting by stakes. They do show the amount of players seeing the flop which is a handy feature if you are looking for a tight table to play wild and loose on or if you are looking for a loose table with fishy players calling raises before the flop.

PlayersOnly.com Poker Games Offered

Poker players can enjoy the following poker games at Players Only.

• Texas Holdem (limit, no limit and pot limit)
• Omaha (pot limit and fixed limit)
• Omaha Hi-Lo (pot limit, no limit, fixed limit)
• Seven card stud shows up in the lobby, but currently there are no games running or offered
• Multi-Tournaments
• Sit-N-Go (1 table tournaments)

PlayersOnly Poker Final Thoughts

With the shrinking options for USA poker players, it is nice to find a site that has a quality reputation of that of PlayersOnly.com. They are a medium to small sized poker network, but they are seeing growth as more and more people are taking advantage of the incredible special deposit bonus offered of a 110% up to $1000 and finding out that being at a site that is super easy to deposit at is good for the action.

• MasterCard and Visa Deposits from Americans is a huge plus
• Easy software to use is a plus
• Reasonable traffic is ok
• Huge Deposit Bonus
• USA Players Accepted
• Download Players Only Software

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The Full Tilt Poker FTOPS IX

Here are the lean mean details on the Full Tilt Poker FTOPS IX Series

• Starts August 6th
• 24 Events Total
• $15 Million in Prize Pools Guaranteed
• Largest Buy-ins = $2500
• Smallest Buy-In = $120+9 “Knock Out tourney at the end of the series, most events are $200
• Satellites start at $50+5 to events currently, more expected soon.
• Blind Times range from 10 minutes to 30 minute rounds.

Poker Stars WCOOP

Here are the lean mean details on the Poker Stars WCOOP, aka the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker.

• Starts September 5th
• 33 events total
• $30 Million in prize pools guaranteed
• Largest buy in = $25,000, this is a special high roller Heads up Poker tournament with 1.6 mill guaranteed!  Sick!
• Also a $10,300 NL hold em main event for the non heads up tourney.
• Smallest buy in = $215
• Satellites start at $2.20
• Satellites also from FPP’s.
• Steps satellite system, win a seat through a series of steps sattelites.
• Winners win a WCOOP Bracelet
• 30 minute blinds across the series

PokerStars WCOOP or FullTilt’s FTOPS?

The choice is really up to you, the debate rages constantly about which is the better place to play online poker, PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker, but in this comparison of the FTOPS vs WCOOP I’m going for PokerStars and the WCOOP. That is even with the recent criticism by online poker players about the new tournament payout structure that PokerStars implemented where they award more money to a larger portion of the field and not as top heavy as a typical poker tournament. Argue that as you may, the fact that I was quickly and easily able to find a ton of cheap PokerStars satellites into the WCOOP and the Full Tilt Poker satellites were $50 bucks, a fourth of the initial buy-in itself which doesn’t seem that great of a satellite to me. It is possible that they just do not yet have any satellites listed in the Full Tilt Poker lobby for the FTOPS series yet, but they should have. One other thing is to make sure you use a valid PokerStars.com marketing code if you are going to sign up so you maximize your bonus.

This Comparison Winner goes to: PokerStars.com

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Cake Poker vs Doyles Room

Cake Poker and Doyle’s Room are both medium sized poker rooms that are relatively new to the online poker market. Doyle’s Room is a part of the Microgaming Network while Cake Poker is the flagship room of the Cake Poker Network, that has other skins Sportsbook.com Poker and Players Only. Lets take a look and see which room offers their players the most value and what makes these two small online poker rooms different.

http://www.cakepoker.com vs http://www.doylesroom.com

We will take a look at the following at each poker room.

• Software / Game Download
• Poker Players
• Traffic
• Game Selection
• Tournaments
• Bonuses
• Customer Support
• Deposit and Withdraw.

A couple of quick comments

• Both Rooms accept *USA Players>
• Neither Rooms allow player to player transfers

*Doyles Room does not accept players from Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Poker Room Download and Game Software

The software at Cake Poker is not the best software I have ever played on but it certainly isn’t the worst. The navigation through the site is pretty simple and the tables load at an average speed.

The playing platform, aka the cake poker table, certainly isn’t impressive but it is functional and reliable.

The lobby interface has a simple/basic feel to it but it does show detailed information about each table. The software doesn’t have any bugs but it also doesn’t have any great extra features.

Now at Doyle’s Room, the poker game software might be the worst out there not counting the small no-name rooms and the “bastard step child rooms” that no one is playing at anyway.

Doyles Room Poker is on the the microgaming software and it looks like it hasn’t been upgraded in years. The navigation through the site is terrible and can be very confusing. The play at the tables can be laggy at times and the graphics are very unappealing.

The only thing I like about the software is the buddy system they have. You can keep track of all your friends or fish/sharks easily, and it is a very nice feature.

Cake Poker wins the poker game software category by a long shot.

Poker Player Traffic

Cake Poker and Doyle’s are very close in this category. Currently (9 pm on 10-31 in the USA) Cake Poker has around 500 more real money players than Doyle’s Room but only because these are peak hours for Cake Poker. Overall though Doyle’s room averages around 250 more cash players than Cake.

Doyle’s Room wins this category by a narrow margin.

Fishiness Of The Players

This will be another close one. The tables at both sites are well known to be very soft and the flop percentages are comparable for both sites. They both offer super loose Hold’em tables but Doyle’s room offers loose tables in games like Omaha where as Cake Poker is very lacking. Doyle’s Room also offers some loose high stakes action and once again Cake Poker is lacking in that department as well.

Doyle’s Room wins this category also but not by too much.

Game Selection

This will be an easy one to decide. Cake Poker offers Texas Hold’em plus the high and hi-lo versions on Omaha and 7 Card Stud. Doyle’s Room offers all those games except 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo but also offers 5 Card Draw and Stud. This gives Doyle’s Room an edge but it doesn’t stop there. Cake Poker realistically only offers two games, Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hi-Lo because there are seldom any active tables for the other games. The only game Doyle’s room doesn’t have much traffic to is 7 Card Stud.

Doyle’s Room wins this category by a long shot.

Tournaments

Doyle’s Room has a wide variety of tournaments running throughout the day while Cake Poker only offers a majority of smaller tournaments with a few big ones every now and then. The tournament traffic at Doyle’s Room is also higher with more guaranteed tournaments. Pound for pound, Doyle’s Room has more to offer to a tournament player.

Doyle’s Room wins yet another one.

Cake Poker Bonus vs Doyles Room Deposit Bonus

Doyle’s Poker Room has a couple of standard first deposit bonus options and neither of them are very attractive. You will choose between a 50% match with a max of $250 or 25-35% up to $135. Using Neteller will get you the 35%/$135 but using any other deposit method will only get you 25%/$100.

You might be thinking what I was thinking when I read it for the first time. Why would anyone take a lesser bonus? The answer is simple but it’s still going to sound stupid to many of you. If you choose the 25-35% Bonus at Doyles Room, the bonus will clear quicker. For example, lets say you deposit $400 using your Visa card and therefore have a $100 bonus. You will need to earn 10,000 Action Points before you receive your bonus so its 100pts/$1.

Now lets say you choose the 50% up to $250 option. You will need 200pts/$1 of your bonus. Once again, you will not receive ANY of your bonus until you clear the whole bonus. They use this strategy to basically force players to keep depositing and playing just to earn a bonus they should have gotten a long time before.

The first deposit bonus at Cake Poker is larger and easier to clear.

At Cake Poker, you will receive a 100% match up to $500 and it is paid in increments of $10. Earn player point you earn at the tables is worth $.06. You will earn this bonus a piece at a time quite quickly, actually and your rake is calculate based on if you received cards in a hand, not if you actually contributed to the rake.  Speaking of rake, Cake Poker Rakeback is also available for high volume players.

Cake Poker Bonus Code = KAP500

Cake Poker wins the Poker Bonus Category easily.

Deposit & Withdrawals

Doyle’s Room accepts deposits via Visa, Master Card, InstaCash, Neteller, Giro Pay, FirePay, Moneybookers, Solo, Delta and ePassporte. You can withdrawal via Neteller, ePassporte, Instadebit, Moneybookers and check.

Cake Poker accepts deposits via Visa, MasterCard, MoneyBookers, ePassporte and Neteller. You can cashout via MoneyBookers, ePassporte, Neteller and check.

Doyle’s Room obviously wins this category because of the wide variety of credit card and online money wallets they accept.

Doyle’s Room easily wins this category.

Customer Support

Doyle’s Room offers a very comprehensive support system that includes e-mail, live-chat and telephone support compared to Cake Poker’s e-mail only support. The support staff is friendly at both rooms but it is much quicker and convenient to contact support at Doyle’s Room.

Doyle’s Room dominates the support category.

Doyle’s Room Vs Cake Poker Summary & Results

Its obvious that Doyle’s Room certainly won more categories but are all categories equal? If I had to choose between the two rooms I would pick Cake Poker but I feel great software is extremely important, even more important than deposit bonuses, support and tournaments combined. This is obviously just a personal preference and I won’t let it affect the results, but its something to think about. Overall, they are both great medium sized rooms that offer a good playing experience.

As always, the best way to see for yourself is to download the poker software and see for yourself.

Download Cake Poker Here: http://www.cakepoker.com
Download Doyles Room Here: http://www.doylesroom.com

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This article will compare the brand new bodog poker software with that of Sportsbook.com poker.

April 15th, 2010, Sportsbook Poker leaves the Cake Network and moves to Merge. New screen shots and software features for Sportsbook.com.

We will aim to see which of these two poker rooms is the best choice for your online dollar and show you the differences between these two online poker rooms.

A couple of quick facts about these two online poker rooms are that both rooms are what I would call “medium sized” poker rooms in terms of total player traffic.

Neither of them are the largest sites in the world, far from it actually. The industry leaders like PokerStars and FullTilt boast much more traffic than either Bodog Poker or Sportsbook Poker, but that doesn’t mean that there are not great games to be found at both of these online poker rooms, as there is and there are reasons to play at each one.

Poker Room vs Poker Room Categories

• Software / Game Download
• Poker Players
• Traffic
• Game Selection
• Tournaments
• Bonuses
• Customer Support
• Deposit and Withdrawl

Both sites also offer casino games and sportsbook action, which is great for bringing in new fish new players.

Bodog Poker Room Software and Game Interface

Bodog Poker First – Download software at: http://www.bodog.com.

This comparison is of the new bodog poker beta software against Sportsbook.com Poker’s software.  Honestly Bodog Poker has never been had my favorite software.  In November of 2006 I got so frustrated at the bodog poker download that I cashed out and deleted it off of my computer, I was that frustrated. (ok, i admit i re-downloaded it and re-deposited, haha, but still, I was pissed off at the bodog software upgrade). They had just upgraded to a new poker client download.

It sucked.

The very first generation of bodog poker software was sleek, fast and I liked it. That all changed in 2006 they upgraded to a “new bodog poker software”. The ‘new bodog’ software sucked to me. It wasn’t as sleek, was a totally different feel (it felt like you were playing poker on a flash website or something, it didn’t feel normal to me. They made a few upgrades and lured me into downloading again, and I did get used to the software and they have continually improved it.

On October 15th, 2007 I got another email announcing the Beta release of the new version of Bodog Poker that is a big improvement.

Here is a screenshot of the newest bodog poker table.

The New Bodog Poker software Table Screenshot. Notice the ‘playing area’ at the bottom of the screen, all the standard buttons and slider bar are available and easy to use, plus you can pre-select your actions like auto-fold etc… For comparison, here is a Sportsbook.com Poker Current Screenshot. Sportsbook.com Poker

Another thing about Bodog Poker, I play in the Kick Ass Poker League on Wednesday nights at Bodog. The thing that pisses me off time and time again during this event is that since it is a private tournament, there is NO chat unless you are not seated at the table. You can’t even chat on the other tables… totally sucks for league play. Now, this isn’t standard, but in private events and some tournaments this seems to be the case. IE, no chat unless at the table.

With that said, some of my counterparts absolutely love the the Bodog poker download. They like it so much that they don’t even play at the other online poker rooms.

The Bodog Poker Download software kind of left me feeling like my avatar was just ‘floating’ around on the table, no defined space and just kind of at the table. Again, it was like flash poker or something…

*With the new bodog poker software that is in beta testing (during the time of this writing) they have fixed this “problem” and now provide ‘defined’ table space, it is improved for sure.

This isn’t a ‘bash bodog’ article. The new bodog software is a nice upgrade to the older bodog poker software. The new Bodog Poker Software, which you can download from http://www.bodog.com looks like this:

Another thing is that it feels unfamiliar compared to the other sites I play a lot of poker at (stars and fulltilt). The Bodog Poker software is that it is totally unique to Bodog, no other poker sites that I play on interface with it… it feels a little bit like a flash poker room, although it is not.

One plus for bodog is that you have good options to change your playing style to suit yourself, such as changing the color of your table, using the ‘picture in picture’ option as shown above as well as true multi-table options.

Select your Table Color and PIP or Separate Windows At Bodog Poker, you can choose your color and how multiple tables are displayed. Here is a new color, instantly and you can upload a custom image for your avatar. Notice in the the ‘halo’ around the player on the right… that is how you tell who’s turn it is. I like it, very easy to follow the action.

Game play itself at the new bodog poker software is actually pretty good, much better than before.
There is also a ‘winner’ easily displayed at the end of each hand, and the chips slide to the winner.

The bodog software seemed a tad slower than what I consider ideal, but it wasn’t bad. You’ll see what I mean when you play… The chips flow to the winner a tad slow, when you are under the gun the ‘you’ve got a hand beep’ hits you before your cards appear, but it’s just minor stuff, overall the new bodog poker software it is a big huge improvement over the previous bodog poker software.

The Bodog lobby is very easy to use, functional with all the stats displayed same as sportsbook.com poker (you can see average pot, how many players seeing the flop, wait for a seat etc… A negative is that you can not search for players at Bodog Poker. Kind of lame, but not a deal breaker and you can’t search on Sportsbook, either.

Sportsbook.com Poker

Download at: http://www.sportsbook.com

I’m relatively new to Sportsbook.com Poker, as it is a relatively new online poker room, opening their doors in early 2007. The software itself is what I would call functional, no frills, and good quality. They are members on the Cake Poker network and use the Cake Poker software. It is not flashy, fancy or anything like that, but it gets the job done.

Here are some Sportsbook.com Poker screenshots.

Sportsbook.com Poker Table – Simple and easy to use. Functional. Good looking avatars (they are actual photo’s of real people. Hello Dealer. Easy to navigate lobby, standard details shown like avg pot, plys/flop seated etc..

The Sportsbook Poker software is smooth, easy to download and newbie friendly. There simply are not that many choices or customizations like you can do at Bodog. You get to choose between around 30 or so Avatars and that’s about it for your personalization options. It’s quality, functional software.

The early edge in the Sportsbook vs Bodog Poker matchup goes to: Bodog Poker

The battle between these two online poker rooms is not over yet… the early lead goes to bodog for having more customizable software. If I had not been reviewing the new bodog poker software that is in beta I would give the edge to Sportsbook.com. It’s still a close race.

Poker Player Information at Bodog and Sportsbook.com Poker

Now we are going to take a look at the other players you’ll encounter at the poker tables of each online poker rooms, as well as comparisons between what games you can play as a player there.

Traffic Numbers – as reported by sitescout, the leading authority on real money players at online poker rooms during the time of this review.

Obviously rankings are fluid but I don’t expect any major shifts in the next year or so.

Bodog – 10th ranked overall nearly 1300 RMP’s on average.
Sportsbook.com Poker Cake Network) – 13th overall with 874 RMP’s on average.

Edge: Bodog
Fishyness of Players - which room has the most fish?

Both Bodog and Sportsbook are also online casinos and sportsbooks, and they both draw players from their online casinos to the poker tables, leading to bad, fishy players. Some of the worst players online reside at both of these rooms. Good players will win money easier at both of these sites than some of the bigger sites like PokerStars and FullTiltPoker. They have more traffic but better players on average than these two poker sites.

Bodog – Well below average players.
Sportsbook.com Poker – Worse players, seriously.

Edge: Sportsbook Poker

Ring Game Selection and Limits.
Games offered are pretty equal in their offerings. Most of traffic is in the Texas Holdem (by far, but this is normal everywhere) but there is some Omaha Traffic at both sites, and a trickle of Stud traffic at Bodog.

Edge: Wash

*slightly more selection at bodog due to larger #’s of players.

Poker Tournaments – Sit-n-Go’s (SNG’s) and Multi Table Tournaments.

Bodog – one cool thing about bodog is that they offer ‘beginner’ SNG tournaments. The buyin is $2+.20 (also offer a $1+.20 5 table tourney) but the beginner tourneys pay out to 50% of the players instead of 30%. The Multi-Table Tournaments at Bodog are solid, a few guaranteed events each and every day, with up to $5,000,000 in guaranteed events each month.

There is a lot of overlay in these guaranteed events also. I’m not going to explain all of the tournaments offered at bodog, but you can read about them here.

Sportsbook.com – what I like about sportsbook as far as their tourneys go is that they also have some reasonable guaranteed events that do not meet the guarantee and are good value with overlay, similar to Bodog in this aspect actually, plus if you use a Sportsbook promo code you can max out the bonus at $1000 matched at 100%.

Sit-N-Go selection is modest, but steady and the multi-table tournaments are winnable with no huge fields.

Edge: Bodog

Poker Bonus Comparison – Bodog Poker Bonus vs Sportsbook Poker Bonus

Here is one aspect where these two rooms are totally different, and that is in their deposit bonus for new players. I like both bonuses for different reasons, and I’ll just lay it out there for you to make up your own mind. The major difference is that one room offers an INSTANT bonus, but at a smaller amount, compared to a ‘earnable’ bonus matched at a huge amount.

Bodog Poker offers a 110% bonus up to $1100 for poker players.  This includes a 10% instant up front plus a 100% match up to $1000.  Deposit $500 and you will have $550 in your account right away to play with. Essentially you could play in 10 $5 + .50 Sit-N-Go’s for “free” (well almost, you’ll have $5 bucks in rake to pay).

Sportsbook.com poker offers a 100% bonus. They will match you dollar for dollar up to a certain dollar amount, but you have to earn it by playing earning frequent player points at Sportsbook.com. For details on the Sportsbook.com Poker Bonus you can check out the review I’ve linked to there, and get the exclusive “Kick Ass Sportsbook.com Bonus”

Using Sportsbook bonus code: KICKASS you get 100% up to $1000 bonus at Sportsbook Poker- which is the best bonus I have found anywhere on the web for Sportsbook.com poker as , the standard is 100% up to $650. If you are depositing more than $650 then you need the kickass bonus at Sportsbook.com to maximize your earn. *FPP release rates detailed in the Sportsbook.com Poker Bonus review.

Edge: Sportsbook.com Poker for the size and match amount of the bonus, but you will have to play a lot of poker to earn the entire bonus, again hit the bonus review above for fpp clear rates). *Sportsbook.com Poker easily accepts MasterCard and Visa Deposits, being the easiest USA Poker site to make a deposit with. It is super easy for USA players to make a deposit at Sportsbook.com Poker.

Customer Support

Hands down bodog poker on this one, and Bodog would win this competition against any other poker site with only pokerstars coming the closest. They have live phone support and calls are answered within 3 rings from knowledgeable reps who can speak english and resolve problems (not just message takers).

I haven’t dealt with Sportsbook.com Support except over email and it was also professional, but Bodog has excelled time and time again, whenever needed.

Deposit / Withdraw Options
Sportsbook.com gets this category. They take MasterCard and Visa fast and easy, no lengthy sign ups or quadruple steps to get something done. Bodog offers similar deposit options, just call support when you are ready and trust me it will be easy. To find the deposit options at both rooms, hit the cashier… hell deposit options change often and I can’t keep up, but I’m quite certain that depositing is easy.

Withdrawls come via cheque in a few weeks from both rooms, again contact support if you need help.

Poker Room vs Poker Room Recap and Winner

• Overall Winner – Bodog Poker
• Software / Game Download – Bodog (barely)
• Poker Players – Sportsbook Poker (worst players online)
• Traffic – Bodog
• Game Selection – Bodog
• Tournaments – Bodog
• Bonuses – Sportsbook.com (use bonus code KICKASS for exclusive 100% / $1000 bonus)
• Customer Support – Bodog (best in the biz)
• Deposit and Withdrawl – Sportsbook.com Poker (Visa & Mastercard accepted)

Bodog Poker wins by a nose. The categories that bodog lost, they only lost slightly, with the exception of the bonus which is kind of hard to compare since it is so different). The categories bodog won in they won pretty strongly, except for the software. You will either love or hate the Bodog Poker Software. If you are new to online poker, you’ll probably love it. If you’ve been playing for years at PokerStars then you might not like it until you get used to it.

Hey, any poker room that can build a huge brand with bodog.com, lose their domain and switch to newbodog.com and then switch again to bodoglife.com and maintain player traffic, credit and ease of deposit and withdraw has to get the nod.

The real comparison is by downloading both sites and seeing for yourself:

http://www.bodoglife.com
http://www.sportsbook.com

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This matchup of Poker Stars vs FullTilt was last updated in Summer, 2010. This comparison has been inspired was inspired by putting up the two largest USA friendly online poker sites against one another heads up, in a winner take all battle royal… Ok, maybe that is a bit much, but we will take a look at these two rooms and see which features make each room stand out above one another. There is also a good poker forum thread comparing pokerstars vs fulltilt, feel free to check it out and to leave your comments about which room you like the best.

Of course, you can also visit www.pokerstars.com and www.fulltiltpoker.com to download the software yourself to test them yourself.

For another good Online poker vs Online poker matchup in the Bodog vs Sportsbook.com Poker matchup or check out this comparison of PartyPoker vs PokerStars for another of the top online poker sites compared to one another.

These two rooms are the two largest and highest quality online poker rooms, it’s going to be a good battle to see who comes out on top. We are comfortable with you playing at either of these rooms as they are secure, reliable and have excellent reputations from the online poker community.

Poker Room vs Poker Room Categories

• Software / Game Download
• Poker Players
• Traffic
• Game Selection
• Tournaments
• Bonuses
• Customer Support
• Deposit and Withdrawl

PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com Software

PokerStars.com download at: http://www.pokerstars.com
FullTiltPokerdowload at: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com

Let’s start with screenshots from both online poker rooms.

The PokerStars.com Poker Table – Fully resizeable tables, easy to multi-table. Upload custom image. Responsive, fast and easy to use game interface. Good sound scheme as well, not annoying as some other sites. PokerStars.com is my personal favorite poker software. It is sleek, easy on the eyes, extremely stable, extremely user friendly, functional and with a large number of options. I really like it. The PokerStars lobby, tons of options in the ‘request’ file like look up a player, search for a tournament, get hand history as well as the standard features for the lobby like avg players per flop, hands per hour, avg pot size etc… PokerStars is Mac Friendly (so is Full Tilt) PokerStars does not offer a no-download version of their software (neither does FullTilt) PokerStars does offer ability to re-size your table (so does full tilt) Now lets take a look at the screenshot from FullTilt Poker. The FullTiltPoker.com Table. Screenshot of a high stakes table, common on FullTilt Poker. This screengrab is from the “Racetrack” option with “Steel” Background. They also offer 4 other categories (reviewd below).The FullTiltPoker.com Lobby – You can also search for players, find tournaments and easy to navigate games.

PokerStars vs FullTilt Poker Software

• Both have tables that you can resize.
• Both offer smooth multi-table action
• Both accept USA Poker Players
• Both offer world class software
• Both offer Player to Player $$ transfers
• FullTilt has more customization options
• Both are Mac Friendly Poker site, – Poker Stars is not, although they are working on a Poker Stars Mac Compatible software. *PokerStars now offers a Poker Stars Mac Software Download
• PokerStars software has a more stable reputation, although it is extremely rare for either of these rooms to be down. Imagine their hourly rake??? no way you’d let your site be down either
• Both have fair, respectable and trusted reputations from the online poker world.
• PokerStar.com allows custom image avatars, FullTiltPoker.com has a selection of graphic avatars.
• Poker Game Software winner – PokerStars.com

PokerStars.com simply sets the gold standard for the highest quality online poker software. Once you play there, you will understand. FullTiltPoker.com is my second favorite online poker software, behind PokerStars.com and they do have more options so you can customize your online poker experience

FullTiltPoker.com offers more options for your table view. You can choose the classic view, with the larger cartoon like avatars that many people still use, and associate with FullTilt Poker.com.

With the classic view, your avatar has 4 facial expressions, from normal, to happy, to sad and to ‘what the fuck?’.

It was fun for a little while, but I switched to the racetrack view with avatars and is what I use mostly now.

Another cool feature of the Full Tilt Poker Game Download, is that you can open up the lobby and easily find out if a “Full Tilt Poker Pro” is playing. If they are, the table is highlighted in red. If you check the screenshot above you’ll see that there is a “Red” $1000/$2000 High Stakes Limit Texas Holdem game going on. Sick.

Pro’s play at PokerStars, but their tables look no different than any others in the lobby, so it is harder to find the pro’s. Also, the ‘named fulltiltpoker pro’s’ will have their real name as their avatar.

Custom Pro Avatars. Pro’s use their real name at Full Tilt. If you see Chris Ferguson at the table, it is really him. Check out these screenshots of Full Tilt Poker Pro’s like Phil Ivey vs Layne Flack.

I really can’t go wrong with recommending either of these poker softwares, so this won’t be the determining factor as to which of these mega giant online poker rooms wins the heads up poker room vs poker room battle. The download speeds for each of these rooms is also similar, although the PokerStars download seems to be a bit faster and leaner than Full Tilt.

Poker Players and Traffic at Full Tilt Poker vs Poker Stars

Poker Stars.com is the largest online poker room in the world in terms of real money poker players. Not only are they the largest, the 2nd place competitor whiThe day that PartyPoker.com left the USA poker market, PokerStars.com became the largest online poker site in the world.

Poker Stars is averaging over 10,000 real money players. That is almost twice their nearest competitor (FullTiltPoker and PartyPoker at a virtual dead heat for 2nd place with just over 5,000 Real money players avg each.).

FullTiltPoker.com has now moved to be in a pure dead heat for the 2nd largest online poker room in the world. At the time of this review, PokerSiteScout shows that both FullTilt and Party have 5200 real money players on average. They have the second most number of USA poker players online, and represent a huge portion of online poker players online poker site.

Combined, FullTiltPoker and PokerStars make up the vast majority of USA online poker players.

Fish Factor – How bad are the PokerStars and FullTilt Poker players?

PokerStars Players gets a 4.2 / 10 fish factor
FullTilt Players are on average 2.1 / 10 fish factor.

The truth is that with full tilt’s partnership with CardRunners.com, (a top online poker school) and the fact that they offer rakeback has made Full Tilt a place where a large amount of better than average players play in comparison to some of the other skins. Now, while PokerStars does not do rakeback, they do a VIP system that is essentially in-house rakeback done the right way. That doesn’t mean that PokerStars doesn’t have good players, they certainly do, but in my opinion it is tougher to find a really juicy game at Full Tilt than at PokerStars in general. Honestly, there are plenty of good and bad players at both site, considering that nearly all the online ‘pro’s have accounts at both sites as to the vast majority of casual players. Once they get so big, there will always be a spot to find and make good money.

Fulltilt has on average a tougher level of competition than pokerstars, plus there is a huge ratio of professionals that play on Full Tilt Poker.

Ok – I knew about let see about 6 or 7 “big name pro’s at PokerStars, but I’ve heard of nearly all of those guys at FullTiltPoker.com.

Alright, so that is a recap of the players at these rooms, Stars is slightly fishier in my opinion but only barely. There are plenty of bad players at both rooms. Plenty of traffic across all levels, all games.

Poker Game Selection at PokerStars.com and Full Tilt Poker

Massive game selection at both rooms. Texas Holdem, Limit and No-Limit, Omaha, Hi-Lo, Stud, HORSE, Ring Games from SNG’s, Tourneys, Satellites and Multi-Table events. However, Full Tilt Poker does have something that no other online poker site has right now and that is called Rush Poker, or as I like to call it a true game of Speed Poker and they just introduced Full Tilt Rush Poker Tournaments, which sound pretty odd in our opinion. Full Tilt Poker does excel by offering RAZZ ring games, but my god why anyone would want to play Razz…. You think Holdem is Brutal?? Start playing Razz.

PokerStars Limits range from $.02/$.04 limit up to $1000/$2000 with steady traffic up through the $100/$200 levels. No Limit traffic starts at $.01/$.02 up to $200/$400, with steady traffic up to $25/$50 although a game breaks out at the highest levels every so often.

FullTiltPoker is the place to play for the highest stakes cash games online, PokerStars.com is the place to play for the biggest tournaments online anywhere.

FullTiltPoker wins the “Game Selection Category” offering a wider variety of games and traffic up to the highest levels on a regular basis.

Poker Tournaments at Poker Stars vs FullTilt Poker.

PokerStars.com has the largest weekly tournaments online. The “Sunday Million” tournament at PokerStars is their flagship weekly tournament and there is an incredible $1,000,000 guaranteed in the prize pool. They also offer warm up events with $500k and $250k guaranteed.

FullTiltPoker offers a $500k guaranteed on Sundays and nightly $50k guaranteed events called the “Fifty Fifty”. I personally like the Fifty Fifty because it is a $50 buyin and guarantees $50,000. Not bad.

PokerStars.com offers SNG’s from heads up through 180 man events. Buyins start at the $1.00+.20 up to the $2000+90. Note that the lowest stakes SNG’s have the biggest rake… if you can play at the $5+.50 level you’re only paying 10% rake, which isn’t as bad. 1500 chips, 10/20 starting blinds and 10 minute rounds, turbos half that.
FullTiltPoker.com offers SNG’s from $1+.25 up to $5000+200. Worse rake at the lowest stakes. SNG starting chips are $1500 starting chips and 15/30 starting blinds. 6 minute levels. Turbos have 3 minute rounds.

Overall Tournament Structure goes to Full Tilt Poker, because as this Full Tilt Poker Review says,

“Full Tilt Pokers blinds never double, leading to friendly blind to chip stacks in the all phases of tournaments, early, middle stages and late stages. Think about it, those pro players up above not only play at FullTiltPoker, but many of them were involved with the game design and creation, including blind structure(s). It’s very player friendly”

PokerStars vs FullTiltPoker Bonuses

These two bonuses are different as night and day. now pretty much the same with the match being 100% up to $600
Both match at 100% percent.
PokerStars is a $600 bonus match bonus that is medium to easy to clear.

To earn this bonus, you will simply need to play on PokerStars and collect the number of Base FPPs equal to 10 times the bonus amount. You have six months after your first deposit to earn all the FPPs you need to cash out your bonus.

FullTiltPoker offers a $600 bonus that is moderate difficulty to release, I think it more of the industry standard bonus for an established poker site.

At FullTiltPoker.com, Each player point is worth $.06, so you can earn up to $18 per hundred hands. The bonus amount will be automatically credited to your Bonus Account where it will be held and released to your cash account in increments of 10% of your initial deposit, or $20, whichever you earn first. So if you do a one-time deposit of $100, each $10 (10%) earned will be instantly released into your account. Deposit the full $600 and your account will get credited for each $20 of bonus earned. At three points per hand, each $20 increment can be earned in fewer than two hours of play at only one table.

PokerStars.com Bonus code = stars600
FullTiltPoker.com Bonus code = KICKASSPOKER

Here is more detailed information on different Poker Bonus details.

PokerStars & FullTiltPoker Customer Support

Both offer email only customer support, as well as live support during game play. Both sites allow you to ‘chop’ near the end of tournaments, with live support at the table while the tournaments are underway.

Full Tilt Poker vs PokerStars.com Deposit and Withdrawl

Not a whole lot of comparisons to be made here as these two rooms have virtually the same deposit and withdraw methods including bank wire, debit cards, epassporte and pokerstars.com sometimes offers ‘e-checks’. The short answer is visit the cashier once you have an account and I’m quite certain you will be given plenty of ways to deposit. Withdrawls come via check, bankwire, epassporte and a few other options. Checks take about 2 to 3 weeks from both rooms.

PokerStars.com vs FullTiltPoker.com Final Recap

• Overall Winner – PokerStars.com
• Software / Game Download – PokerStars – the gold standard
• Poker Players – PokerStars
• Traffic – PokerStars (biggest in world)
• Game Selection – FullTiltPoker
• Tournaments – Wash – Both kick major ass
• Bonuses – FullTiltPoker (bigger)
• Customer Support – Wash
• Deposit and Withdrawl – Wash
• Both offer a Mac Friendly Download

Our Choice for Best Poker Site, PokerStars or FullTiltPoker

The winner is PokerStars.com. They are the largest online poker site in the world for a reason, see for yourself.

http://www.pokerstars.com
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com

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