Poker Room Features Poker Room Features - What to Look for in an Online Poker RoomWhen choosing an online poker room, always check to see the poker room features of each of the sites. Choosing the poker site with the most features will ensure that you have a good experience, and will keep you coming back. Certain factors are more important than others, and you need to judge which will have the most impact for you. Top Features: The following list is an example of some of the better features you will find on many online poker rooms: - Security – the site needs to have encryption and security software to protect your identity and deposit information.
- Anti-collusion policy – many sites keep hand histories to help prevent collusion. Should you have any suspicions, merely report the player names, tournament name, table you were on, and hand number (if you have it). They are then able to review the hand, and look for any suspicious activity. Only play on a site that immediately bans players suspected of colluding.
- Ease of Deposit – most sites offer a wide range of deposit options. If you can’t deposit easily, you can’t play!
- Quick Withdrawal – as with an easy deposit, a quick and easy withdrawal of funds is crucial.
- Players on Site – ensure the site has a sufficient number of poker players at any given time. There’s nothing worse than sitting on a table waiting for someone to play with.
- Game Variety – look for a site which offers many different varieties of poker (for example, Texas Holdem, Omaha, Crazy Pineapple, Seven card stud, Five card stud).
- Tournament Variety – look for sites that offer limit, no-limit, heads-up and shootouts. Also, sites that offer multi-table and sit n gos give you many options of play.
- Promotions – sites often offer special promotions, which run monthly or weekly. These may include special cash prizes, merchandise, or entries into large tournaments. Pokerroom recently ran a promotion in which they chose a number of players to play as poker pros for a year. The bigger the promotions, the better!
- Freerolls – not everyone is interested in playing freerolls (poker tournaments without entry fees). However, if this is something you would like to do, compare the sites to determine which offers a greater frequency of freerolls, as well as higher payouts.
- Player Rewards – many sites offer a “players club” in which you earn points for games played. These points can than be traded for entry into tournaments, poker merchandise, and even cash. If you plan to play often, you may as well play on a site that is going to reward you for your play.
- Tournament Calendar – if you are a big tournament player, you will want to be able to locate the ones that interest you. Many sites have a tournament calendar, which allows you to see at a glance all upcoming tournaments. Some sites even have a filtering system, so you can view only those tourneys that interest you.
- Ability to Take Notes – unlike casino poker, online poker allows you the option to record notes on specific players. This is an invaluable tool for the serious player.
- Extras – look for a site that offers unique extras for its players. These include such things as poker school, a poker glossary, and a poker store. Pokerroom offers some really innovative extras that you won’t find elsewhere. All players become part of an online poker community called “Pokah”. Players can add information to their profile, leave messages in other player’s guest books, and receive messages in their own guest book. In addition, Pokerroom has recently added a home tournament blind timer, which is absolutely phenomenal.
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