Best Poker Gambling Sites

Games Offered   Rating 8

Party Poker offers three different types of poker games : Texas Holdem , Omaha (high and lo), along with 7 card stud (high and lo). They offer all these games for “ real ” and “ play ” money. Their “ real ” money tables start as low as 50cent-$1, all the way up to $10-$20. Along with their “Party Poker Millions” tournaments, they also have real money and play money tournaments going all day. The one drawback is that all tournaments are only 10 player tournaments. I would like to see them larger, real money tournaments where more people can register and play because this would create bigger prize pools.

The Customer Service at this site is used to be first class and very professional. The online floor person was ready to assist your needs 24/7. However, in recent times the quality of person answering your questions has slipped.  Often it can be a bit of a waste of time as questions are not dealt with properly. Emailing support might be a better solution as emails are dealt with promptly.
This site is doing well, it is the second largest online poker room in terms of traffic. There has been no indication of any impending problems at all. To back this up the player traffic is more than enough to sustain this site.

Games Offered   Rating 7
The game variety at Inter Poker is OK, with Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi and Hi-Lo and seven-card stud - besides fixed limit games, there are no-limit and pot-limit offered in Texas Holdem and pot-limit in both Omaha versions. Games can be played in dollar, pound or euro. There are super high limit tables with £100/£200 in fixed limit and £5/£10 in no-limit Texas Holdem. The $0.50/$1.00 games are the smallest limit.

Limits and Rake
The rake at Inter Poker is slightly less attractive than the average of the industry for standard games. For the big bet tables the rake is relatively low. A rake of 5% is raked on every pot over £5/$5, up to a maximum of £3/$3. There is a "no flop - no drop" policy for hands not reaching the flop.

Player Traffic   Rating 9

Ring game traffic 
Inter Poker has 1500-2000 real players at peak times, growing at a fast pace.

Tournament traffic 
Inter Poker's traffic at the tournaments is good nowadays, with 1500-2200 players at peak times. This is over a 1000% increase since one year ago!

Promotions    Rating 10

Sign up bonus 
Special $200 sign-up bonus at 30% deposit match  with bonus code POKLIS04. With the 30% deposit match, a $667 deposit gives the maximum $200 bonus. Cash out requirement is 20 raked hands per each bonus dollar (which means 4000 raked hands for the $200 maximum bonus). To get the added sign-up bonus the deposit needs to be at least $200 to qualify. Note - the first deposit will get the 30% match as long as it is $200 or more. Then you will get a re-load the first month at 100% up to $90 for the second deposit. If you deposit less than $200 the first deposit only gives you a bonus, which is 100% match up to $90 maximum. Hence, to get the maximum $290 bonus you need to make two deposits $667 (or more)first and then $90 (or more).There is no standard sign-up bonus, if not coming via our site. Beside the special sign-up bonus, there is a huge monthly re-load bonus of $90 awarded as a player deposits $90 and completes the 450th real money hand in a raked pot. This is probably the world's best overall online poker deal right now!

Loyalty bonus 
Yes, there is the monthly $90 re-load bonus awarded as the player first deposits and then completes the 450th real money hand in a raked pot.

Promotions 
Some "skin specific" promotions for Inter Poker. However, there is the open proposition player program for all real money players, where the player get $10-$30 pro rata (i.e. $1-$3 per six minutes) for any amount of time playing at specified table. Each specified table only pays the player for a maximum of two hours ($20-$60). Also a progressive bad beat jackpot and a royal flush jackpot.

Playability     Rating 7

Software and graphics 
Inter Poker uses CryptoLogic software and network, with a shared player base with the other room operators, among other William Hill. The software is not so visually appealing, but the functionality is quite good after several updates. The time clock requires the players to act quite quickly, which is good for players who appreciate fast games. The site has nice voice options.

Customer Service/Site Security     Rating 9

Poker Room.com offers games limits from $1/$2 right through to $25/$50. This site's rake structure is comparable to most sites with one notable exception. Poker Room.com's maximum rake schedule for varying numbers of players playing at a given table compares favorably to all other sites. The schedule of rake increments for table numbers 2-4 ,5-7, 8+ is different from the traditional 1-3, 4-5, 6+. So if you are lucky enough to be playing at a table with 4, 7 or 8 players you will benefit by paying less of a rake relative to most sites for limits above $1/$2.

The games at Poker Room.com are excellent. Percentage pre-flop games of above 40% are easy to find. If you love  Hold'em this is a great site to play at because Poker Room.com have some of the loosest games around. Percentage pre-flop calculations are more dynamic at this site than others, since the average is calculated over just the last 20 hands. Poker Room.com is one of the few sites that don’t require you to download their software onto your computer. They use JAVA technology so you can quickly get you into the game. Poker Room.com graphics come in 2 formats, the 3D version, and the lighter 2D version. To be honest I much prefer the 2D version of the software, it is much easier to see the cards and betting chips. This form of the software is quite pleasant to the eyes. But if you are one that enjoys a true-life poker experience click on the 3D version. Both versions of the software run very smoothly, although it is fair to say JAVA style software does not have the gloss of its downloadable counterpart.  Extra features that Poker Room.com offer include expected value statistics, whereby you can type in a starting hand and the software calculates the historical expected value of that hand over 6 million real time playing hands. For example pocket AA’s translate to a 2.44 average big bet profit over the sample. Furthermore the web site offers a poker school for those new to the game giving helpful tips. The top 50 all time winners are given at the web site so you can avoid getting in a game with these players. 

Customer Service/Site Security      Rating 8

Poker Room.com is fairly good when it comes to their service. They do most things well but do have a few hitches. Pokerroom.com has a live hosts to help you if you have an immediate problem. Having a host is a huge bonus when looking for a good online poker site because you can talk to someone who works for the site at any time, 24 hours a day. Poker Room.com  has a secure deposit system with the standard encryption system so no one can steal your personal information. I don’t want to get into all the technical stuff but I guarantee you can be at ease when depositing money at pokerroom.com. Their cash-out system is comparable with other sites. They offer free cash-outs to any neteller, paypal, or major credit cards. They also offer free cash-outs via regular mail. They’ll send you a check for any amount under $1000 via regular mail, for free. If you cash-out over $1000, they UPS it to you for free and it should arrive in 2 days or less. You also have the choice to ask for a UPS delivery of a check under $1000 but it will cost you $30. Poker Room.com  also offers hand history so you can see how you're playing, and where your making you're money. They also tell you where each player is from in the world in the lobby of their site. Like many other sites, pokerroom.com allows you to see how loose a game is by posting the average pot size at a given table and the percentage of people in on every flop . This is important information when trying to find a soft game. The current player traffic at the site indicates that it is in no immediate danger. I would feel comfortable putting my money into this site .

Titan Poker has moderate game variety with Texas Holdem and Omaha Hi-Lo and High, which are available in both limit, pot-limit and Texas Holdem in no-limit as well. Table stakes are from $0.5/$1 to $20/$40 in the fixed games, with $0.25/$0.50 up to $5/$10 in pot-limit and no-limit versions. (The fixed limit Omaha games have a bit lower maximum limits) There are both heads-up, sit-and-go and fixed schedule multi-table tournaments.

Range Rake
The rake at Titan Poker is actually better than the average online. The general policy is the standard 5% rake taken in increments up to $3. But on several types of tables there are lower max rakes. On fixed limit tables up to $1/$2 there is a $1 max rake. More importantly all tables with 2-3 players have a max rake of $1 and tables with 4-5 players have a $2 max rake – which also includes no-limit and pot-limit short handed games! There is a "no flop - no drop" policy for hands not reaching the flop.

Sign-up bonus 
Standard promotion is 25% deposit match up to $100 bonus (which you get for a $400 deposit). The requirements to have the bonus released are a bit harsh with 10 raked hands per bonus dollar. Also, currently you have to email support to get the bonus. There is no published time limit to reach the required hands and it is not clear if a partial bonus is given out.

Titan Poker has been designed with one mission in mind. A great place to play with a suite of gaming products to choose from all under one roof, 'The Best Games in Town'. Their goal is to create the biggest online gaming community, a place where you feel comfortable to play, and where you can make and meet new friends, who also have online gaming interests too. The software is working well and can be resized into two sizes to allow desktop space to be used for other purposes. The software seems to be Java and the download is rather big almost 16 megabytes so if you have a slow connection to the Internet you will need some patience.
Platforms: MAC and PC.
HW requirements:
128 megabytes of memory (RAM), 256 MB is better
A Pentium/AMD class processor
Processor speed must be at least 500 Megahertz
Windows 2000 or higher recommended OR MAC O/S X
dial-up modem speed of at least 52 Bps- cable or broad band is better

Great options with 24/7 telephone support as well as live online and email support at Titan Poker. Good score.

Deposit options; VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, Citadel, FirePay, Moneybookers, InstaCash, InstaDebit, EcoCard, UseMyBank, wire transfer, bank draft and personal check. Cash out options; NETeller, FirePay, Moneybookers, InstaDebit, EcoCard, bank draft express and wire transfer.

Cash out options:
Initial deposits made by Credit/Debit card, cash out requests will be paid back first to your Credit/Debit card up to the amount of deposits in the last 3 months. Remaining amounts over your initial card deposits will be paid to choice of NETeller, FirePay, wire transfer, pre-paid ATM, Central Coins, cashier's check.