How to Find the Best Online Poker Room?
Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, December 4, 2020
While the iGaming marketplace has continued to grow exponentially in the UK (aside from the most recent stagnation in the sector), it’s fair to surmise that some verticals have performed marginally better than others.
Take online poker, for example, which has largely declined over the course of the last decade to account for just 5.9% of the online GGY at the end of 2017. This is a far cry from the vertical’s halcyon days at the turn of the century, when brands such as PokerStars were enjoying sustained and exponential growth.
However, there remains a cult following of poker players who continue to play regularly online, with the main challenge being finding a viable poker room that offers exceptional value for money. Here are some steps to keep in mind:
1. Competition Level
This is arguably the single most important consideration as a poker player, as you need to identify a poker room that suits your existing level of skill and supporting bankroll.
There’s good reason for this too as the last thing you want as a poker player is to play at tables with better and more seasoned practitioners who will quickly demolish your bankroll.
It’s also important to note that such players often target poker rooms that have a high number of ‘fishes’, with this term used to describe novices who are prone to rash decision making and losing sizable pots.
You really don’t want to end up in one of these rooms, as you’ll come across potential card sharps at every table and find it incredibly difficult to claim any kind of pot or haul.
Fortunately, poker games tend to range from novice to expert level, and it’s relatively easy to access this information and choose a room or network that provides a library that’s ideally suited to your skillset and experience.
2. Identify a User-Friendly Interface
When you’re scouring the market for a potential poker room, it’s also important to consider how the interface will impact on your overall gambling experience.
It’s imperative that you don’t overlook each site’s individual interface when skimming through licensed platforms and identifying the right option for you, as otherwise you may find yourself grappling with this rather than focusing on optimising your game and betting strategy.
In general terms, we’d recommend that you seek out user-friendly and intuitive interfaces that make it easy to navigate your chosen platform, while ideally you’ll find an option that’s compatible with your phone or gaming device.
The latter point is particularly crucial, as this ensures that you can optimise your gambling experience whether you’re playing on the move or sitting behind your desktop in your living room!
3. Don’t Forget About the Rakeback
Another important consideration is the so-called ‘rakeback’, which refers to the portion of the rake that’s refunded back to you after a designated period of gameplay (usually over the course of each week).
However, each poker site operates its own rakeback policy, while networks also regularly offer promotions that look to incentivise players by optimising the rakeback percentage and (in some instances) changing the way in which you’re rewarded as a player.
When it comes to the latter, contributed rakeback is the most common interpretation of this promotion type, which means that the amount you receive is directly related to your total stake during the period.
So, if you bet £10 in a hand and the poker room takes 10%, then their rank is £1. If the advertised rakeback is 25%, you’ll then recoup £0.25. You can then scale this across a total number of hands and stakes within the designated time-frame, potentially walking away with a sizable amount of cash.
In addition to calculating your potential rakeback (based on your average stake) before you choose a poker room, we’d also recommend that you keep those eagle eyes open for VIP rakeback deals and promotion.
Such deals tend to optimise the percentage rate applied and aid players who want to increase their win rate, although you should be aware that you’ll most likely have to stake a predetermined amount within a specific period to become eligible for the offer.
4. Appraise Promotions and Welcome Bonuses
Just like your bog-standard online casinos, virtual poker sites continuously run lucrative and changeable welcome offers as a way of incentivising and winning the custom of brand-new players.
Make no mistake; welcome offers remain the single most aggressive technique used by poker rooms and networks that want to compete for new players, and by comparing the market you can find an option that best suits your expectations.
In the current marketplace, Party Poker offers one of the most appealing welcome bonuses, and one that’s fairly indicative of the contemporary marketplace. More specifically, this brand is offering new players $30 worth of competition tickets and a 60% VIP rakeback percentage, the latter of which is highly competitive and incredibly appealing to potential high rollers.
The average promotional rakeback offer is around 30% in the UK, so if you’re a frequent gambler or high roller you should prioritise poker rooms that go above and beyond this percentage point.
Betfair currently offers a viable option in this respect, with their £200 total bonus offer also including a 35% VIP rakeback promotion.
OK, we hear you ask, but what about if you’re more of a novice or casual player who isn’t as motivated by an inflated rakeback offer? In this instance, you should consider prioritising offers that increase the overall value of the bonus, with Betsafe currently running a promotion worth up to £2,000 and a competitive rakeback offer of 30% for all players.
5. What About the Available Payment Options?
On a final note, you should also consider the available payment options hosted by your chosen website.
After all, payment technology continues to evolve at a frenetic pace, creating a myriad of secure and convenient options through which you can credit your account.
Of course, it stands to reason that each poker site should be accredited and boast a minimum requirement of 128-bit SSL encryption, but if this is guaranteed then you can focus on identifying payment options that allow for instant transactions and optimise access to your bankroll at any given time.
To review the options on offer at each site and appraise each site’s individual payment schedules, be sure to seek out comprehensive and independent reviews online before making an informed decision!