PokerStars Review

PokerStars: PokerStars is the real deal, not much more needs to be said. If you’re looking for a full game, chances are they have what you are looking for. Their schedule of guaranteed tourneys is excellent. Their variety of sit-n-go games is second to none and the overall number of players nearly doubles any competitor. Interestingly, PokerStars collects one of the lowest rakes in the industry. All players are welcome at PokerStars and with their excellent reputation, if you are looking for a game, PokerStars is the place to be.

Promotions: PokerStars only has a 100% initial deposit up to $50. Reload bonuses are available, but infrequent. This may be their biggest downside due to their number one traffic ranking. PokerStars VIP program, however is excellent. Frequent player points can be redeemed for tourneys or a multitude of merchandise. A new sit-n-go leaderboard called Battle of the Planets is available which divides players into several buy-in categories and high and low volume players with cash prizes available. PokerStars also has a Multi-Player Tourmament leaderboard with excellent benefits for the weekly winner, and monthly and yearly leaders.

Traffic: PokerStars is number one. What more is there to say? If you are looking for a game, chances are they have it, and it is full of competitors.

Players: At Pokerstars, finding competition for all skill levels is never a problem. High stakes games are very tough, however, so expect excellent competition at these limits. The player quality at the tournaments is a bit softer, but as you increase the buy-in, expect tougher going.

Software: The PokerStars software client is excellent and updated frequently. They offer Texas Hold’Em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, HOSE, HORSE, 5 Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw and Razz. The lobby is easy to navigate for ring games, tournaments and sit-n-go games. Graphics are great, with personalized player icons available. PokerStars offers virtually unlimited multi-table support as well. An excellent instant hand history summary is available as well as the ability to see your folded cards for the current hand by mousing over your player icon. The standard player statistics and note taking features are all there as well. There really are no drawbacks of the PokerStars client software. It is top notch with excellent features.

Deposit/Cashout/Transfer: PokerStars deposit options are plentiful, with excellent information provided for each option. The following list is from their website:

• eChecks are available in the US and Canada, and ClickandBuy to all players outside the US.
• ClickandBuy - Available to players from any country other than US.
• Moneybookers - Available everywhere, except in US, China, Malaysia, Israel, Turkey and Ukraine.
• NETeller - (No longer available for players in the US, Canada and Turkey) Deposit in USD, EUR or GBP.
• VISA / VISA Delta / VISA Electron / Gift and Prepaid VISA - Deposit in USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, SEK, NOK, DKK.
• AUD MasterCard / Gift and Prepaid MasterCard - Deposit in USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, SEK, NOK, DKK, AUD.
• Diners Club International Solo / Maestro - Available in UK and Northern Ireland only.
• Cashier's Check / Money Order / Bank Draft - Minimum deposit only $100.
• Local Bank Transfer - Available in Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, Vatican City and Viet Nam.
• ELV - Available in Germany only.
• Online Bank Transfer - Available in Austria, Germany and Netherlands.
• paysafecard - Available in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and UK Players also have the ability to set their own deposit limits if desired. 

Cashouts are credited back to the method of deposit up to the original deposit for Maestro, Solo, Visa, NeTeller and Moneybookers. For other cashouts beyond this amount or starting with deposit methods not listed here, you then have the following options taken from PokerStars website:

• NETeller (not available in the US, Canada or Turkey).
• VISA Debit Card or VISA (Visa is only available if you have made at least one purchase with a CFT eligible VISA and your cashout to VISA is from $100 to $2,000). Cashouts to VISA will be automatically converted by PokerStars from USD into the currency of the most recent CFT eligible VISA deposit.
• Moneybookers (only available if you have made at least one purchase with Moneybookers)
• Check in any of the following currencies: US Dollars Canadian Dollars Pounds Sterling Euros Australian Dollars Norwegian Kroner Swedish Kronor Danish Kroner.
• Direct Bank Transfer - Your cashout is deposited directly into your bank account (only available in Austria, Germany, Spain and UK at this time).

Security: PokerStars security is excellent. Their client software uses the certificates issued by their own Certificate Authority (CA) to authenticate servers. The CA certificate key is 1024 bit length. The client software uses the SSLv3 protocol. It is configured to use RSA for authentication and key generation and triple-DES (EDE3, in outer-CBC mode) for encryption. Currently they are using 512-bit RSA key, which has been shown to be sufficient for short and medium-term (up to several years) secrets, and server private keys are updated every 3 months. Collusion method detection is also employed and taken very seriously. PokerStars also uses a very sophisticated Random Number Generator deriving its randomness from more than one natural source and has been independently tested by 2 independent organizations. You should your money and information are safe while playing at PokerStars.

Support: Customer support is available 24/7 through email only, however their reputation is excellent. You don’t become the top online poker room in the world for nothing!

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