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ChrisB
Reader of Souls
Joined: 15 May 2010
Posts: 625
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 Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:03 am Post subject: Public Service announcement - Site Selection |
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Hello guys
I've been playing internet pokers for quite a while and during that time I have experienced my fair share of poker sites and networks. I sometimes get people who ask me about what site to chose and instead of writing the same thing hundreds of times I thought I'd just write a little guide here focusing on the biggest networks going by PokerScout.
For those of you who don't know, PokerScout tracks the activity of online pokersites all with their respective players and tables.
Anyway on with it. The deals I'm refering to can be found on http://www.tagpoker.co.uk/rakeback-offers.html if TAGPOKER does not have a deal with the site I'll write an estimate for what is reasonable.
I'll be evaluating the sites from 1-10 in a few different categories.
Action: Is there many players online, does it take 5 sec or 5 min to find a game?
Safety: From a scale of 1-10 how safe would I feel about having my net worth on the site.
Fishyness: How are the fish-to-reg-ratio?
Software: Self-explanatory.
Value: How is the rakeback?
1 - PokerStars.com
Action: 10 - Any game, any stake, any time. Pretty much.
Safety: 9
Fishyness: 7
Software: 10
Value: 2
Pokerstars is a great site for people who don't put in much volume and a great site for those who put in extreme volume (SNE) if you fall between those two you usually get a very bad return of your rake compared to the eu competitors. Great software, great customer service all-around great site to go with.
Join the biggest poker site in the world directly - PokerStars.com.
2 - Ongame (Betsafe.com)
Action: 7
Safety: 8
Fishyness: 7
Software: 5
Value: 10+
Ongame has a horrible game client, a ridiculously fast structure for hu sng turbos (3 min blinds) - it does however offer some of the most ridiculous value of any poker site, and it has plenty of fish.
If you sign with Tagpoker you can get upwards a $2K sign up bonus. For most that's probably a bit too big, but take a small one like the $500 bonus. It requires $800! in rake, equaling 62.50% rakeback on the bonus alone. On top of this you get their vip club which is around 15-30% for that volume - not a bad deal to get like 80+% rb! Note that this calculation is for tournies only and that their standard rake is 10% so your ROI will be slightly lower.
http://www.tagpoker.co.uk/rakeback/betsafe-poker.html
3 - iPoker Network (TitanPoker)
iPoker is the biggest european poker network.
Action: 8
Safety: 8
Fishyness: 8
Software: 6
Value: 7
The software is only just a touch better than Ongame but the player pool is massive and the big competitors are in the sportsbetting business, so it attracts fish 
The bonus system is a little complicated to explain and rewards loyalty a lot more than other sites, but simplifed you get a sign up bonus, and then you rake something and whatever you rake is converted into a new bonus you get in the start of the month. They also have rake races and other promotions always running. It's really tough to evaluate your valueback, but a grinder who can reach like $1K should get a good chunk back, and so ranks pretty high on the value chart. The only problem is you can't really stop playing one month, since your valueback next month depends on your play in the previous.
The HU sngs are very soft too
Be sure to check out mansion as well as to who offers the best promos
Link: http://www.tagpoker.co.uk/rakeback/titan-poker.html
Link: http://www.tagpoker.co.uk/rakeback/mansion-poker.html
4 - Boss Media (Fortune Poker)
Action: 5
Safety: 8
Fishyness: 5
Software: 5
Value: 6
Boss media is a smaller site and in my opinion has worse software than even ongame. It's been a while since i played on Boss, but unless they made radical changes the software is SUPER bad.
The standard rakeback on Boss is 30% with the caveat that you have to rake at least €100 - or no gold They also have additional value like signup bonuses and other fun stuff occasionally. Not a bad site, but because of the software a no-go for me.
I also think the HU SNG action is limited, but I'm not sure.
5 - Microgaming (Unibet)
Action: 5
Safety: 8
Fishyness: 5
Software: 7
Value: 6
Very similar to boss media. The software however is very good once you get used to it. Not much to say. Has decent action on most games.
The valueback is good with 30% base and added value with the signup bonus. Wouldn't be a top go for me, but its definitely not a bad idea.
6 - Merge
The new place for all the american fish!
Action: 8
Safety: 6
Fishyness: 8
Software: 9
Value: 6
Not much to say. Excellent value in 55%+ possible valueback, excellent software and game selection. The only problem I have is everything that's going on with DOJ and US poker, and that the Merge skins are kinda small players. If you do chose Merge I'd go with Carbon which is the biggest skin. Here is the link:
http://www.tagpoker.co.uk/rakeback/carbon-poker.html
Final mentions of TagPoker deals:
Cake: Site almost dead, network in solvency issues and mediocre software. Easy no-go for me.
Everleaf: Although it has plenty of fish and decent valueback (40% usually) there just isn't enough action at all to justify playing there, software is decent but nothing great.
PKR: Uhm, if you're serious about poker you shouldn't be playing on PKR - period.
That rounds up all the Tagpoker deals, here's a final note on a few that wasnt covered.
Entraction: Decent software, not a whole lot of action and the site is hugely populated by rakebackgrinding regs because of their insane rakeraces and bonuses. With that being said its not a bad deal if you dont mind some tougher opponents.
PokerStars.FR: French players are god awful, but I'm not sure they are awful enough to excuse the extra rake...I'd stick to .com if i could.
PartyPoker: Good software, very very safe company (publically traded), the action is average and the valueback is poor (on level with Pokerstars), has absurd rake on low stakes sngs not recommended for sng players.
Full Tilt poker: Uhm, yeah...Stay away. Forever. And Ever.
That concludes my round-up. If you have any questions feel free to ask here in the thread or PM.
Chris
_________________
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.
Last edited by ChrisB on Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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MrJayOMG
Reader of Souls
Joined: 27 Aug 2010
Posts: 534
Skype: MrJayOMG
Location: Sheffield, Eng
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for this Chris, interested in what goes into your evaluation of safety considerations. |
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ChrisB
Reader of Souls
Joined: 15 May 2010
Posts: 625
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:38 am Post subject: |
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| MrJayOMG wrote: | | Thanks for this Chris, interested in what goes into your evaluation of safety considerations. |
Basically the bigger the company the better. You can't just say that a network is safe, which i may or may not have done in the OP.
You want to play with the biggest sites, to avoid bankruptcy. Do you guys remember the microgaming scandal with battlefield poker and the TUSK processor?
With that said my safety ratings don't say a whole lot. I think the only concern I have is playing smaller skins with rouge affiliate deals and US sites like Cake or Merge, whilst merge is a great alternative I just can't justify rating the saftety of PartyPoker (a clear 10+) equal to Merge with the way the US legislation is going.
So cliffs:
Find your network and then find a big trusty skin, preferably with not just poker (eg: Betfred, William Hill, Paddy Power for iPoker) they are some of the largest bookmarking companies in the world and should be safest.
Another tip: Don't keep your entire BR on a site. Keep most of it on a e-wallet like Moneybookers or Neteller, then transfer depending on your needs. Most sites have almost instant withdrawals anyway.
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God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. |
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Kim Cardassian
Grinder
Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 104
Skype: Kim Cardassian
Location: Amsterdam
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:01 am Post subject: |
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I think you should re-evaluate your fishyness ratings. Ongame has virtually no regs. The ones that do sit you are god awful. Now I haven't played like the $500s, but since there's only 5% rake on those I expect them to have alot of very good regs that are just sitting these games on the side for more action. But at the lower levels it's really uber fishy. You can play $20s there and they're comparable to FTP $5s. There's just no way it's matched in fishiness with PokerStars. Of course, the rake is just too high to consider them below the $500 level and the fishyness just doesn't make it up except maybe at the $100-$200 level.
iPoker I really never played (Only 6max and FR cash), but I doubt it's fishier then ongame because iPoker is basicly "Da place to be" for Euro HU SNG regs. |
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doodiewiz
Reader of Souls
Joined: 26 Nov 2010
Posts: 618
Skype: doodiewiz
Location: London
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the post Chris. Much apreciated mate. I would have though ipoker would get a higher saftey rating, but i see you factored in size of company. I've played there before when i first started and quite liked the site, but i agree with your analysis pokerstars is a great site. Shame there are no juicy rakeback deals... |
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ChrisB
Reader of Souls
Joined: 15 May 2010
Posts: 625
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:16 am Post subject: |
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| Kim Cardassian wrote: | I think you should re-evaluate your fishyness ratings. Ongame has virtually no regs. The ones that do sit you are god awful. Now I haven't played like the $500s, but since there's only 5% rake on those I expect them to have alot of very good regs that are just sitting these games on the side for more action. But at the lower levels it's really uber fishy. You can play $20s there and they're comparable to FTP $5s. There's just no way it's matched in fishiness with PokerStars. Of course, the rake is just too high to consider them below the $500 level and the fishyness just doesn't make it up except maybe at the $100-$200 level.
iPoker I really never played (Only 6max and FR cash), but I doubt it's fishier then ongame because iPoker is basicly "Da place to be" for Euro HU SNG regs. |
Every single site at <20 will feel fishy, no doubt. I've played over 2000 $22 sngs and I've definitely played some solid guys in between. The fishyness rating is not an absolute method, its simply a comparison.
I do believe ongame is one of the fishier sites, but you also have to combat 10% rake and the most horrid software out there.
_________________
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. |
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BetMagicMoney
Forum Moderator & Spam Police
Joined: 22 Mar 2010
Posts: 3594
Skype: samuel.woodhams
Location: This Place Is My First Home
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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very nice man, defiantly worth a sticky <3
_________________
"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it."
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"Lol he'll get there tho. He is a smart guy"
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follow me on twitter @BetMagicMoney |
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savrababa
Grinder
Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Posts: 196
Skype: savrababa
Location: Greece
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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Awesome post!
Great help.
Saved me from many hours of searching.
Thanks for the effort Chris.
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"It's not enough to be a great player, you must also play great."
Cog Dissonance |
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NinjaReads
Grinder
Joined: 14 Sep 2010
Posts: 164
Skype: ninjareads
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:16 pm Post subject: |
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| What's PKR like? I noticed it has rakeback. Are there many HUSNGs on there? |
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butitwassooted
Baller
Joined: 23 Jul 2010
Posts: 313
Location: 5 card PLO IMO
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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| You didn't mention that Microgaming has 10% rake, not to mention a beyond terrible structure. If I remember correctly, levels increase every 10 hands. lol at that. |
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