Do you know how to select the right poker room? Selecting the right online poker room is a lot like picking a new bank. You should find the qualities that suit the way you wish to use it. The qualities you are would be looking for are security, reliable customer service, financial stability, convenience and a good rate of return on your money.
Here are some of the qualities you should look for and a guide on how to separate the pretenders from the contenders:
Website Security Protection
You will be exchanging a lot personal data with your online poker room. Make sure the poker room’s connections are secured by the top internet security firm, Verisign (or Thawte, Verisign’s international subsidiary).
Verisign and Thawte are the undisputed industry leaders in online security. If you have ever used a credit card online, your transaction was probably made via a Verisign-secured connection.
Poker rooms protected by these methods will display the logos on their home page.
Licensed by a Trusted Gaming Commission
Dont play in a poker room that does not have a gaming license. A license from a respected gaming commission validates a poker room’s financial health and commitment to ethical gaming. And, more importantly, gaming commissions provide consumers with somewhere to voice their complaints and, when necessary, act as an independant arbitrator to settle those complaints.
One of the top online gaming commissions is the Kahnawake Gaming Commission of Canada. Located just outside of Montreal, Kahnawake is a sovereign Mohawk nation whose right to self-government is recognized by the Canadian federal government. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) drafted its gaming regulations with the guidance of Frank Catania, the former director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Under Catania’s guidance, KGC’s regulations adhere to the same strict standards set by the Nevada Gaming Commission and New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Online poker rooms licensed by the KGC are required to display the KGC seal on their home page.
Like the Nevada Gaming Commission, the KGC closely monitors complaints against its licensees. Complaints against a KGC-licensed poker room can be made at KGC’s online form, or you can contact KGC directly through email or telephone.
Financial Stability
You should only play at the premiere poker rooms that will be in business for along time. A good indication of their financial stability is the amount of traffic that a poker room gets. Not surprisingly, poker rooms with good customer relations and sound business plans will attract the most traffic.
Most poker rooms post their traffic data on their home page. While most of this data is probably reliable, you should really judge the traffic for yourself. Visit the poker room on a weeknight and check out the lower limit Holdem tables ($1/2 and $2/4). If you see less than fifty players in those games, that poker room probably won’t be around for long.
Another indication of a poker room’s financial stability is it’s membership in prestigious poker associations. For example, the World Poker Tour (WPT) only accepts membership from the largest and most financially successful casinos. Some of WPTs brick and mortar members include the Bellagio, the Bicycle Casino, the Foxwoods Resort, the Lucky Chances Casino, the Horseshoe, and the Reno Hilton.
To find online poker rooms with WPT membership, look for the logo on their websites.
Accessible Customer Service
As a new player, you will have a lot of questions about online poker. Therefore, you should look for poker rooms that offer 24-hour toll free customer service hotlines.
At the very least, a poker room should have a 24-hour email support or a toll free support line accessible during business hours. Beware of poker rooms that do not prominently display their customer service contact information. They are quite likely to be fly-by-night operations that cannot afford live support.
Ease of Competition
The general rule is that the larger the poker room, the easier the competition. The largest poker rooms can afford to advertise in mainstream media, and such advertisements tend to attract novice players. Smaller poker rooms, on the other hand, generally advertise in obscure gambling magazines, which tends to target the hardcore poker players.
Tools and Features
Most poker rooms offers similar tools and features. However, there are a few poker rooms that offer unique features that you might interested in. Consider the following:
Multi-table features: You can play multiple tables in any poker room. However, some rooms have smarter designs that better facilitate multi-table gaming.
Statistics and record keeping: Poker rooms generally offer players basic statistics such as the number of hands played and winning percentage. Some of the better poker rooms offer sophisticated statistics that you can download into your computer for analysis with specialized poker software.
Personalization features: Some websites allow you to upload a personal picture or even a personal voice file to humanize your gaming experience.
Operating system compatibility: All poker rooms run on windows machines. However, there are a few websites out there that accommodate non-Windows computer that run on Mac or Linux operating systems.
Promotions and Bonuses
Deposit bonuses and frequent player points are all great ways to supplement your bankroll. However, beware of the promise of free mone. No amount of free money can make up for bad security or unethical business practices. What good is the promise of free money if the poker room goes bankrupt?
Beware of poker rooms offering impossible bonuses such as a $500 bonus for $50 deposit. Even if that bonus is not a scam, a poker room offering that type of deal cannot possibly stay in business for long. You are better off getting the smaller bonuses from respectable poker rooms.
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