When online poker came on the scene during the late 90s, the world never knew what was coming. Within less than a decade, the online poker industry became one of the fastest growing and largest Internet industries to ever hit the World Wide Web. While poker never got its fair chance in land-based casinos because it wasn’t the most profitable casino game, the Internet created a hotbed for poker, allowing it to become every man’s sport, not just a social game played in basements. Furthermore, stuffy poker rooms at many casinos were for the most part intimidating to players, so there was never any room for the game to advance.
Online poker rooms, on the other hand, have relatively no over head and remove the pressure of confronting veteran players face-to-face. As simply as logging into a website, anyone can play online poker, making it virtually stress-free for players to learn and play poker abundantly. Furthermore, online poker rooms afford players the ability to play at limits that anyone can afford.
Another factor that encouraged the advancement of online poker rooms and continues to boost the popularity of online poker is the limitless amount of promoting that goes on to entice players to play online poker. Online poker rooms are constantly coming up with new promotions, new tournaments, new freerolls, new bonuses, new satellites—you name it. If it can be done in an online poker room, it is.
As a result of all of this, online poker has come a long way since the first online poker room to accept bets with real money, Planet Poker, opened its doors in the late 90s. Even prior to that, IRC poker supported free online poker. Before the online poker boom, the only poker players to achieve semi-celebrity status were Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro. Online poker paved the way for professional poker players to be in the limelight and have all the fame and exposure that other sports stars get.
One of the biggest events in online poker that really boosted the reputation of the game, encouraged more players to play online poker, and helped put PokerStars on the map, specifically, was when average-Joe online poker player, Chris Moneymaker, won a seat at the 2003 World Series of Poker at a PokerStars satellite tournament for less than $40. Moneymaker even went on to win the 2003 WSOP Main Event, profiting $2.5 million. By the time the 2004 WSOP rolled around, there was three times the number of registrants as the year before. Furthermore, the 2004 WSOP final table saw four players who had won their seats playing online poker, and the winner was again a PokerStars player, Greg Raymer.
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888
Poker is
one of the strongest
and well-populated online
poker rooms on the Internet
today, with more than
50,000 active players
online at any given
time. Prior to 2006
when the UIGEA was passed,
888 played a
major role in the growth
of online poker. Even
after banning US players,
they still have an insane
amount of traffic. The
888 Gaming brand encompasses
888 Casino, 888 Bingo,
and other sites in addition
to 888Poker. All 888
sites are connected,
so players have the
advantage of playing
at all sites using only
one account.
888 now offers an updated signup bonus that is more competitive with other online
poker sites. The 888 Poker software is cutting edge,
fast and reliable.888 Poker
is good about keeping their promotions current and fresh, giving out a lot of
cash and prizes to winning players. You will also find that 888 Poker offers
reload bonuses from time to time, which are not always available at other online
poker rooms in addition to no deposit bonuses.
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Bet
Online is a new poker
room using proprietary
software and features
some of the best action
if your looking for
soft cash games and
easy to beat tournaments.
The poker room is part
of the huge BetOnline.com
network, which consists
of an online sportsbook,
casino and poker room.
New players qualify
for a 25% instant poker
bonus on all deposits,
not just your first
and the poker room is
running regular freerolls.
Bet Online Poker accepts
all USA players, supports
eCheck and credit card
payments and provides
regular promotions for
their sportsbook and
casino. Join today and
claim the 25% cash bonus
which is a limited time
offer.
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PokerStars offers one of
the best poker bonuses for
novice and veteran players.
The poker bonus is available
on your first two deposits,
giving you a 100% match capped
at $600. Unlike other rooms
where you have 30 or 60 days
to clear it, PokerStars will
give you a full six months
before the pending amount
expires. The bonus is cleared
by earning VPP's in real money
games, and as a side bonus,
you automatically qualify
for the VIP program. As a
PokerStars VIP, you can expect
to earn monthly reload bonuses,
quarterly instant cash bonuses
and access to exclusive tournaments.
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Bovada
Poker has always provided
players with a quality
poker room using proprietary
software. The poker
room is part of the
Bovada.com network, which
includes an online poker
room, casino and sportsbook.
The poker room provides
all of the features
players would expect
to see including excellent
multi-tabling options,
lobby statistics, chat
and more. Bovada Poker
is offering new players
a 100% bonus up to $1000
in addition to an instant
cash bonus of 10% to
$100.
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Party Poker is
one of the most advertised
online poker brands,
sponsoring many big-name
live tournament poker
players, as well as
some of the biggest
players of high-stakes
online poker. Party
Poker is where many
online poker pros hang
out with chip stacks
that get up into the
hundreds of thousands
of dollars. In addition
to the high-stakes action,
Party offers a wide
range of lower limit
tables that are always
well populated with
up to 70,000+ online
poker players to compete
with.
The Party Poker software is available to PC and Mac users and offers
a vast array of customization options, as well as the import of tournament and
cash game data to the Poker Tracker program. In addition, you will find standard
setting online poker tournaments, satellites, loyalty rewards specials, and
promotional events to keep you busy playing online poker at Party including
a $1.5 million guaranteed tournament.
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Cake
Poker launched in 2006
and has continued to
accept USA players.
The poker room provides
an easy to use client
packed with features
and games in Hold'em
and Omaha only. Players
will have access to
a tournament monitor
to track upcoming overlays
in addition to lobby
stats, quick seat filters
and more. The poker
room created one of
the most innovative
rewards programs for
online poker players
and rewards both micro
and high limit players.
If your looking for
a fish poker site with
some great promos, you'll
definitely want to check
out Cake Poker.
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Winner Poker came
on the scene in 2009
and is now one of the
most trusted and reliable
online poker rooms within
the iPoker Network.
Offering a unique poker
software application
by PlayTech, Winner
Poker is easy to navigate,
and everything runs
in real-time. The Winner
Poker loyalty program
is very rewarding, and
the sign up bonus is
easy to clear.
As a part of the iPoker Network, this highly trafficked site sees up to 50,000
players logged on at times, with more than three fourths of these players playing
in online poker tournaments. Winner Poker is a popular spot for online poker
tournaments, as they have quite a lot of options available including weekly
big-money tournaments, as well as numerous satellites to live poker events that
take place globally. Winner Poker feeds into some of the biggest poker championships
in the world. Winner Poker is also known for their freerolls and progressive
sit & go jackpots.
There are lots of loose players at Winner, many seeking qualifier seats
to upcoming live tournaments.
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BWIN is
one of the Net's most
sportsbooks, casino
and poker rooms, with
a global player base
of hundreds of thousands
of players
and one of the official
sponsors for the biggest
sporting events across
the globe. The competition
at BWIN is healthy
with lots of tournament
action and players from
all realms of the spectrum,
ranging from beginners
to professionals.
The BWIN software is
user-friendly and current,
featuring customizable
virtual poker tables,
image upload avatars,
multi-table play on
up to eight tables,
and accessibility for
Mac players. BWIN
also hosts some of the
biggest weekly and monthly
guaranteed online tournaments
with plenty of satellites
and freerolls. The BWIN
VIP frequent player
program is one of the
best loyalty rewards
system of any online
poker room with lots
of cash bonuses and
an online store.
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Intertops Poker, has a healthy supply of traffic and good solid competition, though you can go fishing at the low-limit tables. Intertops Poker was actually formerly known as Poker.com, but a name change worked better for marketing purposes. The poker room opened for business back in 1996 and is now one a leading player in the online poker industry.
Intertops Poker offers cutting edge and up to date promotions that change consistently, plus the innovative ELO ranking system, mad freerolls, and a first class loyalty rewards program. The Carbon software has tons of options including up to eight table multi-tabling, vector graphics, and a wide variety of game and tournament options. Other software features include rabbit hunting, expose one card, and deal it twice. Not to mention, Intertops Poker offers one of the best bonuses in the business, and they accept US players.
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Online poker rooms like Full Tilt have taken online poker to the next extreme, breaking record after record with the largest tournaments ever played in online poker and the largest prize pools ever paid. Moreover, the high-stakes players who play online poker win and lose the biggest pots the Internet has ever seen like it’s nothing, while getting paid millions of dollars a year to play online poker. Speaking of, high-stakes online poker has reached phenomenal heights with hundreds of thousands of dollars going back and forth between the biggest online poker players daily. And what is truly remarkable about these high-stakes players like Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius is that they are not famous for their appearances and wins at live event poker tournaments. They are self-made celebrities who have achieved celebrity status based solely on their ability to play online poker.
Despite the drama that has been associated with the US and the UIGEA, online poker has existed as an impenetrable force that refuses to be suppressed by anyone or any government. The minor setbacks that online poker has suffered since the UIGEA was passed when, one after another, online poker rooms dropped US players like the plague, were just that—minor setbacks. The problems with the legalities of US online poker proved only to lull the natural progression of online poker as a whole, as many online poker rooms have since re-welcomed US players to play online poker at their sites. Most reputable online poker websites don’t even bat an eye now at the UIGEA or any other force that threatens the party. If nothing else, the UIGEA did online poker a favor by giving it a chance to take root in other countries and spread globally. Had the problems with the US never transpired, online poker would likely not be the same game that is today. Online poker, like everything else, is what it is because of its history and experiences.
Ultimately, online poker and live-poker co-exist peacefully and sustain each other. Both arenas feed off of each other, and neither would be as strong alone. The game of poker, and online poker especially, is in its glory days, and there are guaranteed to be many, many more to come with a multitude on opportunities for newcomers and poker experts, alike, to play online poker.
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