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Poker Stars is a relatively unique online poker room in that it runs on privately developed software and is not a part of any network or shared player base. Established in 2000, Poker Stars was an immediate hit with online poker fans, relying on promotions, a fully loaded tournament schedule and enormous game variety to draw in new memberships. That plan has worked out tremendously well for Poker Stars, now ranking as the absolute largest online poker room in regards to active players.
With so much traffic, soft competition runs rampant in low to mid level ring game stakes, as well as most tournaments. Poker Stars hosts a $1,000,000 Guaranteed Tournament every week; the Poker Stars Sunday Million. The customer support is excellent, even though email is currently the only option. Members will find a group of professional poker players, deemed Team PokerStars Pros, including Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu and more, who play online poker exclusively at Poker Stars.
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PokerStars Software
Poker Stars is powered by an elite, privately developed software platform that easily ranks as the best in the industry. Highly functional and customizable, Poker Stars software offers a full line of user-friendly features and statistics with crisp, spirited graphics. Near the end of 2007, Poker Stars released its highly anticipated Mac/Linux compatible software, now offering two separate downloads for Windows PC and Mac users. With 14 supported languages, lightning fast performance and solid stability, it's little wonder Poker Stars is currently the number one online poker room.
Statistically, the Poker Stars Lobby provides any and all information poker players might need. From the names of players seated, players waiting and individual stack sizes, to average pot size, viewed-flop% and hands played/hour, finding a perfectly suitable ring game is never an issue. Players have access to personal in-game stats and player notes, as well as instant recall of the last 200 hands. The hand history function is unsurpassed, not to mention compatible with just about any poker odds calculator available. Multi-tabling allows for unlimited tournaments and up to 8 ring games simultaneously, with resizable windows that tile or cascade as the player prefers. You won't find 3D avatars, but members can choose to upload their own image if they wish.
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PokerStars Games
The poker game selection is excellent at Poker Stars, from the most popular forms of Hold'em and Hi-Lo games, to the mixed game varieties. Ring games offer Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hold'em, Omaha hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo, 5 Card Draw, Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw and H.O.R.S.E., varying between No Limit, Fixed Limit and Pot Limit. Poker Stars offers micro-limits of $0.01/$0.02 in Texas Hold'em and Omaha games, where no rake is taken.
The Poker Stars Tournament schedule is a plethora of consistently lucrative action, providing everything from Freerolls and Guaranteeds to Bounties, Turbos, and of course Satellites to major poker events around the world. Freerolls are held three times daily worth $250 to $1,000, requiring only a few player points to enter. Other Freerolls are often held as Satellite tournaments to bigger events. Loyal players can expect the occasional invite to exclusive Freerolls worth as much as $10,000.
Guaranteed Tournaments offer buy-ins as low as $1 ranging into the high hundreds for the largest prize pools. The Sunday Million ($1 million GP) is held each and every Sunday at Poker Stars, but the immense player traffic tends to drive the prize pool well above the expected $1 million, including a recent $2.4 million prize pool. If Satellites suit your fancy, Poker Stars is the place to find them. For as little as $1 r $2, players can earn a prize package and seat in many of today's major live poker events, including the WSOP, WPT, EPT, LAPT, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and others.
PokerStars Promotions
Poker Stars wouldn't be the number one online poker room if they didn't reward their new and veteran members with consistently valuable promotions. You'll find the most lucrative Poker Stars bonuses and promotions detailed below.
New members can earn up to $50 with a 100% first time deposit bonus using the bonus code "First2008".
Reload Bonuses: Poker Stars runs occasional Reload Bonus promo's, usually worth 20% to 25%, so keep your eyes out for these.
Battle of the Planets: Eight divisions of multi-player Sit'n'Go tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $1 up to $300. Each division has its own Leaderboards that will award a total of $3,000,000 in cash prizes over the course of the year.
PokerStars Sunday Million: The largest, longest-running weekly poker tournament in the world, Poker Stars hosts this $1,000,000 Guarantee every Sunday, often resulting in a much higher prize pool than what is guaranteed; as high as $2.4 million in recent months. Direct buy-in is $215 ($530 on the last Sunday of each month). Play Satellites to the PokerStars Sunday Million starting at $3 and up.
Sunday Warm-Up: A $500,000 Guaranteed Tournament held every Sunday with a direct buy-in of $215. Earn a seat through Satellites starting at $3.
WSOP Satellites: Poker Stars is currently hosting a plethora of qualifiers and satellites that will send a minimum of 2,000 Poker Stars members to the 2008 World Series of Poker. More than a million in prize packages will be awarded, starting from cheap seat qualifiers and satellites, and even Freeroll competitions.
Life Ball 2008: Win a trip to Vienna including luxury accommodations and flight for two, extra cash for expenses and two tickets to the upcoming Life Ball charity event.
Frequent Player Points (FPP): Earn FPP for participating in raked ring games and paying tournament fees. Use your FPP to purchase Poker Stars merchandise and enter various tournaments.
$1 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown - With a total prize pool of $1 Million up for grabs and at least one in every three players getting paid, this is one tourney you truly cannot afford to miss!
Barry Greenstein’s Poker Masterclass - Play in a Masterclass HORSE Single Table Tournament with Team PokerStars Pro and poker legend Barry Greenstein!
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Season 2 Qualifiers for as low as $7.50 or 500 FPP credits.
PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) Season 1 for as low as $2.20
Take Advantage of Poker Stars Promotions! Sign Up Now!
PokerStars Rake
Poker Stars takes an industry standard rake of 5%, capped at $1 to $3 depending on the limits and number of participating players.
PokerStars Traffic
With the largest active, real-money player volume in the online poker industry, Poker Stars presents all sorts of competition; ranging from loose and juicy in low level stakes and tournaments, up to outright fierce competition in high stakes ring games and the most valuable tournaments. Guaranteed tournaments with massive prize pools are extremely well populated and very hard to finish in the money, much less in first position.
As of May 2008, Poker Stars reveals an average peak hour, real-money traffic rate of 22,500 in ring games, and a whopping 155,000 in tournaments.
PokerStars Withdrawals / Deposits
Poker Stars accepts a wide array of payment methods, including several viable options for US players.
Deposits - Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electron, Visa Delta, Diners Club International, Visa Gift Card/Pre-Paid Visa, Solo, Maestro, NETeller, MoneyBookers, WebMoney, PaySafeCard, ClickandBuy, EC ELV, Online Bank transfer, Local Bank Transfer, Instant Checks, Cashier's Check, Money Order
Withdrawals - Visa, Solo, Maestro, NETeller, MoneyBookers, WebMoney, ClickandBuy, Direct Bank Transfer, Check
PokerStars Support
While email support is the only option, Poker Stars employs a knowledgeable that is always prompt and courteous. The FAQ section is extremely detailed, providing answers to all commonly asked questions.
PokerStars e-mail Contact
General Questions:
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Conclusion: Poker Stars is the largest online poker room in the world for a reason - superb quality that encompasses all aspects. You simply won't find a more versatile, user-friendly software platform, provided for both Windows PC and Mac computers. The expansive game variety and brimming tournament schedule, including a $500k and $1 million guaranteed every Sunday, are exceptional. A full range of payment methods make deposits and withdrawals convenient for all players, regardless of their global residency.
US Players Accepted
Largest Player Traffic In The World
Elite Software In Every Aspect
PC/Mac Compatible
$1-Mil GP Every Sunday
Extensive Game Variety
Software available for PC & Mac
Download Only Software
Tight Competition At Higher Levels
Email Support Only
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