As a new player, you may be wondering where to find the best online poker sites for beginners, and more importantly where you should deposit your hard earned cash.
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There are lots of different online poker sites to choose from, so let me give you some recommendations.
Table Of Contents
- Best Online Poker Sites In 2018
Best Online Poker Sites In 2018
So what are the best online poker sites? Here are my recommendations:
Party Poker
Party Pokeris one of the first online poker rooms – they have stood the test of time and are still one of the biggest and softest poker rooms about. Since the removal of online poker from the US, Party Poker has fallen back in the traffic department, as all poker sites did, but it was able to maintain the quality of the games (lots of terrible players!).
One of the previous drawbacks of Party Poker was the customer service but that has improved tremendously over the last few years. So you should be well looked after if you encounter any issues.
With Party Poker, you can get a $500 first deposit bonus which can make or break your bankroll.
Promotions include:
- 100% sign up bonus up to $500
- Cash and Sit & Go missions.
- Major tournament qualifiers (World Poker Tour)
- One Million summer giveaway
Here is Party Poker’s freeroll schedule (only for new players)
| Country | Freerolls | Time |
|---|---|---|
| UK/Ireland | 2 x $100 | 12:00 GMT and 18:00 GMT |
| Canada | 2 x $100 | 12:00 ET and 18:00 ET |
| Nordics | 2 x $100 | 12:00 CET and 18:00 CET |
| Western Europe | 2 x $100 | 12:00 CET and 18:00 CET |
| Eastern Europe | 2 x $100 | 12:00 EET and 18:00 EET |
| South and Latin America | 2 x $75 | 12:00 BRT and 18:00 BRT |
| Rest of the world | 2 x $75 | 12:00 AWT and 18:00 AWT |
Tony Bet Poker
Where to play poker online if you want to play Open Face Chinese poker? TonyBet!Tony Bet also has excellent game quality (lots of bad players).
However, the biggest benefit of using Tony Bet is the humongous 100% deposit bonus of up to €2000. If you’re planning to make use of a large deposit bonus you can’t miss this offer! Don’t forget you need to enter the code “STARTER” when signing up to get this offer.
Tony Bet is a small network but that is offset by the nice welcome bonus and the other promotions such as:
- Free €10 ticket to €2,500 GTD tournament.
- Grinders league (€10,000 prize pool)
- Account refill match of up to €1000.
Betfair
BetfairPoker is one of the biggest and most recognised names in the online betting world in 2017 – one with experience and a solid reputation. Betfair’s sportsbook and betting exchange attract lots of recreational players to the poker tables. This makes Betfair Poker one of the more potentially profitable online poker sites you’ll play at and one of the best places to play online poker.
You can also get a monster 200% first deposit bonus of up to $1500. Yep, that’s right, 200% up to $1500. Another great place to deposit if you have a big first deposit saved up.
Promotions include:
- $20,000 Bankroll Booster
- Natural Born Grinders
- Cash Quest €100 FREE
- $1000 Weekly Welcome Freerolls
Bet fair run 10 freerolls per day so there is almost always a free game on hand for you to get stuck into.
PokerStars
Poker Stars is the biggest online poker site in the online poker world. It has the largest game selection and the most traffic. This is the site where I used to play almost all of my poker mainly due to the game selection and the quality of the software (PokerStars has the best software around).
All Free Poker Games
However, I stopped playing there because of the difficulty of the games (also the toughest poker site) and the reduction in player bonuses over time since their acquisition by AMAYA.
PokerStars offers a first deposit bonus to new players of 100% up to $600; use bonus code: STARS600.
You can release your bonus at a rate of 200 VPPs for every $10. You can earn 5.5 VPPs for every $1 in rake paid when playing cash games.
Pros of PokerStars:
- Excellent software
- Best game selection
- Great customer services
- Fast cashout times
Cons of PokerStars:
- Poor customer reward system (which is progressively getting worse)
- Difficult games which make for a tough time for a beginner poker player
Overall, I feel PokerStars does a great job regarding the overall feel of the website and the game selection on offer. However, it severely falls down in regards to bonuses and game difficulty. I wouldn’t recommend a new player stars on this site for these reasons.
However, if you would like to check it out, you can here.
888 Poker
888 poker is a recreational poker site and hence the poker games at 888 are typically much easier than the equivalent at other sites. Get $88 free without depositing and get 100% deposit bonus up to $400.
One of the drawbacks of 888 can be the customer service response times. But I personally had no issues when playing at this site.
888 Poker also run webcam tables where you can see the players you are playing against, adding a new and another element of fun to the game. These games are well suited to these live players who enjoy reading their opponents body language.
Some of the benefits of 888 include:
- Lots of cash game traffic. It’s always easy to find a game at any time of the day.
- The website is geared towards recreational players and so the games are particularly ‘easy’.
- Great tournament schedule and prizes.
- Satellites into major events.
- Fast-fold poker is also available.
- Financially secure network: Your money is safe at this poker website.
- Mobile friendly app.
Check out the freerolls over at 888 poker below:
| Status | Tournament Name | Buy-in | Frequency | Prize Pool | Eligibility |
| $50 Daily Freeroll | $0 | Daily @ 21:30 | $50 | All players | |
| Iron $375 Freeroll | $0 | Every Friday @ 20:00 | $375 | Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum | |
| Bronze $1,000 Freeroll | $0 | Every Saturday @ 21:00 | $1,000 | Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum | |
| $3,000 Silver/Gold/Platinum Freeroll | $0 | Last Saturday of the month @ 19:00 | $3,000 | Silver, Gold & Platinum | |
| $3,000 Silver/Gold/Platinum Freeroll | $0 | Last Saturday of the month @ 19:00 | $3,000 | Silver, Gold & Platinum | |
| $3,000 Silver/Gold/Platinum Freeroll | $0 | Last Saturday of the month @ 19:00 | $3,000 | Silver, Gold & Platinum |
So that’s $10,000 of cash you can win risk free each month.
Paddy Power Poker
Paddy Power Poker provides a fun, safe and profitable online poker room. Coupled with the fact that Paddy Power is a mainly a betting company, you are sure to find plenty of fish roaming the tables during the weekend. This poker room is found on the iPoker network and has good traffic.
With Paddy Power Poker you can get a 100% deposit up to €200. In addition, you have:
- €5 Mobile Only Heads Up Tournament
- Deposit €5 and get €20 free
- $5 token for our NO LOSE tournament!
- A chance to win your way into the Irish Open and other major tournaments.
Paddy Power run
Check out Paddy Power Here!
Get The Most Out Of Your Money While Playing Online Poker
Before playing at real money poker sites, there are a couple of guidelines you should read:
- Make sure you deposit on a site which gives provides you with a worthwhile first deposit bonus (a bonus given by poker rooms which typically double the amount you deposit). Nearly all websites give great first deposit bonuses but some have better deals than others – make sure you pay attention to this when signing up as it can add a significant amount of change to your bankroll.
- Play in a poker room with good security and ratings. All of the big poker rooms are well regulated. So as a first choice play on one of the well-known poker sites and stay away from the lesser known sites unless you have a very good reason.
- Deposit as much as you can to take advantage of your first deposit bonus.
- Play at a poker room which will have sufficient traffic at the hours you are planning to play. This will be the case for nearly all poker rooms but double check to make sure especially if you aren’t playing on one of the major sites.
- Ensure that you have your photo ID (drivers license or passport) and a recent letter to your home address as proof of your identity. Send it in early and get your account verified. Nobody wants to have to wait for their money when they have just had a big payday!
Useful Resources For Online Poker Sites
So if you are interested in other poker networks, we suggest checking out TopPokerValue’s review of True Poker(USA players friendly) on the Winning Poker Network, or William Hill’s poker site on the iPoker network.
Free Casino Poker Games Online
For recent insight into the top poker sites you can play on today in 2019, check out Beat the fish’s poker site reviews.
We hope that this best online poker sites guide has helped you choose a suitable poker room; however, we realise that not everyone is suited to the online poker rooms listed above or maybe or you want to play online poker in the US or Austrailia. If you do happen to live in the US make sure you read this guide on playing poker legally and
Good luck at the tables!
Richard Jenkins