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Most Popular Poker Sites
The biggest poker sites in terms of player traffic have thousands and thousands of players logged in around the clock. Poker sites with lots of players offer several key advantages, such as tables that are full at all stakes, poker tournaments with massive prize pools and easy to use deposit methods. Large poker sites are also the safest places to play because they spare no expenses on security and customer support.
If you like to play multiple tables at a time or you are interested in games that aren’t as popular as Texas Hold'em, large poker sites are perfect. The biggest poker sites have so many players that you’re bound to find games of all types at a wide range of stakes.
- Location: Netherlands
- Established: 2004
- Marketing Code: BPSORG
- Traffic: 238,441 Players
- Mac Friendly: Yes
PokerStars is the world’s largest poker site and nobody else even comes close. There are regularly more than 150,000 players logged in at PokerStars and even more players during peak hours. If you’re looking for the biggest poker site in the world, PokerStars is definitely it.
At the time of this writing, there were 238,441 players logged in at PokerStars. This number can peak to more than 250,000 on a regular basis. These numbers are all impressive, especially when compared to any live poker room. There are always thousands of players at the cash game tables and more than 5,000 tournaments running at any given moment.
The cash game stakes at PokerStars go all the way up to $200/$400 NL ($40,000 buyin) and $1000/$2000 fixed limit but the ultra high tables don’t fill up often. PokerStars is primarily a tournament site and they have an incredible tournament selection. There are always thousands of tournaments running and the biggest regular tournament is the Sunday Million, which has a $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool.
- Location: Costa Rica
- Established: 1996
- Promo Code: BPSORG
- Traffic: 92,015 Players
- Mac Friendly: Yes
Full Tilt is another massive poker site that regularly has 100,000 or more players logged in at more than 20,000 poker tables. Although not quite as large as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker is still a leading poker site for both cash games and tournaments. Its impressive sign up bonus and rewarding loyalty program continue to attract new players every day.
At the time of this writing, there were 92,015 players logged in at Full Tilt Poker. During peak hours, it’s not uncommon to see 150,000 or so players logged in at 30,000 or more poker tables. Multi-tabling is a breeze thanks to Full Tilt’s long list of tables and lightweight software.
Full Tilt Poker is known for having the best cash games in the world at all stakes. The cash game tables run at stakes up to $500/$1000 NL ($100,000 buyin) and $2000/$4000 limit. On the tournament side, Full Tilt Poker also shows impressive stats in terms of players and tournament types. The biggest regular tournament at Full Tilt is the Sunday $750,000 Guaranteed.
- Location: Gibraltar
- Established: 2001
- Bonus Code: BPS500
- Traffic: 46,986 Players
- Mac Friendly: Yes
Party Poker was once the world’s largest poker site but they slipped a little after leaving the US market in 2006. Today, Party Poker still shows impressive numbers, with an average player count of about 50,000 players during off hours and nearly 70,000 players logged in during peak hours. A the time of this writing, there were exactly 46,986 players logged in at Party Poker.
Thanks to a strong marketing campaign, Party Poker continues to increase its player traffic even though it does not accept players from the US. Party Poker is huge in the European market and appears to be growing larger every year. Considering Party Poker’s long standing reputation and long list of promotions, it’s no surprise that they have managed to remain one of the largest poker sites in the world despite a complete lack of US players.
The cash games at Party Poker are busy at all levels and go up to stakes of $25/$50 NL ($5,000 buyin) and $250/$500 fixed limit. Although the stakes at Party Poker don’t go up as high as they do at the other poker sites, there is plenty of action to be had at all the tables. Party Poker also has a strong tournament lineup at all stakes. The biggest regular tournament at Party is the Monthly Million with a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Advantages of Big Poker Sites
The most obvious advantage of big poker sites is their large selection of games at all stakes. When a poker site manages to have tens of thousands of players logged in at all hours, the chances of finding games at all levels are very high. You can also find a wide variety of games other than Texas Hold'em.
In addition to that, big poker sites make a lot of money and can afford to provide their players with rewarding loyalty programs and large deposit bonuses. This extra money also allows poker sites to host large guaranteed tournaments. The PokerStars $1,500,000 guarantee, for example, is larger than most major live tournaments.
Large poker sites also happen to have the best software in the industry. All that money they make allows them to constantly update and improve their poker software. You’ll notice frequent software updates at big poker sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars. Smaller sites rarely have software that can compete with what's offered by the biggest poker sites.
Disadvantages of Big Poker Sites
The only disadvantage of playing at the more popular poker sites is that the competition is usually a little bit tougher than what you'd find at a smaller site. If you'd prefer to play at a smaller poker site that has a little bit easier to beat competition, check out these soft poker sites.