Because of the current COVID-19-induced state of lockdown over much of the world, many have been turning to online poker to pass the time. In the States of America, that’s a bit more difficult than for some other countries. The individual states that have passed online gaming regulations offer a plethora of options, while the rest of the country must deal with the offshore (and, therefore, unregulated) sites to scratch their poker itch. But there are some things that you should look for in an online poker room to ensure that it is the right one for you.
A Small Disclaimer
First, we must make a blanket disclaimer. If you’re in the States of America and one of the states that has regulated online gaming and poker, your choices are limited (by law, not by reality). Technically in those states, you’re prohibited from playing on unregulated sites and, in most cases, the offshore sites will not permit you to play on their platform. Thus, you’re going to have to go with what the state offers for your enjoyment.
If you aren’t in one of the regulated states, then it is complete caveat emptor…”buyer beware.” Sure, you have more choices than those players in the regulated states, but you also don’t have any protections from fraud, cheating or, in the extreme, if the site shuts down and takes off with your cash. Remember when Ultimate Poker shut down in Nevada? People were upset but, because of the regulations, the people got their money back. Remember when Lock Poker went belly up? How many people got their money back from that fiasco?
If you’re outside the U. S., it is really going to depend on where you are. Some countries have “ring fenced” their countries, essentially preventing their citizens from playing against other countries (for taxation revenues). Some countries, Australia for example, have banned online gaming completely. Some other countries still operate in the “Wild West” atmosphere of online gaming and poker. Be sure to look up your local laws and abide by them…we’d like to keep you out of jail!
Don’t Worry About Getting Money IN…Worry About Getting it OUT
The first thing to worry about isn’t how to get money on an online site. That is arguably the easiest thing that can be done, through your debit card, prepaid credit card, wire transfer, Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency or other mechanism. The thing most people forget about are the rules regarding getting the money OFF the site that they have won. In some cases, there are guidelines buried in the Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) that you should be aware of.
Most of the time once you’ve deposited money on a site, you must play a certain amount of raked hands – normally equivalent to what you’ve deposited – before you can withdraw ANY money from the site. This counts even if you hit a big score in the first tournament you play on a new poker site. You will not be able to withdraw any of that money until you’ve been raked enough to have cleared the amount that you put in your account.
Recently I heard the lament of a player who, after receiving a transfer from another player, tried to pull the money out. They said it was only the second time they had withdrawn in quite some time (this is another “red flag”…if you don’t withdraw frequently, your transactions are going to be scrutinized), but they were prohibited from making the withdrawal. This is because they had not played the required hands to clear the amount of cash that had been transferred.
These are money laundering protocols, rules put in place to protect the company and comply with the regulations of whatever country licenses their operations. It doesn’t matter if it $100 or $10,000, you’ve got to have played enough on the site to have cleared any previous deposits and have a transaction history (although that’s not as important). Always read those T&Cs so surprises like this (and, if you’ve been around the online world for any length of time, it shouldn’t be a surprise) don’t happen.
Check the Traffic and the Games
If you’re looking for a game, the worst part is going to an online poker room and finding nobody on the site. Thus, you want to look up the traffic statistics for online sites – who is active when I want to play. One of the best ways to do this is to go to each site – they usually will let you know on their download screen how many players there are in action. If they don’t, there’s always the great work done by PokerScout.
PokerScout has been long recognized as THE best website for online poker room statistics. A quick look at their front page will show you the top rooms in the industry, breaking them down by current players and a seven-day average of players in the cash game arenas on the sites. In the cases when a site has “blocked” their viewing of the action, an estimate is given that offers an idea of what is going on. The key stat is in going to the different rooms and seeing the ebb and flow of their 24-hour chart – a graph that shows how the numbers flow through a day’s action.
Once you find a room with the numbers you want, you’re ready to move on to the games. Try to check out the action of what online sites offer. Some do offer the realm of poker disciplines, while others simply concentrate on Texas and Omaha Hold’em. That isn’t going to help you if you’re looking for a Seven Card Stud game, now is it? Be sure that the site you want to play at is going to offer the game you’re looking for (not all rooms offer ZOOM Poker, for example).
Getting to Know You…
Finally, the online poker site you want to play at should have a way to be contacted 24/7. If you can’t contact someone live, you should have a method of emailing the Customer Service for a site and that department SHOULD be back in touch with you within a 24-hour period. Such interaction is critical for keeping the customers happy and giving the appearance that the company is on top of what is going on, both with its site and with the action on the site. And, as an aside to the online poker sites…a phone number is STILL a good idea!
There are surely other things that might be important to players (How many tournaments and what prices? What are the highest stakes of your cash games?). But if you can’t get by these things, then the online poker room you’re looking at isn’t worth playing on. For those that have to deal in the unregulated world, it is a level of protection you should be taking for yourself.