The Best Online Poker Sites for 2021 Reviewed

 

1. Ignition — Best Overall, Biggest Poker Site

Pros

Accepts players from 46 US states

Anonymous tables available

Lots of big-money tournaments

Can play up to 15 tables at once

Cons

Not available in the UK

Available in 46 states, Ignition has the most American players you'll find anywhere. It's the best place to start if you're looking to dip your toe into online action.

The site works hard to make the games fun for amateurs rather than a feeding ground for professionals. That includes hosting anonymous tables that ban tracking software and hide user names.

Pros can still make a living here. You can play up to 15 ring games simultaneously, and they have a ton of big-money tournaments.

You'll pay to enjoy all these features, though, as Ignition has a fairly high rake at around 4.35% on average. That's not insurmountable, but it is more than you'll find at many other sites.

2. Bovada — Softest Games

Pros

Very soft games

Zone Poker is great for fast-paced action

Good variety of sit-n-gos

Also has a reputable sports book

Cons

Difficult to clear bonuses

Appearance is a bit dated

Originally known as a top online sports-book (and for being part of the Bodog network), Bovada swooped in to meet the needs of the US poker market after many of the larger sites dropped out.

Bovada is known for having some of the softest cash games you'll find anywhere, as many sports bettors drop by the poker tables from time to time.

The site attracts newbies, as they have several features that are friendly for action players. These include Zone Poker, which gives you a new hand to play immediately after folding the last one.

Their sit-n-gos are fun too, as they have special jackpot sit-n-gos that are for three players only and randomly determine the prize pool.

Their bonuses are a bit lacking, though, as you usually only have 30 days to clear them. The software seems to be trapped in the early 2000s as well, but that's not a huge issue, given the site's other advantages.

3. Bet Online — Best Mobile Experience

Pros

Can play on a variety of platforms

Fantastic mobile experience

Bad-beat jackpot tables available

Very fast hands

Cons

Tons of fees

PayPal not accepted

No one can say that Bet-online doesn't make it easy to play, as their client is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Instant Play.

They definitely took the user experience into consideration when designing their software. It's full of useful features like auto-re buys and easy-to-find hand histories. You can find a variety of bad-beat jackpot tables to play as well.

The mobile apps are just as easy to play as their desktop counterparts, and regardless of which one you're using, it's easy to get a ton of hands in.

The site's biggest downfall is its greed. They charge fees on just about everything, including card deposits and bank wire withdrawals. They also don't accept PayPal, which is frustrating.

4. America's Card room — Best Rake-back Deals

Pros

Offers rake-back program

Lots of NLHE traffic

Has action at even the highest stakes

Great variety of tournaments

Cons

Rake-back deal disqualifies you from some bonuses

Excessive late registration causes tourneys to last extremely long

If you don't like the thought of a poker room taking a cut of your hard-earned money, America's Card room lets you get some of it back through their 27% rake-back deal.

Signing up for the rake-back deal will disqualify you from certain bonuses and VIP benefits, however.

The NLHE traffic is excellent, and you can find cash game action at even the nosebleed stakes. You'll also find quite a few PLO and limit HE players around, if those are more your speed.

You'll find some great tournaments here, too. They have a $150k-guaranteed Sunday MTT to go with a variety of smaller PLO tourneys.

They offer late registration for those tournaments, too — as much as 3 hours or more in some cases. This can cause the events to drag on forever, as well as reducing your odds of cashing.

5. Black Chip Poker — Best for Grinders

Pros

Good for pros

Welcomes HUDs and other software

Offers rewards program for high-volume players

On-demand free-roll tournaments

Cons

Amateurs may be at a disadvantage

No mobile app or Mac compatibility

While anonymous tables that outlaw HUDs and other software may be all the rage, Black Chip Poker goes the other way by supporting most of the top tracking programs on the market today.

That makes it a godsend for pros, but amateurs may find it makes the cash games harder for them to beat — or even survive for more than an hour or two.

They don't have a rake-back program per se, but they do have "The Beast" — which is basically a rewards program for high-volume cash game players. Still, it's nice to get a bonus for playing cards, and they don't take additional rake to fund it, which is even better.

One thing that struggling players will appreciate, however, is their on-demand free-roll tournaments. You can play one of these anytime you want, and while the payouts are small, they're a good way to grind together a bankroll.

For some reason, Black Chip Poker doesn't have a Mac client or a mobile app, so unless you have a Windows desktop, you'll be left out of the game.

6. Inter tops — Fastest Payouts

Pros

Very fast payout speed

Easy to deposit money

Generous rake-back program

Top-notch customer support

Cons

Very small player pool

Limited game selection

If you want to access your winnings in a hurry, Inter-tops can certainly accommodate you. You can get your money in one business day through Bitcoin or many third-party banking sites, or you can get a check in as little as a week.

They support a wide variety of deposit options, so putting cash on is as easy as getting it off. Their customer service is second to none as well.

Inter-tops even has a rake-back program that pays out at 36% — even more than America's Card room. So why isn't it the choice for best rake-back deal?

Simple: it's hard to earn as much money from it due to the relatively low traffic you'll find at Inter-tops. It can be very difficult to sustain a game, especially if you're not playing micro-stakes NLHE.

The game selection is limited as well, with only hold 'em, PLO, and PLO8 being offered.

7. WSOP — Best Free Site

Pros

Best free action online

No deposit required

Can also purchase special coins that can be wagered

Browser-based software

Cons

Cashing out is confusing

If you don't like the idea of wagering real money — or you're not sure if poker is legal where you live — WSOP can keep you in the game without putting your bank account (or freedom) at risk.

The site works by letting poker players compete for free coins, no deposit required. However, you can buy special coins that you can use in games — and if you take coins off other players, you can redeem them for cash.

If it sounds just like real money online poker, it is — just a bit more convoluted and a lot more legal (hopefully, anyway).

If even this makes you uncomfortable, though, the free action is the best you'll find online. You don't have to download anything to play, either, as the site works in a web browser.

Cashing out your winnings is confusing as well, and it may be that way on purpose to discourage people from doing so.

Players outside the U.S. have also complained about not being able to cash out at all, so be careful if you're looking to play for real from overseas.

8. Poker-stars — Best Variety

Pros

One of the oldest poker sites on the internet

Tons of users

Incredible variety of stakes and games

Never have to wait long for a game

Cons

Some real sharks on here

Only available in PA and NJ for American players

One of the oldest online poker rooms in existence, Poker-stars is still the biggest on the planet. You'll find a ton of players at every game and limit, ensuring you can always get a game going.

They offer just about every type of poker you could want, including razz and badugi. If you ever get bored here, then there's a good chance you're just not a poker fan.

That said, you'll also run into some sharks here, as there are professionals at almost every table. You'll need to pay close attention to who's playing what, or else you could lose several buy-ins in a hurry.

There's one other big issue with Poker-stars: it's only legal for poker players living in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. If you live in any other state, you'll have to stick to the play-chip games.

9. GGPoker — Best for Canadian Players

Pros

Thriving games available all hours of the day

Lots of cool features not found elsewhere online

$100k guaranteed in daily tournaments

Features keep games fresh and exciting

Cons

Rewards program has element of chance

No round-the-clock support

Americans can't play on GGPoker, but most everyone else can — and quite a few people do. The site has excellent traffic numbers, and you can find thriving cash games at all hours of the day.

The site has some really cool features you normally would only find in live games, such as the chance to run all-in hands up to three times or the ability to raise blind. These help keep the games fresh and exciting.

Even the tournaments have cool options, like the opportunity to make a deal if you reach the final table.

You'll find over $100,000 in guaranteed tourneys every day, so the extra features are just icing on the cake.

Some of those features work against you, however. To earn money through their loyalty program, you'll have to spin a wheel — and you may end up getting screwed out of your hard-earned rewards as a result.

The customer service is lacking as well, as they don't have round-the-clock chat or phone support.

Online Poker FAQs

How do deposit bonuses work?

Most sites offer bonuses on your initial deposit — anywhere from 100-200% up to a certain limit.

However, these bonuses aren't given out instantaneously, as unscrupulous players would then just take the free money and leave.

Instead, you have to earn your deposit bonus — and you earn it by playing raked hands. Some sites make it easy for you to earn a deposit bonus, while others require you to play for hours and hours on end.

It's a smart idea to read the fine print on a site's bonus structure before you sign up, as some look good on the surface but are nearly impossible to fully earn.

Is online poker legal in the USA?

That depends on where you live. Certain sites are legal in certain places, so check your local laws before signing up anywhere.

Are online poker sites safe?

There are two basic questions here: will the site cheat you, and will the other players cheat you.

Most sites (including the ones on this list) are reputable. They're not rigged, and they're not looking to cheat you. They want you to come back and keep spending money, after all.

The sad fact about playing online is that some of the players will always be looking for ways to get an unfair advantage, though.

While the sites have security teams that are trained to spot fraud constantly monitoring games, it's a good bet you'll get cheated once or twice in your career.

Luckily, these cheats are seldom capable of making too big of a dent in your bottom line.

How do I deposit and withdraw money?텍사스홀덤사이트

Different sites will have different deposit methods, but you can typically deposit with a credit card, debit card, Bitcoin, or a third-party website like Ne-teller.

As for payout methods, you can usually withdraw money the same way you deposited it, or you can request a check or wire transfer. Some sites charge a fee for some of these transactions, so watch out for that, and they don't all have the same payout speed.