Im a US player looking to play online, but i see horror stories everywhere about these sites such as Lock Poker, Carbon poker and Betonline etc.

I've looked through which sites are available to me, i live in MA, so i think they are all available, but which is the best?

When i look for a poker site to play on, i want to know which is the best in terms of # of players, rakeback deals, ease of deposit/cashout, etc.

Are there any US poker players here that can help me out a bit with choosing a site?

Thx

PPPPoker

Well carbon poker is definitely the best for software. Pretty slow cash outs. Took mine about 7 weeks. But I got it. 2k and it got cleared with no problem.

ACR has lolbad software and I hear cash is basically unbeatable with the rake. But supposedly checks take about 2 -3 weeks.

Sites now are hard to choose.
Carbon has awesome software and cash outs are kinda slow.
&
ACR has terrible software, and I hear in these forums bugs and glitches happen quit often. But cash outs are supposedly fast.

So one site has one thing but not another, and one site has another but not one thing. Hahah
Hope this helps a little.

I don't have any info on bovada, haven't done much research.

I don't know If your a tourney player or cash player.
But ACR has a OSS series kicking off this Sunday.
With some pretty good guarantees.
Good enough prize pools and good cash outs are enough to get me past the horrible software.
I will be playing the OSS but after it I won't play on ACR. My opinion.

Thx for replies so far. I've mainly played SNG in the past but i'm looking to get into cash games now. @korean_elvis how is the rake on carbon? and what methods can i use to put money into it? I am only 18yo

thx

PPPPoker

Not to sure on the rake. But there website should have that information.
As far as depositing, I used my pre-paid Visa card with no problems.
Don't use your bank card, it will get declined. And then the bank will deactivate your card because they think it is fraud. Only cause it was a international purchase. Learned that the hard way. Lol

As bobo would always tell me poker scout is your freing in terms of your question regarding traffic.

http://www.pokerscout.com/

Wow merge and bodog have under 800 cash players? I haven't looked in a while that seemes really low. Most guaranteed and tourneys of any value are rebuy addon op.

MA may be a state that most sites will not allow. I would try the Winning network (True/ACR/Blackchip).

Is their a US friendly site that has a Mac software and takes visa debit deposits, lol?

Pokerscout only tracks carbon on merge. Sportsbook and players only have different tables to carbon so they're probably not being counted. There are heaps of players on sportsbook most of the day.

Since when?

Hi, I recommend Bovada. They are great with Payouts. I deposited from their CC Processor into Lock, and their CC Processor just took my funds. I have been battling this for 2 weeks now, and still don't have funds.

Bovada is great. Just my personal opinion.

Good Luck
Adam.

Why is Lock (Revolution) so popular if it's a bad as everyone says?!?
Seems to be #1 in cash tables, players, pros, etc
Seems to be last in cashouts, software etc
I've been playing cash on ACR and I'm not a fan. I don't go near the Jackpot tables. I sat at a full ring table, on the waiting list, got my seat, and about 5 mins later we were down to 4 players. I want to move up in stakes too, I hate shoving with Kings, getting called by two players with Ax and they both hit their ace on the flop. So sick of throwing my money away.
There appears to be 80+ sites on Revolution, should I download Lock and try some play money tables just to get the feel for the site? Are all the sites the same players, different 'rooms'?

I am coming back into online Poker after a few years away. Going to deposit on either Bovada or Carbon. I was hoping for some feedback about these two sites.

I have read both reviews and they seem to be similar. I am not sure I like the no user name play at Bovada, or am I wrong on that? It seems that you can't identify users on Bovada, everyone has a random #? I usually get to know the scene in my buy in range, and not knowing who I am playing seems to be a problem.

Going to deposit today, so I am hoping for a little feedback.

Should I be considering any other site? I am a US player.

Thanks.

I like Bovada. It has a lot of traffic for a US facing site, excellent customer service, and fairy quick withdrawal times. You will get used to the anonymous tables after a while. For me, I would choose Bovada.

Bovada offers no rakeback and anonymous tables so I think carbon is the easy choice

Welcome back

The sites are quite different....

Your table name is either Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, etc.

Yes, the tables are completely anonymous. Some players prefer the lack of tracking, others hate it.


There is a sticky thread in this forum that can help with some of your information requests. US friendly sites


Also, it's hard to recommend a site for you when we don't know what game(s) and stake(s) you play. The various US networks vary greatly in their offerings of certain types of poker formats.

--
Kahn

I wouldn't recommend Bovada to any 2p2 ers.

carbon better of the 2 evils as offeres rakeback and pretty sure rake is substantially higher on bovada. Bovada has few player rewards and is more geared towards sports betting then poker also. Bovada has long track record of not caring about its poker players . Games are easy is bovadas calling cry with high rake and no rakeback they are not that easy!

Carbon by a mile.

can't argue with that logic can ya? All good points. Didn't spin your wheels at all.

Any place but lock if you actually wanna see your money

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I definately did not give you enough background for the question.

I play medium stakes in cash games, but I am actually going to be experimenting with a very small starting bankroll and work patiently to grow it. With this said, I will be starting on cash games at the micro limits (2 to 5 dollar buy ins). I expect to play medium stakes after I build a roll slowly.

I play mostly no limit hold em, but I also like to play some Omaha hi/lo.

Thanks again. I am leaning toward Carbon atm.

Rakeback is very important to microstakes grinding. The games are softer at Bovada on average, but Carbon offers 35% rakeback paid daily where as Bovada does not offer rakeback at all.

I think it is safe to say that most players prefer to grind up with steady rakeback income when bankroll building.



--
Kahn

Thanks for this great feedback! I am not familiar with Rakeback in online poker. do I have to sign up separately for this, or does this automatically apply to me as I play? Sorry for the simple question, I will also google it.

I've played on both sites recently and while Bovada is definitely softer, it is also swingier, so bear that in mind. Also, and maybe this is just a matter of taste, but while the quality of the Bovada software is technically good, it does not present a good experience for someone who is trying to do more than casual play, and multitabling is a pain.