Hey guys,

I have been away from the game for a couple years and I really want to get back into it. I love poker and I want to get back into online poker. However I have been away from the game for a couple years. I have no idea on what site is the best for US players. Can you guys please help me? I am looking for a site that has fast withdrawals and is reputable. Thats all I really care about. Thanks for your time and feedback.

Bodog is the only option. No other site has a reasonable amount of traffic (winning lacks traffic), and fast cashouts (All other sites are 2 months min to cash out)

Thanks, I appreciate the response. How long are the cashouts to be exact? They also accept US players, correct?

The above is a very ignorant statement.


Firstly, as a US player, Bovada is where you will play, not Bodog. There is a difference.

Secondly, depending on the game(s) and stake(s) this gentleman plays, he may find better traffic at other sites. There are fast paying options on all the major 4 networks that still service the US online poker market.

To the OP, you may want to check and see what networks are available to you in your state of residence. Here is the sticky thread in this forum with information on which networks accept which states. Also, you may want to tell us a bit about what you intend to play if you'd like a more informed answer.


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Kahn

There's a sticky at the top of this forum with all the info you need.

for revolution network for your stipulations: intertops
for WPN network (i dont know how there traffic is I haven't played there in awhile) any skin (true seems to be the smallest of the three with ACR the largest.
Bodog actually = bovada now fwiw if your american. Just remember 4 tables max, anonymous games, terrible rb system, if your a mass multitabler def. not teh site for you.
merge: use the pokerhost skin, fast payouts, decent cash traffic if thats what you play, they use lifetime vip though vs the monthly vip which carbon/aced use.

if i deposit onto lock via p2p transfer when i get the 15% rake, will i need to fill out the verification to do a p2p transfer? because i just looked and in order to do the verification you need to copy front and back of the debit card you used to deposit and fax it too them, what do i do if i did not use a debit card? guessing just not complete the verification?

DO NOT DEPOSIT ON LOCK, look at the withdrawal thread for lock, payouts have been a complete disaster at lock, it is the worst option for a US and A player

I am just curious for the people that can play other networks, like Pokerstars and what not, how would you compare the fields? Is Pokerstars worlds ahead of Lock or even any major site? I am only asking this because obviously I have a limited database and can only play against such few opponents, from what I've seen bovada is overall the softest place to play for U.S. players, but the whole anonymous thing can easily deter people away.

wait.. thought there's no rakeback at bovada?
and the only advatange of going thru an affiliate was to get a bovada approved HUD?

I thought I had read they had some sort of small kickback system now, worth like 20% rb approx? whether it would be called RB is up in the air, i am regurgating second hand info that I heard from others, I don't play on bovada nor ever will.

Hey guys just looking for a few quick opinions before sifting through tons of stuff online.

I miss PokerStars, and I haven't played much poker online since those days. About a year ago I was messing around with ACR, BOL, and Lock but none of these services were good enough to hold my attention. Have things gotten better with these services? Is there a new service I should try? What are your opinions for the best options for those living in NY?

I know my options are PPN, Revolution, WPN, and BOL but I am just looking for a couple quick opinions so I know where to start to give this a shot again so I don't end up having to try 20 different services again to end up frustrated before I even begin.

Thanks

Good sir,
If you were to take the 4 major networks "serving" the U.S.A. and add them together into one site and then compare that one site to PokerStars...........well, it's not even close. PokerStars is like heaven. It is not just worlds ahead it is light years beyond what these clowns have left for us in the U.S. Though we play on these sites because that's all that we have available, I think 99% of us are just waiting for the day PS comes back so we can spend all of our time playing there. We'll be glad to see these other jokers die a quick death and go out of business shortly after PS returns. For now we suffer and try to improve our game in hopes of reaching that heaven we call PokerStars one day. As for now, we suffer in Purgatory.

It irks me when people say this. It means that one completely overlooks the advantages of establishing a relationship with a good affiliate and may provide extra value in other ways, at other venues, information, support, and advocacy. And yes, some offer free HUDs and HH converters

No, there is no kickback system allowed on Bodog/Bovada. They are very strict about this. We've been denied any program we proposed to give back some type of reward/race/chase/etc.

PPN has a long history of not paying out winning players, avoid!

Revolution you'll want to get yourself onto Intertops. They are invitation only though so hopefully you know someone that plays there and also has the ability to invite other players.

WPN works for certain segments of players. Depends on what game(s) and stake(s) you play.


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Kahn

The tone of your message is rude and combative, while it is important that someone looking to deposit know the correct site as Bodog is not available to US players and Bovada is, there are less argumentative ways to phrase that.

With that said, the statement on its own is ignorant, I give you that. However, I don't trust any of the other sites, and I would never recommend anyone play on them. I guess I trust winning, but they don't have traffic. So for me, Bovada is the only option I'm willing to recommend because I get my cashouts in 4 days tops (WU), and everything on the forum is positive regarding cashouts. All of the other sites are dicey right now, except for winning which just needs to get more traffic (though I guess for micro stakes which is what many here will want to play, traffic enough does exist to play on winning).

He won't find better traffic at any other site, if we stipulate that better is more, and I doubt he'd find easier games. Intertops is segregated from the Lock players (or was last I heard) which kills a good bit of their traffic. The last bit is true, but those options are risky as while the individual operator (intertops) might be trustworthy, the network itself is not currently and afaik the network runs the cashier, though some skins intervene to provide faster cashouts they still don't hold the players $, they just appear to provide an advance of sorts. If I'm wrong and the skins themselves hold the money, then my opinion would change, but that's not how it normally works.

I am a NL HU tourney specialist looking for a new place to play (because I have been playing on Lock and cashouts there, as you likely well know, are slow-to-nonexistent.) I am a US player, so my playing options are somewhat limited.

Anyone aware of any sites with decent customer service and payout speed with solid mid-level ($20 to $100) HU tourney traffic? If so, I'd appreciate your letting me know.

Thanks much.

-Hoo

This is why we have stickies. Well, it would be why, if anyone ever read them.

How come Seals isn't mentioned here?

I just checked it out and seems pretty good if you dont mind dealing with bitcoins, just on the low side with traffic, but they are new.

swc is listed in the OP

I've read the stickies and some recent posts but still can't decide on which site to play. Can someone give me some ideas? I'm deciding between ACP and (some skins on) Merge, but if you have a better suggestion let me know as well.

About my game (before BF, mainly played on stars):
I was playing micro-stake MTTs and multi-table SNGs on stars and built my bankroll to $20k+ from $0. Then I got a full time job so I don't think I should play MTTs every night and hence I started playing regular (single table) SNGs and was also a constant winner. When DON was introduced I jumped to that and had been killing the 20s (had a few posts here at that time). When PS decided to remove DON and introduce F50 I moved there as well but then BF happened soon after that and I rarely played any poker since then. (played some live WSOPc tournaments, but the one I won was before BF...)
I was a mass-tabler and I usually play 12 MTTs or 12 SNGs or 24 DONs at the same time.

For the site I'm going to play on, I'm planning on playing SNGs or DONs while mixing a few MTTs. ACR doesn't seem to have SNG traffic, but the rake on Merge is quite high for SNGs/DONs, is that right? The "regular" 10% rake SNGs on Merge actually has pretty fast blind schedules if I'm right. And so is DON. And I'm not sure about traffic either...

Also I would prefer a site with simple depositing method. I don't really like an e-wallet-like depositing method but if that's the only option then the associated fee for deposit AND withdrawals would be more important to me. And of course I would like a reasonable cash-out time. (I actually had a pretty bad experience with carbon which took about 2 months... which is another thing I'm worried about Merge... I guess PokerHost may be better but plz give me some ideas about this as well).

Let me summarize the questions I have:
-Does Merge (or ACR) have the traffic that I can 12-table SNGs+MTTs?
-Is the rake on Merge (for SNGs) too high to beat?
-What is the best skin on Merge from depositing/cash out aspect?
-Any other points that can help me decide? I know Merge does not have rakeback. Do both sites allow HUDs?
-Overall, what site (&skin) would you recommend me to play on? And which game (regular SNG or DON or MTT)?

Thanks a lot,
jordyun

Thinking about switching sites as I have found a better rakeback provider...

I know the software should be identical... how does the rest of the site compare?

Customer service?

Ease of deposits?

They are pretty much the same, no significant difference.

Merge has better SNG traffic and multi-table-friendly software than WPN, the network that ACR is on (they do have new software due out soon). Whether you can 12-table on Merge depends a lot on how willing you are to play multiple stakes or mix game types, as well as what time of the day you play.

No.

Poker Host has the fastest cashier time at the moment. The trade off is more vig on cashouts and much less in terms of overall rake-return through VIP/promotions than Carbon/Aced.

You can get very good overall rake-return at Carbon/Aced if you take advantage of the promos. Both allow HUDs. WPN is bad for multi-tabling at the moment but have new software due out any week now.

For SNGs, Merge, with the particular skin depending on how important good rake-return is to you vs very fast cashouts. I recommend 6-max hypers.

First, thanks a lot for your reply.

I plan to play 5s and 10s and a few MTTs for similar buy-in. I live in California and would play around 8:00pm to 11:00pm. Does 12-table seem reasonable?

But the rake is higher than Pokerstars, right? I'm slightly worried if I'm able to beat the game, since I haven't played poker seriously for 2 years while the player pool may be stronger compared to pre-BF...

How high is the vig? Is it due to WU/other e-wallet? I did cash out once on Carbon thru check and forgot how much they charge per check... You basically say it's worse on PH?

Are the promos you mentioned mainly the first-deposit bonus? I actually had an old account on carbon which may not qualify the first deposit bonus (long story, I probably didn't make any deposit but since I cashed out I think they count that as a deposit) If there is no easy way to deposit, I may just trade a few bucks from the p2p thread instead of opening a new account and dealing with the WU/whatever hassles.

Yeah I lean toward playing on merge now... Narrowing down my options to 1)playing on PH 2) playing on carbon using my old account although I don't remember the password... 3) playing on carbon/aced using a new account

I almost forgot that I did have accolades on my old account so that attracts me slightly.

Again, thanks a lot for your help!
jordyun

My reading comprehension seems to have remained consistent since grade school :-)