Posts like this just anger and depress me (nothing against the poster though, he doesn't know any better). I can't tell you how many times I'd be playing at my casino cash game in the last 2.5 years and the subject of online poker would come up. And players who would be at the casino 5 days a week were completely shocked and unaware that they could still play poker online. I literally would get a pen and paper from the pit boss and write down 3 sites for them to check out. It just goes to show you how easily the masses can be made to believe something when their only source of information is a 2 minute segment on the major news providers.

are there any sites that US players can play on that has enough traffic to be able to play maybe 4-6 tables of small stakes? If so, how does the player pool compare to what it was on fulltilt and stars circa 2011 in terms of skill level?

The reason I haven't been playing isn't because I thought it was impossible to play online poker in the US. It's because until now I haven't had the income required to start.
If you or someone else would bother recommending a website with a good rakeback I would appreciate it.

Selecting a site to play based solely on the amount of rakeback offered has proven to be a pretty bad idea over the last few years. You should really stop and consider what other criteria is important to you in selecting a place to play poker.

You might want to consider traffic, support, cash out speeds, tournament selection, software stability, compatibility with HUDs (if you use them) etc etc.


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Kahn

not everyone has the time to grind the required hands to profit from the beast. If you dont, then it kills you.

and i'd really have to disagree that the 25nl games are "unbelievably soft". I'm pretty certain they're a lot tougher than you will find on stars. nitty games, couple fish, and mostly nit short stacked regs grinding the beast. to me, they run like 100nl - 200nl pre bf.

I see. I would sign up at one of the sites on the Winning Poker Network (WPN), either Black Chip Poker or America's Cardroom. For now just pick one so there isn't a security issue when you go to cashout. But MAKE SURE you sign up through an online affiliate in order to get linked and get your rakeback. If you sign up directly through the client they won't automatically give you rakeback. I'm assuming that you're playing stakes anywhere from 25nl to 400nl and nothing higher. Good luck.

wait, so you don;t receive 36 weekly rakeback from wpn on their sites? i was thinking o depositing there and wanted to get some details on it.. been a loyal merge player.. but the player pool has really gone down..

27% standard rb but you have to ask to be excluded from their elite program.which unless you get 800+ per week raked you should do.

I'm interested in Juicy Stakes. What is the 200 and above games like?

Don't know much about this, but some of you might be interested in checking it out. Seems like they are letting US players in. I'm in NJ, so I won't be checking closer right now, but someone who does could let the rest know if it seems like a viable option. Check under news to see articles about Full Flush Poker, Gear Poker, etc. Good luck!

http://www.equitypokernetwork.com/

Can you clarify why one would "have to ask to be excluded from their elite program?" I assume you mean that if you signed up without the rakeback and then wanted to get rakeback that you could use their 'once in a lifetime' switch over to get the rakeback instead of the elite benefits. Is this what you mean? I don't think you're trying to say that if one signs up through an affiliate with rakeback in place, that one then has to also "ask" BC to exclude them from the elite program.

If you sign up without an affiliate you will be placed in the elite program by default(Not sure if you can contact live support and sign up with RB before signing up but i would imagine this would use your one time on RB anyway). You can switch over to RB by contacting support in which case the RB is 27% and requires you to email their RB department took me about a day or so to get it set up.(Signed up before i knew about affiliates a while ago). I have seen people do calculations on RB v.s Elite there is even a thread about it some where and the consensus was if you make less than 800 in RB per week the RB system is greater than the Elite program. Hope that clarifies things let me know if you have more questions.

I can confirm this. I signed up directly from the AmericasCardroom site and requested rakeback from them. I've gotten 27% back weekly ever since. I never used an affiliate.

Yes, you can swap programs once in the lifetime of your account. The thing is, if you do it the way you have done it, you just burned your one swap. Should you ever grow to rake > the 700-900 a month (depends on games played, playing style, etc) it takes to be in better shape on the Elite Benefits VIP program, you can not swap programs again... and will be stuck with flat rakeback, and thus, lower returns.


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Kahn

Well first of all thanks for this thread but it is really hard to read all 160+ pages for the newcomers like me so may be there is a sense to start a new one?

I've been playing online for about 3 years in 2007-2010 and decided to get back. All this thread is about 4-5 main rooms that show more or less stability in payouts. But I see that the choice for those who play NL100/200 (for example) differs from NL10/25 players like me. In my case a huge rake will kill my bankroll very soon.

So my question is what room would you recommend for NL10 / NL25 and casual $5/$10 MTT player? I plan to deposit upto $500.
Thanks.

I'd recommend any of the following Intertops, Bovada, Carbon, Aced, PokerHost.


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Kahn

I definitely made the right choice, for me.

Take a look at "Seals with clubs" as well.

This is also a very good option for US Players. Need to get some BTC or even a partial BTC but it's a good place to play..at medium to high stakes. Playing the micros (which in reality is like micro's of the micros) is like playing play money.

[QUOTE=kahntrutahn;41010207]I'd recommend any of the following Intertops, Bovada, Carbon, Aced, PokerHost.


I'll try to make this easy for you. Intertops is by invitation only so I wouldn't look into them too hard. Bovada is anonymous tables where you can't use a HUD and they have lousy player perks. Still playable but not what you were used to back in '07-'10 and it's a site that will likely die once regulated poker hits most of the states. Carbon, Aced, Pokerhost are all skins on the same network. Just pick one. Carbon is the flagship site for the skin but Pokerhost has faster payouts and a VIP program that is based on lifetime play rather than monthly play. Any of those 3 sites is phenomenal for your MTT requirements.

The site not mentioned, and the one you really want to be on at 25nl would be Black Chip Poker. Sign up first through an affiliate to get 27% rakeback, then download the software and deposit. They have good traffic at those stakes, though you'll pay a little more in rake to feed the Beast.

Also, 2+2 has an Affiliates/RakeBack forum
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/51...ates-rakeback/

[QUOTE=Tropics;41015133] Small correction you get 27% without an affiliate more with if you sign up for RB with WPN. Also at WPN i found this out this week RB = Rake+ tourney fees *27% then the deduct any bonuses you had that week from your RB payout. So if you had a 100 in rakeback and got 100 bucks from your sign up bonus that week you would get $0 in RB that week. I find this shady and scamful so not sure how long i will be here with regulated poker coming back to my state at the end of the month.

I am a US-based player with a Mac. Right now, I'm limited to Bovada and Carbon since they are the only US-based sites that offer a Mac client. I am not a big fan of Carbon (not enough players) so I am on Bovada right now.

I want to play with a HUD at another U.S. site and use PokerStove as well so I've been considering getting a used Thinkpad with Windows for this.

Are there any other networks right now that is worth buying a $300-400 laptop and depositing a few hundred bucks to grind up from the micros (10nl-25nl) or should I just stick to playing on Bovada on my mac?

Appreciate any feedback.

Life is about choices...I vote buying a Windows based comp.

As far as what US facing site to play on, this is where our choices become as desirable as a root canal or a vasectomy

Just run parallels if you don't want to buy a whole computer.
I wouldn't want to waste my time with a PC