Poker.com review

Poker.com is a relatively new online poker room that has made a big impression since launching in May 2005. It is obviously a fantastic URL and that alone guarantees a steady influx of new players, but a catchy address alone would not be enough to sustain a successful operation. Player retention is the key and that requires excellent promotions, top-notch customer service and support, and software that is engaging, functional, and reliable. The good news for Poker.com is that they earn very high grades in all these departments.

The biggest drawback to this poker room is the relatively small volumes of player traffic, but that's to be expected from a new room that is not part of a larger poker network. Poker.com intends to go it alone, which does unfortunately mean that at off-peak hours you might struggle to find a live table that offers your exact game or tournament.

I would say that there is no other poker room that is more interested in the opinions of their users, however, and certainly no other poker room responds in the way that Poker.com does in terms of actually implementing the software changes suggested by their clients. There have been consistent fucntionality upgrades over the past year as Poker.com strives to give the people what they want. One feels that if they continue along these lines the player volume can only grow and once the site reaches that critical mass it will become a premier online poker destination. It is simply a matter of time.

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Promotions and bonuses

Poker.com is owned and operated by Internet veterans and it shows in their aggressive and successful marketing. It all starts with an excellent range of promotions. Poker.com offers some of the best freerolls around, including a $20,000 freeroll tournament every single week. There are freerolls exclusively for new depositors and smaller freerolls every hour on the hour. Poker.com attracts a lot of true novice poker players, looking to dip their big toe in the water before taking any kind of plunge, and many of their promotions are tailored to that type of player.

This should mean a couple of things to you if you are a seasoned and talented poker player: first, you're going to find some very soft games at Poker.com, and second, if you're looking to butt heads with world-class poker pros in million-dollar guaranteed tournaments you might be better off at another online poker room for now. Poker.com offers good bonuses and their comp points loyalty program entitles you to still more freeroll tickets. The emphasis is on making inexperienced players feel safe and welcome.

Software and functionality

Kudos to Poker.com for their software, which has plenty of cool little extras that should appeal to all poker fans. One example is their "rabbit-cam" feature, it won't make you any extra money in the long run but it really improves the user's experience. Say you're in a hand and facing a huge raise on the flop. You've got that flush draw and eventually decide to fold. So does everyone else and now you'll never know whether or not you would have made your hand. Well, you'll never know unless you play at Poker.com that is! The rabbit-cam allows you to see what the remaining community cards would have been. Poker.com also offers instant hand histories that are seamlessly integrated into the design of the software, so you can look back at previous hands without interrupting the flow of the game, or crashing your software (believe me, this happens with some other online poker rooms that shall remain nameless).

The lobby is slick and easy to navigate, and features a wealth of invaluable data in terms of table statistics. They not only have the usual functionality that allows you to keep notes on your opponents, but they've also got an additional feature that immediately allows you to "tag" players as either sharks or fish. It's these subtle nuances that make their software so appealing. When you play at a table the feel is clean and uncluttered. When you want to bet in a no-limit game it is very easy to operate the slide and the other buttons, and your overall view of the table itself is good - no strange point of view camera angles, and no annoying avatars to distract you from the business at hand.

Support and admin

The customer service is fantastic at Poker.com. There is 24/7 live help, which every poker room should have but many do not, and the help you receive is friendly and informed. The banking facilities are also a pleasure to deal with, and if you fund your account via NETeller, which is what most of us use, then you get instant cashouts! Online poker players are notoriously impatient, and immediate NETeller withdrawals is another nice little touch that will win over a lot of people. The software is very stable and the operators have a solid reputation within the online poker industry, so both security and stability are taken care of here.

Supported games and rake

One knock on the site is that there is a very limited variety of games on offer. If you want to play something other than Hold'em or Omaha you might well be disappointed, but of course those are exactly the games that the vast majority of us are interested in playing. A bigger concern is the limited number of high-stakes games that are available, especially if you're there during non-peak hours. Micro-levels all the way up to medium-stakes always seem lively enough in terms of action. The smaller limit games are not only busy, they're also populated by very weak opposition. There is money to be made here, if you're willing to swim in slightly shallow water. View-flop percentages are regularly in the high 40s and the players tend to be passive as opposed to maniacal gamblers that have wandered in from an online casino.

The rake policy at Poker.com is also superior to the average poker room. The general policy conforms to the industry standard, namely a 5% rake up to a maximum of $3. But you can also find several types of tables where there are lower maximum rakes. On fixed limit tables from $0.10/$0.20 for instance there is no rake whatsoever. More importantly, all short-handed tables use a sliding scale to calculate the rake. So, with 2-3 players at a table from $2/$4 and up there is a maximum rake of $1, while 4-5 player tables have a $2 max rake, and 6-10 player tables have a $3 max rake. No-limit and pot-limit games have a 5% rake with a max of $1 for 2-3 handed, $2 for 4-5 handed, and $3 for 6-10 handed games. There is a "no flop - no drop" policy as well throughout the room, so no rake is taken if no flop is seen.

Summary

Poker.com impresses me because they are doing all the little things right, and that alone differentiates them from the pack. The issues they face are typical for an independent, new room that isn't part of a larger poker network. These are really only "growing pains" that one expects will disappear over time, provided they maintain this level of service and continue to put out a slick product.

If you are new to poker or looking for small-stakes to medium-stakes games then I can recommend this room without any hesitation. If you are looking to grind out a steady profit then it makes sense to play here as well, because the standard is low and you can win decent money multi-tabling at Poker.com. If you're looking for huge guaranteed purses and to challenge the best players in the world then this isn't the right room for you - but keep an eye on Poker.com, because it may well become that venue as well in the not too distant future.

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