About PokerStars

PokerStars was founded in 2001, and they started offering real money wagering in December of the same year. They are based out of Onchan, Isle of Man and attract over 15,000 customers every day. PokerStars offers over 15 poker variations on their website including Texas Hold’Em, Omaha, Stud, Razz, and many others.

PokerStars have a reputation for attracting the biggest players in the online poker world. They even set a record in 2009 for the biggest online poker tournament. The buy-in was £0.7 and close to 150,000 players participated. The first prize was £38,260. Since then, PokerStars has been creating even bigger tournaments with even bigger prizes.

In January 2019, they beat their previous record and hosted the biggest ever poker tournament to date, called the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’Em Championship. The buy-in was £19,000, and the total prize was £3,903,072. Ramon Colillas, a player from Spain, emerged victorious from the tournament.

Under the PokerStars brand, we also have access to their PokerStars.tv domain, which is the best online source for all poker-related TV shows, highlights from games, and commercials. In addition, the website is available in seven languages with expert commentary.

Moreover, PokerStars sponsors a number of professional poker players under the name Team PokerStars Pro. Some of the players on the team include Daniel Negreanu, Jake Cody, and Chris Moneymaker — the first ever winner of the World Series of Poker in 2003.

Additionally, Chris Moneymaker has revolutionized poker tournaments everywhere. He is the first ever player to win a championship after qualifying on an online poker website.

PokerStars Games

We’re going to dedicate the biggest part of our PokerStars review to talk about what different games we can play on the website. Around 10,000 players each day play No-Limit Texas Hold’Em — the most popular game on the website.

However, since there is so much traffic on the website, we can also easily find players for Pot-Limit and No-Limit Omaha, Five Card Draw, and HORSE. Moreover, as soon as we sign up for the website, we become eligible for multiple PokerStars bonus offers.

No-Limit Hold’Em

The first cash game we are going to talk about is their most popular one. Texas Hold’Em games usually have stakes starting from £0.1/£0.2 up to £153/£256.

Most players usually participate in these micro and low stakes tables. There are usually six to nine players per table. The second most popular stakes are between £4 and £8. However, players usually don’t go over the £1530 mark.

Omaha

PokerStars is also a great website for all Omaha players. They have three types of Omaha tables:

• No-Limit Omaha
• Pot-Limit Omaha
• Fixed-Limit Omaha

The stakes are the same for Omaha as they are for Hold’Em. Equally, most players stick to the micro and low stakes tables. Keep in mind that although Pot-Limit and Fixed-Limit are available on the website, there is usually a very low number of players.

Five Card Draw

The Five Card Draw rules are easy to learn but hard to master. However, PokerStars has a great in-depth explanation on their website of everything we need to know about the game before we start playing.

Moreover, if we feel we’re not ready to play cash games yet, we can try the free games first. PokerStars Triple Draw 2–7 Lowball coupled with the Single Draw are the two most popular variants of the game.

PokerStars Multi-Table Tournaments

Another vital part of the PokerStars offer are their multi-table tournaments or MTTs. PokerStars hosts these tournaments multiple times a week and each tournament has a different buy-in.

The most popular MTT for all high-stakes players is the Thursday Thrill, while the Sunday Million has the biggest prize pool. These tournaments are a great way for us to compete against professional poker players and win some great prizes.

Additional PokerStars Games

If we feel that MTTs aren’t really our forté, PokerStars has a solution. On the website, we can play Sit & Go tournaments, Hyper-Turbos, and Spin & Go.

All tournaments have low buy-ins and big prizes. Moreover, the play time is usually much shorter, and the tournaments are much more fast-paced. We would also recommend playing the Limit or No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit and No-Limit Omaha, as these games usually attract the most players.

PokerStars Casino

Even though PokerStars are most known for their poker features, they also have Casino games. We are going to talk about the four main sections of the Casino in our PokerStars review:

• Games
• Casino Live
• Slots
• Card & Table

With the Live Casino feature, we can play 28 different games that include roulette, blackjack, baccarat, deal or no deal, and many more. The Live Casino gives us an authentic casino experience and the opportunity to play with real dealers.

When it comes to slots, we have the option of playing over 400 different games. While they don’t have the most extensive offer on the market, there is still something for everyone.

All new customers who sign up for the Casino and make a £20 deposit are eligible to receive the PokerStars bonus. Keep in mind that we have 28 days to claim the bonus before the offer expires.

PokerStars Bonus Offers

In addition to the Casino bonus, all new customers have two more PokerStars bonus offers to choose from:

• The Cash bonus
• The Free Bet

We also need to point out that the PokerStars bonus offers are the best among all other popular poker websites.

The Cash Bonus

With the cash bonus, we earn five Redemption Points for every £0.7 we spend. Once we’ve collected 180 Redemption Points, we can receive £7.6 back. We have four months to clear PokerStars’ matched deposit bonus.

The Free Bet

In order to qualify for the free bet, we first need to make a £15 deposit. Instead of winning a one-time-only cash bonus, we can also win Spin & Go tickets.

Keep in mind that all new customers are eligible for only one PokerStars bonus. For this reason, we would recommend going for the cash bonus, since the Spin & Go game rules can be a bit tricky.

PokerStars Reward Program

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the reward program in our PokerStars review. The reward program has some very special features. While we do need to collect points in order to receive prizes — this is where similarities with other poker websites end.

For every £0.7 we spend, we receive 100 Reward Points. The Reward Points will fill up our Progress Bar, which is located at the top of the screen. Once we’ve completely filled up the Progress Bar, we can unlock a Reward Chest.

These Chests contain personalized rewards or StarsCoins. We can use the StarsCoins to buy items from the Rewards Store or tickets for online tournaments. Depending on how often we fill up our Progress Bar — we can be upgraded to better Chests.

The most basic Chests are worth up to £38, while the best ones can be worth up to £766.

Deposits and Withdrawals

We feel it is very important to talk about the deposit and withdrawal services in our PokerStars review, as they can have some specific terms and conditions.

While PokerStars accepts most payment methods, keep in mind that not all methods are available in every country. We recommend visiting their Cashier Menu or the Real Money section to check which payment methods are available in our country.

Deposits

Most new users need to make a minimum deposit of £7 when they first sign up to the website. PokerStars accepts most credit and debit cards, as well as e-Wallet solutions and bank wire transfers.

Withdrawal

Same as with the deposit conditions, the withdrawal terms are not the same for every country. However, we’ve noticed that most countries don’t accept Mastercard as a withdrawal method.

Depending on which payment method we choose, processing time can be different. Moreover, all deposits and withdrawals that go through the website have no additional fees.

The Bottom Line

PokerStars is a true industry legend when it comes to online poker games and tournaments. They host the greatest poker tournaments in the world and have the biggest client base on the market.

Moreover, some of the biggest names in the business are representing the PokerStars brand and playing for them. If it’s good enough for the industry pros — it’s good enough for us.

We hope our PokerStars review has been helpful and has provided you with all of the necessary information you need to know before entering your first poker tournament. However, if you still have some questions, we recommend checking out their website for all terms of service and current promotions.