PokerStars Review

Deposit Options

PokerStars.com gives you a choice of multiple ways to fund your account, all of which are fast, safe, and secure. For your convenience, most of these methods can also be used for withdrawal. You can also use the built in web cashier on your mobile device to meet your banking needs. These are the options currently open to players in New Zealand:

• MasterCard* and Visa credit and debit cards
• NETELLER
• EntroPay
• Local Bank Transfer*
• eb Money

*Cannot be used for withdrawal.

While the site accepts USD, EUR, GBP, and CAD for deposit, there is no indication that you can use NZD. However, if you have any questions or problems, the Deposit Assistance Department (DAD) offers assistance via live chat in multiple languages.

Withdrawal processing time depends on the method, but averages within 72 hours. Regardless of which banking method you select, all transactions are fully protected through the use of advanced encryption technology.

Software

Rather than relying on other software providers, PokerStars.com uses its own proprietary state-of-the-art software. Players have a choice of two reliable and convenient ways to play: downloading the software onto your computer or playing on the go on your mobile device. Surprisingly, there is no instant play flash version, so if you are in a place where you don’t have access to your own home computer, mobile play is your only alternative. However, unlike on most sites, you won’t be missing anything by using the mobile platform to play because everything you can do on the computer, you can also do on your phone or tablet. There are also frequent updates introducing new games and new advanced features to make playing on this site even more enjoyable and exciting.

The following are some of the extra features that PokerStars.com offers:

• Quick Seating for both ring games and tournaments.
• Personal avatars and customisable table design.
• Play for free option
• Multi-tabling
• Replay last hand and review hand histories.
• Search and track specific players.
• Chat with other players at your table.
• Poker School Online to help you improve your game. Get strategy tips from experts, test your newly learned skills, chat with other players in the PSO forum, and compete for prizes in the PSO Skill League.

Anytime you would like to switch from your computer to your mobile device or vice versa, picking up where you left off, you can do so. The Poker Stars iOS app is optimised for Apple iOS 7 or higher devices (iPhones of 4 and above, iPads of 2 and above, and IPod touch 4th Generation and above). The Poker Stars Android app is optimised for Android devices of 4 and above. If have not already registered and set up an account on the computer, you can do so through the built-in web cashier on the app you download onto your mobile device. IPhone and iPad users can download the appropriate app on the App Store; Android device users will find the app for Android phones and tablets on the Pokerstars website. See www.pokerstars.com/mobile for more information.

If you are new to mobile poker play, the onsite tutorials specifically designed for handset and tablet users should be very helpful. You can do all of your banking on your mobile device, access bonuses and promotions, review your hand history, track other players, and play any ring game or tournament you please. You can’t ask much more of a mobile app than that!

But wait. That last statement isn’t entirely correct because PokerStars.com has launched these additional apps.

• Poker Stars TV App: Keep up with everything that is happening in the world of poker. Watch poker videos, including live streams, TV shows, clips from major events, and player interviews. You can download the PokerStars TV App on the App store or get it on Google Play.
• European Poker Tour (EPT) App: If you are planning to play in the EPT, this app, which is also available from the App Store and Google Play, includes everything you need to know.
• Poker Stars Clock:If you would like to run your own poker tournament from your home and make sure everything goes smoothly, this is the app for you. It is available from the App Store.

In summary, our overall PokerStars rating in the software category is outstanding. Despite the technologically advanced software and many customisable options, PokerStars.com is surprisingly easy to navigate Our one criticism of the computer software is the lack of a no download instant play flash version. Our main criticism of the mobile platform is that the apps will presumably only work on iOS and Android devices. Also, multi-tabling and tournament play on a smartphone might be difficult due to the small size of both the screen and action buttons. However, playing on a tablet will solve the problem.

Game Variety

As we mentioned at the beginning of this PokerStars.com review, in the category of game variety, no other site in the world comes close to matching the PokerStars rating. If you want to play for free rather than for real money, no problem. If you want to play a game other than Hold ‘Em in the wee hours of the morning on a weekday (forget it even during peak hours on many sites), you can probably find exactly the game you are looking for already in progress and ready for you to join. On PokerStars.com, you can play virtually any game at any time for whatever stakes you want, and that applies to both ring games and tournaments.

PokerStars offers numerous varieties of ring games. These are your options.

• Sunday Million
  This is the largest weekly poker tournament online with a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool every Sunday. The first place prize alone is over $150,000. You can either buy in directly for $215 or win your way in via satellite. The tournament starts at 14:30 ET.
  Playing in this tournament is exciting, not only because of the huge money at stake, but also because, in addition to PokerStars players like yourself, you get to compete against poker legends and Team PokerStars pros. If you knock out the host, your $215 entry fee is returned to you.
• Other Sunday Tournaments
  If you wish, you don’t have to wait until Sunday evening when the Sunday Million gets underway to start your Sunday tournament action. There are tournaments running all day long from 8:00 ET to 18:30 ET. The biggest of these is the $400,000 Guaranteed Sunday Warmup at 11:00 ET. Or if you are eliminated in the Sunday Million, you can try your luck in in the Sunday Second Chance or Sunday Supersonic. All of these tournaments, like the Sunday Million, have a $215 entry fee. Or, if those entry fees are too steep for you, a good alternative is the $300,000 guaranteed Sunday Storm which starts at 13:30 ET with a buy-in of only $11.
• Daily Bags
  Every day the site offers more tournaments with huge prize pools. Buy-ins range from $2.20 to over $100.
• Sin & Go
  This is a Hyper-Turbo Sit & Go tournament for 3 players only with an opportunity to win up to 3,000 your buy-in a matter of minutes. (The prize pool is randomly determined by a spinner in the center of the table.) The odds are that the multiplier will be much less, i.e., 2x the buy-in, but nobody walks away empty-handed, as there is also a token payout for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Buy-ins range from $1 to $100.
  In addition to the Spin & Go, you can choose from a wide variety of other Sit and Go and turbo tournaments.
• Women’s Tournaments
  PokerStars has more women players than any other site, so it only makes sense that they have more women tournaments than anywhere else. The biggest of these is the $55 buy-in $7,500 guaranteed tournament every Sunday. Otherwise, the emphasis is on small stakes tournaments and social games.
• Additional Opportunities and Special Tournaments
  PokerStars.com gives frequent tournament players many more chances to win with its weekly, monthly, and yearly leaderboards. But, if all the regular non-stop tournament action on this site isn’t enough and your ultimate dream is to play and cash in a major championship, look no further than PokerStars.com to help you get started. Satellites are continually being offered for a chance to qualify for some of the biggest tournaments in the world, both online and offline, like the following:

  - World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), including a $10,000 Guaranteed Main Event. The 2015 WCOOP gets underway in September.

  - Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP)

  - Prestigious live events like the European Poker Tour, Asian Pacific Poker Tour, and Latin American Poker Tour

  - World Cup of Poker: The action starts on 11/22/15 so you still have time to try to qualify online. New Zealand is one of the 96 countries represented. What a fantastic honor it would be to take home the World Cup for your country! See the website for the complete details.

Site Traffic

Playing on a site with high traffic is highly desirable for several reasons. First, it is as good assurance as any that players like the site and feel they are being treated fairly. Second, you never have to settle for shorthanded games or not finding the game you want to play. PokerStars.com has more players than any other site.

PokerStars.com has so many players, in fact, that during peak periods like the Sunday Millions Tournament, the site can be so crowded that service will be slow. Another problem, if you are a novice or intent on finding soft games with easy-to-beat casual recreational players, is that except for the micro stakes games, you won’t find many fish in these waters. The higher stakes games attract many pros and semi-pros, but this site is also loaded with serious players and tough to beat grinders, even at relatively low stakes.