Selecting a Poker Site
(circa November 2007)
Objective
My objective was to select a real money poker site based on my specific needs, i.e., full table, non-turbo Sit-N-Go's (SNG) under $5 with reasonable rakes. In addition, I require that any site not hinder my need to keep good records of my game play.
I picked the three biggest sites: Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet, and Pokerstars to review. In addition, I asked their technical support staff a serious of questions designed to reveal strengths and weaknesses.
Comparison
Game Selection
Do I have to wait around for a game - gosh, I hope not. Are there a variety of buy-ins under $5? Are the rakes resonable?
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
| Short Waits? pokersitescout.com | Largest site on the net for US players - lots of SNG action | 1/2 as big as Pokerstars but very active | 1/4 as big as Pokerstars, busy at peak hours, much less so off hours | PS |
| Game Selection: under $5 (full table SNG's non-turbo) | $1 tables only | $2 tables only |
$0.50, $1, $2 tables | UB |
| Rake | $1 + $0.20 (20%) - ouch | $2 + $0.25 (12.5%) | 10% rake on all games | UB |
Blind Structure
Using the book "Poker Tournament Formula", I reviewed the blind structure for Sit-N-Go's. The author uses "blind off" time, a so called Patience Factor, and a skill level to compare tournaments. Here I apply his method to Sit-N-Go's.
In general, lower initial blinds, longer rounds, and more starting chips lead to longer SNG's which in turn dampens the luck factor and accentuates skill. I want a blind structure that favors skill.
Learning how to play using skill is more difficult than it looks. Short, luck based games that depend on an all-In short stack strategy can disguise our lack of skill. On the other hand, longer games can be fatiguing and can lead to a decreased win rate (per unit time).
source: PokerTournamentFormula.com |
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
Blind Structure
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Blindoff: 0.96 PF: 2.78 Skill Level: 0 |
Blindoff 1.045 PF: 3.192 Skill Level: 1 |
Blindoff 1.46 PF: 5.91 Skill Level: 2 |
UB |
Game Tracking
Can I track profits and losses on a game by game basis? (see Conclusion for more on this)
I want to record game finish (1st,2nd, etc) and game award ($1 prize) for every game I am in and for all players in the game.
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
| Game Finish and Award Data | Yes - Tournament lobby stays open after the game concludes. Better, you can have that information emailed to you by clicking on a menu item | Limited - Tournament lobby closes within a few minutes of game end - no way to retrieve outcome if you leave the computer or forget to collect it - are you kidding me? | No - SNG results are not available - there are tournament lobbies but no SNG tournament lobbies - can email support and request - yuck | PS |
Hand Tracking
Can I get a complete hand history for the game I just played?
note: award = payout information ($5, etc) note: finish = 1st, 2nd, etc
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
| Complete hand histories? | No: Hand history terminates when player is eliminated | No: Hand history terminates when player is eliminated | No: Hand history terminates when player is eliminated | none |
| Hand History Format | Nice clean format but lacking a "player takes back or uncalled bet returned" information
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Nice clean format | Easy to read but non-standard format | FT |
| Hand History - Poker Tracker | Poker Tracker compatible | Poker Tracker compatible | Poker Tracker compatible | none |
| Hand History contains game finish data | No | No | No | none |
| Hand history contains award information | No | No | No | none |
Interface
Nice graphics, pleasing game play, customizable? Which site has the most rewarding and relaxing interface?
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
| Tournament Lobby stays open after game completes | Yes | No - closes in a few minutes - nuts! | No lobby - oops! | PS |
| Waiting List | No, but it not hard to join a game | No, confusing interface but customizable to minimize noise - easy to click wrong game | Yes, elegant waiting lists for each type of game and limit | UB |
| Graphics, look and feel | Has a variety of themes that help | Modern, pleasing, modable | The worst interface, old skool, and clunky | FT |
| Customizable Interface | Good | Very configurable | Very limited | FT |
| Online hand history | Complete text of previous hands - no graphics | Graphics of hand endings saved with next/last controls - way cool but not full featured - cannot replay the hand or review it | Yes, but jeez its yucky | PS |
| Seat Selection | Sit anywhere but configurable only from main lobby | Sit anywhere on a game by game basis | ?? | FT |
Sounds - see note below |
dud | dud | worse | none |
| Resizeable windows | yes | yes | yes | none |
| Chat | no - small chat box, incomplete chat | detachable chat - complete dealer chat | detachable chat (not as nice as FT) - complete dealer chat | FT |
note: When I have my poker game covered by other windows, I still like to hear the sounds, especially when someone raises. Some of these sites don't make a special sound for raises, some don't make sounds when the window is covered. |
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Technical Support
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
| Technical Support | Courteous, reasonable turnaround time | Very responsive, quality of replies varies from poor to great | Slow, measured in days | FT |
Other
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| Pokerstars | Full Tilt | Ultimate Bet | Winner | |
| Big Name Support | Some, 2nd tier players | Yes, a lot of big names from the poker world | Some | FT |
| Quality of the competition | Good | Best, very tight overall | Varies | FT |
Summary
Ultimate Bet: The site with the worse software and no SNG game data had the best blind structure, more games at the lower limits, and the best rake percentage. The size of the pot is hard to read and the cards are small.
Poker Stars: A so-so but configurable interface, limited game selection ($1 only), outrageous rake on $1 games, non-detachable and incomplete chat is compensated by a busy and active site, email tournament histories, and good online hand histories. Game play is easy to follow.
Full Tilt: The best interface with great customization and probably the best technical support could only offer $2 SNG's and a Tournament Lobby that does not stay open long enough so you can cull the results of the games you were just in.
Conclusion
None of the big three sites make it possible to track my results on a game by game basis unless I resort to taking my own notes after each and every game. Their decision to hinder this process is partially rooted in the need to prevent data mining by third parties. However, customers should not be denied information on the very games they paid the site to play.
Beyond this egregious flaw, all three sites demonstrate various deficiencies and few strengths. I can see no clear winner among the three. If you put a gun to my head and said choose, I would perhaps go with Pokerstars despite its high rake. Its a lousy choice at that.