How We Choose our Poker Rooms

Choosing an online poker is almost an art in itself. With so many options available to you with this massive explosion in the game, the big question is how do you distinguish the difference between these poker rooms.

That's what 8online-poker.co.uk is for. We pick you play, so here are the criteria we use for selecting the best poker rooms for you to play.

1. Security and Trust - above all this is the most important factor as we are dealing with real financial transactions. It's important to recognize and realise that you are playing with real money, and therefore you should expect the highest encryption standards to ensure that your financial transaction is carried out securely. Verisign and Thawte are the market leaders in online security. Poker rooms using their services will display their logos (see right) on their website.
2. Competition - It's important when going to play online poker that there are plenty of other people to play against. The poker rooms we choose have all got varying degrees of player abilities, but the one thing they do have lots of is players!
3. Loyalty Bonuses - we like poker rooms that reward players for playing more, thus giving additional rewards for loyalty.
4. Variety of Games - a good poker room must have more than just Texas Hold'em! All the poker rooms we have chosen have all got an excellent variety of games from Omaha, Stud and other variations.
5. Variety of Tables - not only should they have a selection of game types, they should also have a large range of table limits. This means that there will be players and tables for people of all abilities. It enables beginners to find the smallest limit tables to practice their poker, but also allow seasoned players to compete at the highest stakes.
6. Availability and Technical support - the technology behind operating online poker rooms is extremely advanced. However, this does not mean that there aren't dodgy operators out there. All the poker rooms we recommend have got excellent server models, brilliant recovery of disconnected games, and above all 24/7 availability.
7. Tournaments - even with all the game varieties, it's nice to compete in tournaments as they lead to greater prizes. Hence having major tournaments and satellite tournaments is important to make our list of recommended poker rooms.
8. Graphics and Interface - we analyse the poker rooms to ensure that the interface is easy to use, giving maximum help to beginner players whilst maintaining it's ease of use for advanced players. We also assess the graphics for their smoothness, game enrichment, and suitability.
9. Licensing - Always make sure that you play in a poker room which has been properly licensed in a respected gaming commission. They provide and enforce a commitment to ethical gaming, and more importantly provide players with a place to voice concerns and complaints. One of the leading commissions is the Kahnawake Gaming Commission of Canada.
10. Customer Service - as a new player or even an experienced online player, you'll still need the use of the poker rooms customer services at some point. We look for poker rooms which offer 24/7 support with toll free telephone lines. All respectable poker rooms will have at least a 24hr email support service, and some of the larger and more prominent rooms will have live chat support. Beware of any poker room that doesn't display it's support details.