How to Choose A Poker Room: A PokerListings Guide

Check Room’s Currencies

Poker rooms don’t have standardized rules about using specific currencies across the board.

With that said, their individual rules about currencies are important since players can lose money on conversion and transactions. They could also not be given an option to make deposits in their local currency or payment methods. So, before choosing a room for registration you should check available options and priority currencies of the room.

It’s worth noting that most European poker rooms use either US dollars or euros for transactions within the room but still allow players to make deposits in almost any popular currencies. That’s, for example, how RedStar Poker works — it uses euros as its main currency but allows players to use their local currencies with or without a conversion fee.

On the other hand, rooms targeted at a specific country or region can use specific currencies for special occasions.

For example, WPT Global offers its regular game buy-ins and limits in two currencies — US dollars (USD) and Chinese Yuan (CNY). Similarly, the GGNetwork uses CNY but for specific Asia-oriented tournaments like the Zodiac events or the APT series.

Research the Welcome Promotions

Welcome packages, bonuses and other types of promotions for newly registered players tend to vary between rooms, and aren’t necessarily profitable for players. That’s why you shouldn’t just read the big bold letters from a welcome promotions, but also carefully go through the terms and conditions.

For example, WPT Global offers players a Welcome Package with a free cash and tickets that requires a first deposit of at least $30. The room then has 90 days to release the bonus after activation but keep in mind that it’s not available in some countries.

At the same time, 888poker offers players not only a first deposit bonus but the $8 FREE Bonus Package that includes free tournament tickets. Unlike WPT Global, this welcome bonus doesn’t require a deposit but has a 14-day limit to claim it after registration.

Explore Available Games

The most popular online poker rooms all share a common list of available game formats that have now become an industry standard.

This list includes cash games, multi-table tournaments and jackpot Sit&Gos. Names of the latter will differ between rooms and networks — Spin&Go on PokerStars, BLAST on 888poker, Spin&Gold on GGNetwork, Windfalls on Chico, Twister on iPoker, Global Spins on WPT Global, Expresso on Winamax, and Cosmic Spins on CoinPoker.

Since Texas No-Limit Hold’em is the most popular poker variant, it’s safe to assume that every room always offers it. However, some rooms will restrict themselves only to NLH, like 888poker. Still, most of them have a regular place in the schedule for different types of PLO and Short Deck, like GGPoker or WPT Global.

Even fewer rooms will offer variants like Limit Hold’em, PLO8, 5-Card PLO, 6-Card PLO and 8-Card PLO, and even fewer — like PokerStars — Mixed Games like Studd, Razz, different types of Draw formats.

At the same time, even if a room has non-Hold’em games in its schedule, it doesn’t necessarily mean that these games are popular. That’s why you should not only check out the selection of available games, but also consider how popular they are before settling on a room.  

Check Promotions For Current and Returning Players

While welcome bonuses help players start their poker journey on the right foot, current promotions for returning players are just as important.

They set the tone for the rest of your poker career, by giving you an understanding of just how much the rooms value returning and seasoned players.

One of the most popular methods to encourage returning players is though leaderboards.

You’ll easily find them in almost every room, often to motivate cash players to play more hands and pay more rake in exchange for cash or ticket prizes, tournament players to participate in specific events and Spins players to play as many jackpot Sit&Gos as possible.

Of course, you don’t need to lean on promotions when mapping out your poker career, but it will be useful to know how much extra value you can have in an online poker room or which percentage of rake you can “return” by participating in these promotions.

Learn More about Rake And Rakeback

Rake is a fee that poker rooms commonly take from players as a contribution. It is charged across the board, but there are subtle differences across game formats. For instance, in cash games, rake is always taken from the pot, while in tournaments, rake is taken exclusively from buy-ins.

As you’d expect, poker rooms use different systems for calculating rake. Some of them take money only from players who bet on preflop and later streets. Others don’t take money from hands that end before the flop is dealt.

So, why is more rake better only for room but not for players?

Well, the high rake simply means less money remaining for players. And the higher the rake — the less hands or games players want to play. Rooms understand the situation well enough to try to compensate for it with promotions and loyalty / rakeback programs.

For example, since summer 2024, WPT Global returns up to 40% of rake to the first two players at a new table in specific cash tables and limits.

RedStar Poker offers players a loyalty program with up to 35% direct rakeback each month in any type of games. Another example would be CoinPoker, which provides 33% rakeback if players fulfill their terms and conditions.

GGPoker offers up to 60% flexible rakeback.

By the way, poker partner websites, like PokerListings, can often give players extra rakeback in addition to poker room’s rakeback.

These rakeback offers can be so significant that at the end of the month you can even break even on rake. This is one of the reasons to register in any room, where it is possible, not on your own but through affiliates.