PokerRoom is one of the first online poker rooms. It launched in 1999 with play money tables only, but has served up real money games since 2001 and is now one of the largest online poker rooms. PokerRoom.com is considered the 3rd largest online poker room, and one of the fastest growing poker rooms on the internet. PokerRoom has the unique distinction of offering all of its games without any download required. This policy of no-download means that you can play on any platform (including the often-ignored Mac and Linux computers) via the web from anywhere you have an Internet connection with no need to install software. They still have a complete downloadable client for Windows users, which offers slightly smoother gameplay.

PokerRoom.com. It is easy, safe and secure with prompt payouts. Lots of poker games and limits - try Texas Hold 'em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw, casino games or big poker tournaments. PokerRoom.com is the first online poker site ever to be accredited with the eCogra seal of approval. This means that eCOGRA considers our games to be fair, that we operate honestly and behave responsibly, that monetary deposits are safe here and that winnings are paid out in a timely manner.

Games - Texas Hold'em games are available in limit games of $0.25-$0.50, $0.50-$1, $1-$2, $3-$6, $5-$10, $10-20 and $25-$50. No Limit and Pot Limit games are available for most of the buy-ins as well. Besides other poker games like Omaha, 7 Card Stud, and 5 Card Draw, PokerRoom offers access to online blackjack, as well as several casino games through their sister site, CasinoRoom.com. Other games available for real money gambling include roulette, baccarat, craps, video poker, and slot machines with progressive jackpots starting at $300,000 to name a few. All members of PokerRoom.com have access to CasinoRoom.com, and only need to use their original username and password to log into both sites. As for tournaments, there are more than enough to keep a full-time player busy, and guarantee weekly jackpots ranging from $4,000 to $50,000.

Poker School: Welcome to the PokerRoom.com poker school. Here you can try out a few lessons that should help improve your poker game.

Poker Room offers the usual suite of poker games: limit, pot-limit and no-limit Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. (*One thing needs to be clarified about their NLHE tables. PokerRoom has an unusual method of staking the NLHE games. The tables listed as “$0.25-$0.50 NL” actually have blinds of $.10-25. The “$0.25-$.50” refer to the minimum bets for the first two rounds and the second two rounds, respectively — similar to how fixed-limit Hold’em stakes are listed. This applies to all NLHE tables. For example, the tables I mainly played were “1-$2 NL,” where the blinds were $.50 and $1, with $1 minimum bets pre-flop and on the flop, then $2 minimum bets on the turn and on the river. This did not change my play much, but took a little getting used to while searching for tables. I know of no other poker room, online or offline, that uses this convention.) They even have shorthanded 5-max tables as well as 1-on-1 tables.

Their tournaments consist of limit and no-limit Hold’em games ranging from $5+1 up to $100+8 -- from multi-table tourneys consistently attracting hundreds of players per event to sit-and-gos for tables of 10 players each. There is the occasional “other” poker game tourney. Last I checked, there was one pot-limit Omaha Hi/Lo multi-table tourney.

Private Ring Game Table: PokerRoom also offers players the ability to create private ring game tables. Any of their poker games at virtually any stakes may be easily set up quickly with their simple-to-follow interface.

In addition to poker, you can convert your account money into “Casino Chips” and play other casino games via the Internet Explorer browser. Popular games such as Blackjack, Let It Ride, Video Poker, Roulette, Slots, Craps, Baccarat and Pai Gow attract hundreds of players going for some nice payouts ranging from the thousands to the tens of thousands for the highest jackpot prizes.

Player Traffic 8.5/10: Up to 7,000 cash game and 30,000 tournament players can be found playing simultaneously at peak times. The number of higher limit tables has also grown recently.

Quality of Players 8/10: With their recent growth in player numbers there has been a large influx of new recreational players meaning that the average skill level of players at Poker Room is slightly lower than at other poker rooms. This makes it a good place to play if winning money is your objective.

Software 7.5/10: You have the option of a downloadable version or a Java version that requires no download. The Software can at times perform slowly, especially the Java version. The graphics are pleasant and easy to look at for long periods and there are comprehensive statistics available to track how well you are doing.

Bonuses and Promotions 7.5/10: There is a signup bonus of 50% up to a maximum of $100 and a wide variety of other promotions such as player points that can be used towards tournaments or bonuses for a Royal Flush.

Customer Support 9/10: Poker Room offers a wide range of support including phone, email and live chat. The quality of all support is excellent but sometimes the email support can be a little slow.