Welcome to Online Poker Sites, let me give you the introduction to our website in a unique way.
When I first got involved in the online poker industry, the World Series of Poker was exclusive to Las Vegas, Chris Moneymaker was an accountant, and Paradise Poker was the world’s largest poker site. As I’m writing here on Thursday 10 June 2011 at 20:30 the largest poker site on the net PokerStars has 35,387 players seated at their real money ring games. Poker is bigger, better, faster, and for winning players it is more profitable than ever before. Whilst almost everything about poker’s growth is positive, the major downside: at the current industry’s size there are not nearly enough unbiased and quality “poker information websites”.
If you feel that’s false… consider this: the Maltese Lotteries & Gaming Authority (Malta’s LGA) licences over 500 online gambling sites and doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. Online Poker Sites’ team when Google searching about Malta’s gambling licensing and regulatory body couldn’t find much information of value on the topic, yet most sites claim LGA is one of the most respected and strictest gambling commissions. It turns out LGA is in fact solid, although does have a few minor issues; we only discovered this after our own investigation of Lotteries & Gaming Authority of Malta (LGA).
The Goals of our Website
In a time where poker news sites are bought and paid for by online poker rooms, we decided there was a need for an unbiased voice that speaks out without having an agenda or needing to worry about what an advertiser might think. Our goal first and foremost is to answer questions such as How is Poker Regulated? and to report any news related to online poker that poker news sites are not willing to report. Our much bigger goal, which I guess can be called a mission, is to cover all things poker without bias.
Of course, the goal of covering all things poker without bias is an impossible goal to accomplish. Not even Wikipedia.org, and their 90,024 average-number of active editors per month, manages to come close to covering “all things”. Add this with the fact we’re often covering subjective topics such as which poker site is best, and we’ll admit, there is going to be some bias. Let’s put it this way: We’re a group of poker players, poker affiliates, and industry experts trying our best to chip away at the impossible goal of covering everything poker related, whilst checking any bias at the door before we sit down to write.
Poker News and Warnings – Stay Informed
There are situations poker players need to know about. For example July 2011 Full Tilt Poker Updates; their site is currently offline, their gambling license suspended and they are under serious legal and financial threat. On 2 June 2011, Online Poker Sites warned players to deposit and keep stored no more than they were comfortable losing should Full Tilt Poker prove to be, or become, insolvent (original report here). Four week later their operation closed down; no word yet if players’ funds are secure.
All these important updates can be found on our page: Poker Site Warnings.
Where to Play Poker Online
We obviously didn’t choose the domain onlinepokersites.co.uk without full intent to cover poker sites. Myself, the owner of this domain, I know a ton about poker sites. However it wouldn’t be fair to our readers or my team if I brought this knowledge to the table. Remember a goal of our site is to leave all bias at the door prior to writing. In the future we might have some recommended poker sites to include here, for now here are two awesome articles written by our mate Randy, that address questions related to “where to play online poker”.
- Most Popular Poker Sites (coming soon)
- Free Poker Sites
Whilst we won’t tell you where to play, we can tell you several places not to play. For starters be sure to avoid Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. These companies both have a history that involves insider cheating are now each in gross default related to poker players’ balances. Here are other interesting reads related to companies Online Poker Sites has blacklisted.
- The Rise and Fall of WSEX – This article is significant because gambling sites that were once the biggest and best, sometimes fail and when they do players often get stiffed.
- Oddsmaker.com Blacklisted – Be sure at all costs to avoid Oddsmaker, OddsPoker, BetonUSA and other companies associated with Future Bet, IGS, Gametech solutions or any future alias this toxic company creates.
Failed Poker Sites – “The Muck”
Having been around since the first hand of online poker was dealt on 01 January 1998, our sites narrator Jim Griffin (PokerProp) came up with the idea to create a historical archive of poker sites that once were and are no more. This section of our site is appropriately called “The Muck”. If you haven’t paid your final respects to these failed poker rooms – Online Poker Sites is now providing you that chance.
Poker Articles
Fancy killing some time reading poker related topics? We pay industry experts to author articles about online poker for publication on our website. Below are some of the articles we recently published.
- Largest Ever Poker Tournament by Massy
- Beginner’s Guide to Poker Staking by Matt Geer
- Poker Tracker All-in EV by Rob O’Connor
Online Poker Strategy
Of course, what good is accumulating knowledge about poker sites unless you first know the game and then develop strategy? If you’re brand new, as in never played in a poker game, read our article titled Learn Poker. If you understand the game a tad and are looking for advanced tips, on our Poker Strategy page you can find articles poker professionals contributed exclusively to onlinepokersites.co.uk.
How does our website make money?
At the moment, it doesn’t. This is a dear hobby well financed poker players and affiliates are investing time, energy and finances towards. Whilst we can’t promise our website will be advertisement free forever, we CAN promise “poker ranking will NEVER be sold”.
Want to write for us?
Do you have something unique, informative, or interesting you fancy sharing with the poker world? If so, send me an email (jim at our website address) and let’s discuss.
Closing Statement: Check back often as we add new content to our website several times per week.
