"What's your favorite place to play Poker online and why?"
That's the question we asked some of the biggest names in Poker -- including Phil Hellmuth, Mike Caro, and Barry Shulman. Here are their replies:
Phil Hellmuth Jr., WSOP and EM European Poker Champion
In 1993 Phil won three WSOP (World Series Of Poker) events and finished second in another. Many consider this to be the greatest Poker feat ever. "I don't know what happened in 1993," Phil says. "I was just in the zone. I was reading people well, I was getting good cards and all of my moves were working perfectly." Three years later, Phil was voted 'best poker tournament player in the world' by the poker players at the Hall of Fame poker tournament.
So we thought we'd ask Phil where he plays Poker online, and share his thoughts with you.
"My favorite place to play poker online is at UltimateBet.com. They have created their own software, which is unique to the industry. They have clean graphics so players can focus on the game, their support staff is top-notch, and they intend to set up private tables at a member's request.
Best of all, however, their commitment to bringing the world of poker to the forefront of
popular culture is, I think, unprecedented in the industry."
Max says: I'd heard of UltimateBet.com but it wasn't until I heard from Phil that I dropped by, downloaded and gave it a go. The package offers Texas Hold'Em and Heads-Up (1-on-1) Texas Hold'Em in both Real and Practice modes. It's fantastic! I especially appreciated the robot players in Practice mode because that means you can play any time you want. Phil is right on the money with this one.
For more information about Phil, you can check out his site at PhilHellmuth.com.
Mike Caro, The Legendary "Mad Genius" of Poker
We asked Mike the same question we asked Phil, and he was quick to choose PlanetPoker.com as his favorite Poker site. Why that site? According to Mike, "I'm the lead spokesperson for PlanetPoker.com ... This might make me appear biased."
Biased or not, Mike's input is always welcome and site really does have some great features. PlanetPoker.com hosts the Mike Caro University of Poker, an online campus for the Poker community. The university is unique because of the extensive services and material it offers to players.
Max says: I've played quite a bit at Planet Poker lately and appreciate the wide variety of games available. There's Hold'Em, Omaha, 7-Stud and Tournament play. There are always a good number of players logged in, so it's very rare to find yourself sitting alone at the table waiting for someone to join you. I also found the players quite friendly and supportive.
Barry Shulman, CEO, Card Player Magazine
Barry is a busy man so we heard back from his National Sales Manager, Bonnie
Rattner: "The feedback I get from steady online players is that Paradise is by
far the favorite."
Max says: Bonnie is of course referring to ParadisePoker.com, arguably the hottest online Poker site going. There are all the major games including Hold'Em, Heads-Up (1-on-1) Hold'Em, Omaha (Hi & Hi-Lo), 7-Stud (Hi & Hi-Lo), and Tournament play. What makes Paradise the site to beat is the hundreds and hundreds of players --often well over 1000 at a time.
Numbers aside, I must say that I found a downside to this extreme popularity: "Speed" Poker. It's strictly business with these players and they're playing the maximum number of hands per hour. Why? Search me, unless it's the sharks out to scare the chips onto the table and into their pockets. Who knows, but I do know that chat-bar comments like "zzzzzZZZZZZZZZ" when I take 10 seconds to make a decision in 7-Stud is rude and off-putting. It's Paradise Lost in my opinion.
While we're making a list, here's a quickie survey of other Poker sites, some of which have been around for a while and others that are a little newer:
Poker.com offers a good selection of decent-looking games with a good number of users. The software looks very much like Paradise Poker's package.
CherryPoker.com is a new site and the only no-download Texas Hold'Em I've seen. It looks good, and the no-download is definitely a plus. But where are the players? A Poker game isn't much fun when you're sitting solo at the table. At the very least, a few robot players in Play mode would be a welcome addition. Having said that, CherryPoker is the new kid on the block so maybe it will age well with time. Looks promising.
MPlayer is a once-popular Play For Fun site that seems to have suffered the ravages of time. The latest software crashed four (4!) times during the installation, displayed empty list boxes, dysfunctional controls, and so on. Retries didn't help and the lag times in play were no fun either.
DeltaPoker.com looks like the same games as Planet Poker. Not many players --as in 7!-- when I stopped by. There's really not much to see or do at their site either.
HighlandsClub.com is another new site, at least to me. The software looks familiar but I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen it before.
Check out our list of places to Play Poker Online
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