I’m most interested in which has the best engine/most intuitive architecture. A client of mine may want to add poker to a site we’re working on (not for real money) and we’re hoping we can just buy the technology and then just apply our design over it.
So, who has the best ones out there?
Thanks.
I think this is best suited for The Game Room.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Right you are. I forgot about this new forum. Thanks.
PokerStars used to be the best, but they haven’t done much lately. Plus I doubt this is something that answers the OP.
The SDMB Thursday night game is on the Microgaming network (specifically, most of us are on CrazyPoker), which works pretty well. I keep getting emails from Doyle’sRoom (also on Microgaming), claiming a new interface, so I may have to check that one out.
Is the site Mac-compatible yet?
I have always liked the interface at Full Tilt Poker. I like the icons they use for the players and I like the way they display past hand info.
I thought it used to have a Flash player, but it looks like it is gone. Check some other sites on the Microgaming network.
Poker.com has a quite slick interface. I always hated the microgaming network sites, but Absolute Poker must have been named for the fact that it looks like Absolute Shit.
Quick question: Is online poker for real money still illegal in the US?
Follow-up question: When it WAS still legal, how come ALL of the sites had weird methods of online payment? None of them directly took credit cards, or even well-known online payment sites like Paypal, they all had weird payment methods that made me think I was getting swindled or something.
It is only illegal in 8 (or is it 11?) states. What is now taboo is getting a US financial institution to transfer money to or from a poker site. Our Thursday night game survives only because players win money from other nonDoper players. AFAIK none of us knows how to get new money onto the site.
If you can find a poker site that has cash-prize freerolls, and are prepared to invest a huge amount of time playing them, that is one way to fund an account. Be prepared to play a lot of hyper-aggressive Lithuanians.
I think most Visa/Mastercard institutions were always leery of gambling sites, thus the alternative means. I have had success since the UIGEA using a prepaid card bought at a Mobil station to get money into an offshore site. And, yeah, the fees charged by some of the methods amount to a swindle.
A hair-raising tale: some guy went to the Caribbean and placed 2nd in a major tournament for $800K. Rather than taking cash or a check, he had his winnings deposited in his NeTeller account. This crap came down, and he couldn’t withdraw the money for something like 9 months. :eek: :mad:
Knock yourself out here.
Full Tilt still takes direct payments from credit and debit cards.
Do you know which states in which it is currently legal/illegal?
So…let’s say it’s legal in my state (I don’t know if it is…), it’s still federal law that a US financial institution can’t give my money to the poker sites though, right? So that’s why there are sketchy third party dealers? They’re off-shore companies that take my money from the bank, which is legal since they aren’t the poker site, then they send that to the poker site? Hence why there are fees and whatnot?
After reading Pokerstar’s terms and conditions, I found out that every individual’s click influences the card that comes up next, which means that it’s not completely random.
Are you positive about this, Otto? I had to use ePassporte to make my initial deposit, and now that ePassporte is no longer making transfers to poker sites, regulars on the Two Plus Two message boards are bemoaning how there’s no good way to make deposits at Full Tilt and other sites. Seems like they would know if credit and debit depositing was a viable option.
I think it’s your CC or debit card company declining the payment that’s the problem. I know mine haven’t gone through…which has probably saved me a bit of money, I can’t win for shit online. 
Here ya go: Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin.
This site adds a couple:
VI. 11 States Strongly Affected by Poker / Casino Ban
Many sites have issued an 11 state ban not allowing players only from the following states.
Illinois - felony to play online poker for real money
Indiana
Louisiana - felony to play online poker for real money in the US
Michigan
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Oregon
South Dakota
Washington - felony to play online poker for real money in the US
Wisconsin
I fins this odd myself, but as I understand it, it is still random, it’s just that the cards are being constantly shuffled whilst the involved players are deciding to check, raise etc so the next card will be different if you spend 10 seconds thinking instead of 9.
No kidding? I didn’t know that. Granted I don’t play for real money, I just screw around for play money on PartyPoker, but still I had no idea that I’m that close to making a huge boo-boo.
So ridiculous.