Evaluating Player Traffic at Poker Sites

One of the most important factors in choosing a poker site is the site's player traffic. The number of players at a poker site directly affects the experience you will have at that poker site. In general, I recommend that poker players stick with poker sites that have the most players logged in at any given time for the following reasons:

Table Selection

First of all, the number of players at a poker site determines how many tables there are to choose from. At a massive poker site like Full Tilt Poker, you have hundreds of tables running at all stakes and can afford to pick and choose which tables you play at. This makes it easier to find softer tables, which in turn makes it easier to make money.

Bigger poker sites tend to have more skilled players than smaller poker sites, but the table selection makes up for that. At a huge poker site, you may have more skilled players, but you will also have more fish. You just have to practice a little table selection to find the fishy players at big poker sites.

More Players = Safer Games

Large poker sites are also the most financially secure poker sites. What that means for you is that your money is usually the safest at large poker sites. Large poker sites have been around for years and have proven that they are going to stick around for a while. Small, low-traffic poker sites still have to prove that they will make it in the long run.

Poker sites with high player traffic are also able to spend more money on state of the art security measures. Large poker sites have complex security measures that can detect collusion, prevent security leaks and hire the best security personnel. Smaller poker sites don’t have as many resources to draw from when securing their games.

Deposit and Withdrawal Options

High traffic poker sites also have the most deposit and withdrawal options. These poker sites have been in the business for a long time and have formed relationships with a variety of payment processors. That’s why you see eChecks at big sites like PokerStars but not at smaller poker sites.

The same thing also goes for withdrawing your money. Not only do large poker sites have more withdrawal options, but they also have faster withdrawals. Large poker sites also have more cash reserves on hand and can afford to process withdrawals immediately. Smaller poker sites aren’t as liquid and therefore cannot process withdrawals as quickly.

Promotions and Bonuses

Large poker sites make more money than small poker sites and can therefore afford to spend more money on player promotions and deposit bonuses. You will notice that poker sites like Full Tilt and Party Poker host hundreds of freeroll tournaments, huge guaranteed prize pool tournaments and lots of contests. Small poker sites cannot afford to spend as much money so their promotions tend to be a bit weaker than those at large poker sites.

Deposit bonuses are usually easier to clear at large poker sites. Once again, these poker sites have more cash on hand and do not need to make it take as long to release your bonus. Small poker sites offer large bonuses but they make those bonuses more difficult to clear.

To learn more, check out our rankings of the biggest online poker sites.