In this article we take an in-depth look at the available games and the traffic in the rooms that could be a sufficient alternative for players looking to leave PokerStars.
Once, PokerStars was a symbol for trustworthiness and quality, but today they are a completely different company. While the Rational Group management always focused on the players and worked together with the community before implementing changes, the current owners only care about short-term profit maximalization and about decreasing the potentially achievable edges in their games.
Some of the changes under the Amaya Gaming management:
December 2014 - Amaya introduces a ''Summer Championship'' to replace the Monthly Tournament Leaderboards, cutting TLB payouts by $200,000 total.
April 2015 - PokerStars deceives players regarding software issues. They stated that the problems (which caused lag and disconnects) have been resolved, but a huge number of players still couldn't log on.
July 2015 - PokerStars bans several poker softwares, such as OddsOracle, PokerStove and NoteCaddy and they announce further restrictions coming in the future.
November 2015 - PokerStars announces huge cuts to the VIP system starting January 1, 2016. The maximum VIP returns are limited at 30%.
February 2016 - The room replaces regular Heads-up tables with Zoom pools.
You can read about these issues and other negative changes in this article.
Room recommendations for players looking to switch from PokerStars
PokerStars is making it tougher and tougher on the regulars with every change they implement and this trend is likely to continue in the future. Many regulars have already left the room and many other are thinking about finding a new room aswell.
Long-time PS players might think that they have no alternatives in their respective games, but this is not true for all.
Rakerace.com aims to help undecided players by providing an in-depth look at the available games and the traffic in cash game, MTT and SNG games in the rooms that could be an alternative to PokerStars. The data below was collected in the 18-20 (CET) time period.
Cash Game
Players can find sufficient cash game action during the ''rush hours'' even in the smaller networks/rooms. We conducted our research on a weeknight and examined the number of full short-handed cash game tables running at the same time.
Short handed full cash game tables on a weeknight
|
SH Cash Game |
Avg. returns |
NL2/4 |
NL10 |
NL20/25 |
NL50 |
NL100 |
NL200 |
NL400 |
|
50-75% |
72 |
38 |
27 |
10 |
7 |
2 |
9 |
|
|
45-75% |
27 |
20 |
22 |
13 |
12 |
12 |
4 |
|
|
30-85% |
5 |
2 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
50-80% |
25 |
14 |
13 |
17 |
8 |
9 |
3 |
|
|
50-80% |
3 |
3 |
10 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
30-65% |
- |
4 |
3 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
30-80% |
16 |
50 |
24 |
10 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
As you can see, Unibet, Partypoker and the iPoker network (which includes rooms like Gala Poker) provide plenty of action, while the rest of the options are great for players who generally play a lower number of tables or to players who are looking for a secondary room.
We also looked at the available PLO tables in these networks:
Full SH PLO cash tables running on weeknight
|
SH Omaha Cash Game |
Avg. returns |
PL2/4 |
PL10 |
PL20/25 |
PL50 |
PL100 |
PL200 |
PL400 |
|
50-75% |
12 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
45-75% |
5 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
30-85% |
- |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
50-80% |
9 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
50-80% |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
30-65% |
- |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
30-80% |
6 |
4 |
6 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
Fans of ''fast poker'' can find tables on the iPoker network (Speed Poker), Betsson (Blaze Poker) and on Partypoker (Fastforward) and based on the numbers, there is plenty of action in this format aswell.
|
Fast poker |
NL2/4 |
NL10 |
NL20/25 |
NL100 |
|
163 |
94 |
117 |
80 |
|
|
191 |
- |
116 |
52 |
|
|
113 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Sit & Go
SNG players can also find plenty of alternatives in the smaller networks. Players in the iPoker network can choose from Twister (iPoker's version of Spin&Go), Jackpot (win multiple games in a row for massive prizes) and regular SNG games. The Twister games run at the €1, €2, €5 and €10 levels.
Unibet only runs 5-handed and Heads-up SNGs but this is easily compensated by the fact that there are plenty of games running at the higher stakes aswell.
TigerGaming is also a great alternative, there is plenty of action in all the available games. Players can participate in Heads-up, 6-max hyper-turbo and 1-Up (the network's version of Double or Nothing) Sit & Gos.
At Partypoker, players can find all the popular formats with a lot of tables running even at the higher stakes.
SNG games in our partner rooms/networks
|
SNG |
Heads-up |
Superturbo HU |
5-6 player |
Hyper 6-max |
Double or Nothing |
Spin&Go-style SNG |
Jackpot SNG |
|
€1-100 |
- |
€1-€100 |
- |
- |
- |
||
|
$1-350 |
$1-$215 |
$1-$215 |
$1-$55 |
$1-$109 |
- |
- |
|
|
$1-525 |
- |
- |
$1-$10 |
$1-$36 |
- |
- |
|
|
€1-€50 |
€1-€200 |
€1-€20 |
€1-€50 |
€1-€20 |
€1,€2,€5,€10 |
€5,€10,€20,€40 |
|
|
€1-€1,000 |
€1-€1,000 |
€1-€5 |
€1-€30 |
€1-€50 |
- |
- |
MTT:
Tournament players can find plenty of good MTTs in the evenings aswell, check out the most interesting and highest value tournaments in the schedules below:
Unibet:
18:00 €1500 GTD Daily Deepstack (€25)
19:00 €400 GTD Bounty Deepstack (€4)
20:00 €1300 GTD Daily 25 (€25)
21:00 €600 GTD Daily 4 (€4)
23:30 €500 GTD Turbo Multibuy Hold'em (€10)
iPoker:
17:00 €3000 Gtd Warm-up (€50)
18:00 €3000 Gtd Hexa (€20)
19:00 €5000 Gtd Big (€75)
20:00 €8000 Gtd Phoenix (€20)
20:00 €1000 Gtd - Ricochet (€1)
20:30 €10000 Grand (€30)
PartyPoker:
18:00 Middleweight - $6,000 Gtd ($22)
18:00 Heavyweight - The Weigh-in $10,000 Gtd ($109)
19:00 Middleweight - The Knockout $6,000 Gtd ($55)
20:00 Heavyweight - The Uppercut $50,000 Gtd ($109)
22:00 Featherweight - $2,000 Gtd ($5,5)
We are confident that players who are looking to leave PokerStars can find the best alternatives with the help of our spreadsheets. In addition to the sufficient action players can also enjoy the benefits of the weaker playing fields and better bonuses aswell.
Rakerace.com players can participate in exclusive races (and various other promotions) in all of our partner rooms and we are constantly looking for new rooms to add to our offering! If you are still not sure which room to choose, don't hesitate to contact the Rakerace.com support team, they will gladly help you!
Unibet Poker room review and registration
Partypoker room review and registration
TigerGaming room review and registration
Gala Poker room review and registration
Intertops room review and registration
IntraGame room review and registration
Betsson room review and registration
