How to choose an online poker room.

When you want to play in a new online poker room, what do you do? How do you pick one out of the hundreds that are on the internet? Do you just click on the first advertisement that you see and download the software? Ask a buddy where they play? Go for the biggest poker bonus? Free money offers?

Do you select a poker room by the software, or the network? Maybe you choose not to play in a particular poker room by the software or network? These are some ways that lots of players choose their online poker room. And they are not bad; after all, you are probably the best person to know what you like. But there are some things that you should know that might help in the selection process.

Firstly, the internet is a big place. Have a look around. If you have a particular poker room in mind, do a search on the name. Read some of the stuff you come across. Don't take the first poker review as the whole story. Look around some more. If you haven't read anything bad so far, then maybe do a search on the software provider or network provider. These details should be available on the poker rooms own page, usually at the bottom. Not all poker rooms are in a network, of course, but they all use poker software, and you can check this out. Read some poker forums. See what other players are saying about the room.

Still like the room? Good. Now check the bonus terms and conditions. If the bonus is big then check that the time limit on clearing it going to be enough for your style of play. A $1000 bonus might seem very attractive, but if you only have 30 days to clear the wagering requirements, and those requirements have you playing 15,000 hands, then be sure that your play will meet this, or else check if the bonus is paid in increments instead of the whole lot (or nothing!).

So, still like the room? Haven't heard anything bad about it? Seems legitimate? Confident about the bonus and the requirements attached? Great. Next question; what is your online bankroll like? Can you deposit enough to claim the full bonus on offer? Do you want to? Well, if you're not confident enough to put your whole bankroll in, maybe you should be asking yourself why not. If it is simply because you are unsure whether you will like the room or not, then that is fair enough. You can always put in the minimum amount allowed, just to check the room out. Then, if you like playing there, you can redeposit, and just forego the full deposit bonus. Better to be safe than sorry.

One good piece of advice when choosing an online poker room is to sign up through a reputable poker affiliate. If you do happen to run into a problem with your chosen poker room it's alway good to have someone on your side, someone that will go to bat for you with the poker people. Affiliates send a lot of customers to poker rooms and so carry a lot of weight. They can be very useful to have in your corner if things turn troublesome.