We’ve had a few major poker scandals over the past couple years that really hurt the reputation of online poker. I still strongly support online poker, but these scandals show that we desperately need the industry to be legalized and regulated. The longer the US government fights online poker, the longer we will have to deal with shady poker sites that answer to no central governing authority.
The one thing we have working on our favor is the free market. A few major poker sites have built reputations as being safe, trustworthy places to play. Some of them accept players from the United States, some do not. If you are in the market for a safe online poker site, check out any of the following poker rooms.
1. Carbon Poker
Carbon Poker was established in 2007 and has a spotless reputation. There were some issues with slow payouts to USA players in the past, but that is to be expected with the current legal situation in the US. Players always get their cashouts from Carbon Poker, and that’s more than can be said for some other poker sites (cough*FullTiltPoker*cough).
2. PokerStars
PokerStars no longer serves the US market, but it still serves the rest of the world. Out of all the poker sites on this list, PokerStars probably has the best reputation among players. It has always paid players promptly, it runs tight security, it treats players fairly and generally operates in a manner that we wish all poker sites would imitate.
3. Party Poker
Party Poker has a great reputation and it too has never suffered from any scandals. This poker room once dominated the entire world of online poker, but it now battles for the top few spots with a few other major brand names. Party Poker is a hugely successful company, it caters to players of all types and has a great security team.
4. 888 Poker
888 Poker has come a long ways in the past couple of years. It was always a dependable poker site, but it never really made big waves until the last couple years. Something must have really motivated the people at 888 Poker last year because it has completely revamped its software, added tons of new features and focused heavily on becoming the most “social” poker site. Recent traffic numbers show that these changes have been a resounding success.
5. Bet35 Poker
Bet365 operates as an online bookmaker, casino and poker room all wrapped into one package. The name actually dates back to the 1970s, which makes this the oldest name on the list. Over all those years, Bet365 has maintained a high class reputation. You won’t go wrong with this poker room.
6. Full Tilt Poker – Just kidding
Full Tilt Poker seemed like a great poker site for a long time, but when the US government froze its funds, Full Tilt Poker suddenly found itself in a very bad financial position. The poker site was later found to have been juggling player funds carelessly, and therefore become insolvent after Black Friday. This led to countless players losing their balances on Full Tilt Poker.
The moral of the story is to never keep all your eggs in one basket. Even the safest poker sites are not immune to sudden changes in government policy. Manage your risk by spreading your bankroll across a couple of high quality poker sites. The odds of any high quality poker site suddenly going under are very low, but that does not mean it is impossible.