Best Safe Poker Downloads for May 2012
Safety is always a major concern when it comes to real money activities on the internet. Whether it be banking, shopping or poker, people like to know their money and information is safe. For that reason, we have created this list of safe poker downloads.
The online poker industry operates on an international scale with poker sites located all around the world. Although it is good to have options, the wide scale of online poker also makes it possible for rogue poker sites to blend in with legitimate poker sites. Most poker sites are safe places to play, but it never hurts to use a little caution.
If you stick with our recommended poker downloads here, you’ll be in good hands. A little time spent finding safe poker downloads goes a long ways in protecting your money and ensuring that you get a fair game. The poker downloads with the best safety ratings are listed here:
Bovada Poker
Bovada Poker is fairly new, but the company is owned by Bodog, which has been online for many years as a sports betting and poker company. The people behind Bovada Poker are trusted in the poker community and have so far proven themselves to run a safe poker download. Players can visit the Bovada Poker website to download the software and get started today.
Special Offer:
- 100% up to $1000 Free Cash
- Use Bovada Poker Referral Number: 2463653 when registering.
Lock Poker
Lock Poker is a safe US-friendly poker site that operates on the trusted Merge Gaming Network. This is one of the few poker sites that still serves USA players with a clean reputation for deposits and withdrawals. Lock Poker offers software for both PC and Mac computers.
Special Offer:
- 150% up to $750 Free Cash
- Use Lock Poker Bonus Code: LOCK150 when registering.
Party Poker
Party Poker is one of the most well-known poker sites in the world. It first came to prominence during the early 2000s and grew to become the largest online poker site in the world. Party Poker faces more competition today than those early days, but it’s still one of the biggest poker sites and has earned our complete trust over the years.
Special Offer:
- 100% up to $500 Free Cash
- Use Party Poker Bonus Code: PWNET when registering.
How to Find Safe Poker Sites
After working for years in the online poker industry, we have leaned exactly what to look for when it comes to safe online poker sites. The most important thing of all is the reputation behind each poker site. There are hundreds of poker sites out there, but only a few of them have been online long enough to develop a significant history.
The history of a poker site tells you a lot about what you can expect in the future. Big name poker sites like Party Poker have always provided their players with safe games and fast cashouts. These poker sites make a lot of money and it’s highly unlikely they will ever skimp out on security or suddenly go out of business.
High quality poker software also goes a long ways in providing security. The safest poker downloads have built-in security features that keep the games safe and your information secure. Cheating detection software looks for suspicious play patterns that may indicate collusion among players. This same poker software also uses secure encrypted connections to make sure nobody can intercept the data that is shared between your computer and the poker site.
How to Identify Unsafe Poker Downloads
There are a couple of giveaways that indicate a poker site may not be as safe as it likes to claim. The biggest giveaway is a name that you have never heard of. Small-time poker sites come and go all the time under a variety of names. If you have never heard of a poker site before, you should do a little research before you sign up and make a deposit.
The website of a supposedly “safe poker download” can also reveal information. If a poker room’s website is incomplete, lacking in information or full of spelling errors (yes this happens), you need to proceed with extreme caution. Nothing indicates “hit and run” more than a poker website that looks like it took 20 minutes to build.
Google can be a great source of information when it comes to separating safe poker downloads from all the rest. All you have to do is search for that poker site’s name in Google and see what appears. If hundreds of poker websites talk about that poker room, that’s a good sign. You can also use the “discussions” feature in Google to see what people say about various poker sites at discussion forums.
Finally, you can use your gut instinct to help you decide if a poker download is safe or not. Do you get a feeling of unease when you download the software and start filling out your information? If so, there’s probably a reason. Safe poker downloads feel safe and present themselves in a manner that speaks of quality.
