The best poker rooms of 2021
Rating of the best poker rooms in 2021. All poker rooms are divided into 4 categories: A, B, C, D and 5 evaluation criteria: Players, Software, Reliability, Reviews, Bonuses. The better the ratings, the higher the category (rating) of the poker room. Leave your feedback – help other players choose the best poker room among real money poker sites.
GGPoker18+. New players only for the 1st deposit bonus. Min $10 deposit in order to receive Matched Bonus. Min $20 deposit in order to receive Ticket Rewards. Up to $40 in tickets will be awarded automatically. Up to $60 in additional free tickets. 30 day expiry. Full T&Cs apply.
888poker18+. New players only for no deposit bonus $88. No min deposit needed. 14 days to claim the bonus. T&C apply.
Partypoker18+. New players only for a registration bonus. A minimum deposit of $10. All tickets will expire after 7 days from issue. Only one person per household or per device. PartyPoker reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
PokerStars18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. A minimum deposit of $20. A promo code THIRTY is needed. PokerStars reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
BetfairAvailable for 18+, new players only for a bonus. Deposit €10 to receive a 200% Match Bonus up to €200 (90 days expiry) & 2x €250 Freeroll entry tickets (2 months expiry). Complete missions to unlock other 4x€1 General entry tickets (7 days expiry). T&Cs apply.
Betsafe Poker18+. New players only for a bonus. One bonus per household. You can only receive one of the five Welcome bonuses offered. You need to register a Poker Alias prior to activating the Welcome Bonus. All new Poker players will automatically receive 28 tickets to enter the daily €50 New Player Freeroll Level 1 tournaments over a 4 week period. The tickets cannot be exchanged for cash under any circumstances. T&Cs apply.
Guts Poker18+. New players only for a bonus. Welcome bonus up to €1 000. Deposit from €10. 60 day expiry. T&Cs apply.
Natural818+. New players only for the 1st deposit bonus. Min $10 deposit in order to receive Matched Bonus. Min $20 deposit in order to receive Ticket Rewards. Up to $40 in tickets will be awarded automatically. Up to $60 in additional free tickets. 30 day expiry. Full T&Cs apply.
William Hill18+. Opt-in required. X1 per customer. New customers only, min first deposit/transfer £10 to poker account. Game restrictions and Terms Apply. Twister Discovery Pack: 1X tournament tickets total value of €6. 3x €1 Age of the Gods Twister, 3X €1 Twister. £100 Bonus Money: WHPoints to redeem Bonus (two stage redemption rate), expires in 45 days. Bonus Spins: x40 wagering, expires in 14 days, Max redemption £20. T&Cs apply.
PokerStars.es18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. PokerStars reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
PokerStars.eu18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. PokerStars reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
RedStar Poker18+. New players only for a bonus. 200% first deposit bonus up to $/€2 000. Deposit from $10. 60 day expiry. T&Cs apply.
Tiger Gaming18+. New customers only for a bonus. Only one offer per household. Min $50 deposit for this offer. 100% bonus up to $1 000. T&Cs apply.
Unibet Poker18+. New customers only for a bonus. Only one offer per household. Min €10 deposit. The play-through bonus will expire after 60 days of activation and any un-cleared bonus money (levels) will be lost. T&Cs apply.
Bet365 Poker18+. New players only for a bonus. The €365 bonus is redeemed in €2.50 instalments as you earn Status Points. Status Points are accumulated at a rate of 10 for every €1 or £1 paid in rake and/or tournament fees. No wagering requirement. 60 day expiry. T&Cs apply.
Coral Poker18+. New players only. Deposit £20+ for $30 Free Play generated as 6 x $5 tickets. 14 day expiry. T&Cs apply.
GGPokerOK18+. New players only for the 1st deposit bonus. Full T&Cs apply.
PokerStars NJ18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. PokerStars reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
Run It Once Poker18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. Min deposit €10. Get a 100% cumulative bonus on every deposit you make up to a maximum of €600 for the next 30 days after making your first deposit. T&Cs apply.
Winamax Poker18+. Winamax is licenced by the French online gaming authority. T&C apply.
PokerDom18+. Get bonuses for loyalty levels. PokerDom reserves the right to modify or cancel any promotions at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
Pokermatch18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. A minimum deposit of 250 UAH for the bonus. 12 available bonus options. PokerMatch reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
PokerStars PA18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. PokerStars reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
Titan Poker18+. Welcome bonus 200% up to €1500. Tickets to Beginners Freerolls. Full T&C apply.
Winner Poker18+. Welcome bonus on the 1st deposit up to €1500. 90 days expiry term. T&C apply.
Betsson Poker18+. Only one Welcome Bonus is allowed per customer, per household and per computer. You need to register a Poker Alias prior to activating the Welcome Bonus. The bonus will match 100% your first deposit and will be redeemable in 10 parts; it will consist of 1 bonus for New Players Only and it will expire after 30 days upon release.
NordicBet Poker18+. 100% up to €2000 on your first deposit. Deposit amount €10 or more. T&C apply.
Poker Community18+. Poker app and platform for play money. T&C apply.
Virtue Poker18+. Virtue Poker is a decentralized poker platform. T&C apply.
WSOP.com18+. 100% up to $1,000 Match Bonus+ Welcome Freeroll Tickets. T&C apply.
Red Dragon Poker18+. Poker app and platform for play money. T&C apply.
PokerStars Sochi18+. New players only for 1st deposit bonus. PokerStars reserves the right to modify or cancel a bonus for new players at any time without prior notice. T&Cs apply.
Spartan Poker18+. Different welcome bonuses for a deposit to choose from. T&C apply.
Poker De Las Americas18+. You may not access any of the Games and Services by logging into your Account from any of the jurisdictions prohibited by Poker de las Américas. T&C apply.
BestPoker (closed)Available for 18+, new players only for a bonus. Players need to ‘opt-in’. Welcome Bonus rewards will not have restrictions regarding cashout. T&Cs apply.
Full Tilt (closed)18+. New players only for a bonus. Min $10 deposit. Players can make up to three qualifying deposits using the same bonus code. The bonus code can only be used within the first 60 days from the time of the first deposit. Players need to earn redemption points to release the bonus funds. Release rates differ between currencies. T&Cs apply.
Breakout Poker (closed)18+. The room is closed. T&C apply.
Cristal Poker (closed)18+. The room is closed. T&C apply.
Fulpot Poker (AAPoker since 2019)18+. Free poker app on play money. T&C apply.
Molly's Game (closed)18+. The room is closed. T&C apply.
PelicanPoker (closed)18+. The room is closed. T&C apply.
Poker Yaar (closed)18+. Legal poker site in India. T&C apply.
TonyBet Poker (closed)18+. The room is closed. New players only for a bonus. Max €2000 eligible bonus. Min €10 deposit. Bonus released in fractions of €10. One bonus at a time. One bonus per person. T&Cs apply.
Ultima Poker (closed)18+. The room is closed. T&C apply.
Every poker player faces an important question: which poker room to choose and what criteria to take into account? The same goes for confident offline players who decide to move online and try playing there. We decided to help you figure it out and give you some tips to help you choose where to play online poker for real money.
Start choosing a poker room
The choice can be made on the Cardmates website using the reviews of poker rooms. Each of them has a rating using a five-point scale and you can choose in which of them to start your poker career.
To choose the best poker room in 2021, use our list of poker rooms. Before registering in any poker room – take a look at our description of its VIP-system and promotions – there you can find several tempting offers and bonuses best suitable for you.
If you are a beginner who is just getting started with poker, first of all, we recommend that you look at our "Poker School" section, where there is everything from such basics as the rules of poker to advanced strategies. There you will also find information about poker software, its cost and relevance in 2021.
Four categories of poker rooms
In our list, all the poker rooms on the site are divided into four categories: A, B, C and D.
- A – Top category. This includes all of the biggest whales in the poker market. Playing here, you will not have any difficulties with the withdrawal of funds and everything will be at the highest level. We recommend that beginners choose a poker room from this category.
- B – Smaller poker rooms that can be rated positively rather than negatively. There will not be such a large field of players, but you can try to fill your bankroll with no deposit bonuses and various promotions. There will be enough of them here, as the rooms strive to attract as many players as possible.
- C – In this category you will find several exotic poker rooms or reservations. Carefully read whether registration is available for players from your country, so that later you will not have problems with withdrawing funds.
- D – This "group of death" includes poker rooms that are already closed or are still in the process of closing due to their fraudulent actions towards the players. We strongly recommend not to contact them if you do not want your wallet to noticeably loose weight.
The best Cardmates no deposit poker bonuses in 2021
- 888poker no deposit bonus after registration in the poker room.
In addition, as an added bonus, sometimes players registered through our links can take part in special freerolls that we announce on the site.
This is a great way for a newbie to poker to make money from scratch, without any investment.
Also, Cardmates holds regular giveaways among our players and subscribers, and for active players we have many lucrative offers. For any questions, write to us in the online chat on the site. And subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know all the important news!
Criteria for choosing a poker room
There are many criteria for choosing a poker room. We will introduce you to the most important of them in the ranking of poker rooms to facilitate your choice among the top poker rooms.
Bonuses
After we have already figured out the categories, let's move on to the poker room promotions. For beginners who do not yet have a sufficient bankroll, this characteristic is also very important. Some poker rooms offer no deposit bonuses to beginners, that is, after registering, you immediately receive a few dollars to your account, or several tournament tickets. There are known cases when players stuffed thousands of dollars with them.
Promotions are shown to the right of the special sign icon:
The best poker rooms with bonuses are the following:
- PokerStars
- GGPoker
- Partypoker
- Run It Once Poker.
Reliability
The most reliable poker rooms fall into category A. They are played by hundreds of thousands of people and there is no reason for employees to cheat their users. The reputation is in the first place for them, and in such rooms it is crystal clear and transparent.
Rooms from the D category are listed in a separate column. These include scammers who cheated people for very big money. Do not register or contact them if you do not want problems. Also in this category there are all closed poker rooms.
User reviews and comments
It is not always possible to judge a poker room by reviews about it, but it is still a very important criterion for choosing a poker room. Click the leave a review button to the right of the name of the poker room and you will immediately be taken to the reviews section. Here you can read the impressions of the game of various players.
We strive to ensure that in the reviews our readers find useful information and answers to those questions that interest them. So that, after reading them, you can understand whether this or that poker room suits you or not, decide for yourself whether it is worth registering and playing here. To combat spam, dishonest and uninformative reviews, we have the "Rules for publishing reviews of poker rooms" on our site. We highly recommend that you read these rules before leaving a comment about the poker room on the site.
Software
This criterion evaluates the software of the poker room and the ability to use third-party programs when playing. Most professional players use poker software, so if you understand the mathematics of poker and are going to use poker statistics as an additional advantage, then you should find out if there is a ban on the use of this software in the chosen poker room.
All popular and current poker programs in 2021 can be found on our website in the special section "Poker School".
The best poker rooms with software:
- PokerStars;
- Betsafe Poker;
- 888poker;
- William Hill.
Players
The weaker the field of players, the more profitable it is for the poker player to play, since he can constantly make money on the stupid mistakes of the opponent. On the other hand, if you want to learn how to play poker well, you should play with the strongest opponents for experience.
The latter method is dangerous and can lead to financial consequences, as professionals can take all your money. Therefore, we advise beginners to choose a poker room with a weak field of players. These poker rooms score ten out of ten points based on the player criteria.
Poker rooms by different criteria
For some of the players, it is important that there is a quick withdrawal, for others a weak field of players is vital. Everyone has their own requests, so we have prepared a list of the best poker rooms by criteria.
Best poker rooms for beginners
In our opinion, the best poker room for beginners is GGPoker. At the moment, the poker room is one of the top and is growing rapidly.
After passing through a quick registration and verification, you can immediately claim a first deposit bonus. Then enter the poker room lobby to appreciate the great software right away.
This is how the lobby of the poker room looks like, and you may notice that a large number of different events take place in the poker room:
For beginners, there are tons of freerolls and tournaments with affordable buy-ins, as well as qualifying satellites for major events.
The online poker table is also very convenient. You can choose an avatar for yourself, as well as transfer stacks to BB, which is very convenient. In general, everything works quite quickly and without lags.
GGPoker is the best for beginners because regular promotions are constantly held here. Every month, about $10 000 000 is raffled off only in promotions, and not every poker room can boast of this.
The biggest poker rooms
| Poker rooms | Players online |
|---|---|
| GGPoker | Day: 20 000, night: 50 000 |
| PokerStars | Day: 35 000, night: 80 000 |
| PartyPoker | Day: 5 800, night: 12 000 |
| 888poker | Day: 6 000, night: 11 000 |
The best poker rooms with weak players
| Poker room | Weak players (out of 10) |
|---|---|
| GGPoker | 10 |
| 888Poker | 10 |
| RedStar Poker | 8 |
| Unibet Poker | 9 |
Conclusion
Everyone understands how important the choice of a poker room is to start a successful poker career. However, everyone has their own tastes and everyone chooses where to play. We are only trying to help you with the ranking of the best poker rooms in our review.
This question is very individual and depends on many factors: your game level (whether you are beginner or regular player), limits being played, preferred disciplines, desire/unwillingness to play with software, etc.
On our website, the list of poker rooms can be filtered by some features by clicking the corresponding button in the search column. This may help with the selection.
You can also consult about the choice of a poker room and VIP-proposals in an online chat on Cardmates with our manager.
In each poker room of those that are presented on our website, there is a button "Download client" at the top of the review page. Above this button you can find step-by-step instructions for downloading and installing the room on a PC and phone (not in all poker rooms).
You can also download the poker room on this page without opening a review. Just click the blue Download button on the side of the room that interests you.
In order to register in the poker room from Cardmates you need to go to the room’s website using our link. It is located in the review of the poker room in the form of a download button. In individual poker rooms you need to enter a promo code during registration, as described in the review.
Registration through Cardmates gives you bonuses that you can use in the game.
On Cardmates, in the search field there is a “No Deposit Bonus” filter button, clicking on which you will see a list of poker rooms offering no deposit in 2021.
Yes, most poker rooms support the game not only for real money, but also for play money (conditional chips), so you can play online poker for free.
If you have any problems downloading, installing and registering in the poker room – write to us at support@cardmates.net or in an online chat on the site, and we will certainly help you.
Email us at support@cardmates.net or online chat on the website.
Most rooms at the top of the review above the “Download” button have instructions regarding how to install the poker room on a computer and how to download the poker application to a phone or tablet.
We define the poker room category based on personal experience and player feedback. First of all, we pay attention to the reliability of the room and the quality of customer service.
