The moment you decide to play online poker, you begin your search to find the best online poker site. But you will be amazed to see the list of hundreds of poker sites and will get confused how to choose the best desired site for you. For your ease, below are some of the major criteria to simplify your searching process by which you can be able to find a perfect online poke site for you. These are the key criteria which should be kept in mind to discriminate among the wide array of poker sites available on the internet.

Free Poker- if you want to play poker just for entertainment instead of real money goes to the poker sites that offer ‘free’ players. There are multitudes of sites that offer the facility of free play to their new customers.

Software download vs. Web-based- While playing at most of the poker sites you are required to download poker software on your computer. If you are not likely to download such software, you might need to check if it offers a web-based poker interface enabling you to play the game on the specific site directly through your web browser. Though some of the software may higher the risk of virus on your computer system but it also makes your computer run at a very fast speed as compared to web based sessions. Software installation may decrease the power of CPU. So if you want a fast speed, then switch to software installation whereas if you prefer to the safety of your computer system and don’t want to take any chance with the hard disk space, choose a web based interface.

Methods of Deposit/Withdrawal- if you are interested to play online poker with real money, you should first learn about the different money deposit and withdrawal methods supported by that site. Most of the sites accept credit cards for the payment transfer of their players all across the world. Some also allow the method of bank transfer. Checks, wire transfer and ACH transfer. There are also many sites that permit e-wallet method which acts as an intermediate between the bank and the poker site. There are some criteria which should be looked into-

• The specific poker site supports which methods of fund transfer.
• Is depositing or withdrawing money from that site is legal
• In case of using e-wallet method, what fees should be given and is the system reliable

Locale Restrictions- at some of the poker sites, playing with money or even free play is restricted by the laws of gambling in your locale, so it’s better to check your local jurisdiction law. Also check if the site with which you want to play has not got any restrictions based on the locale.

Support- Poker sites offer various support methods for their customers to solve their queries if any. Some of these methods include telephone support, fax support, email support, live chat support etc. So remember that the site that offers more of these supports, the better and reliable it would be. Also check that the site offers toll free support in the case of telephone support.

Game Variety- There are several variations of poker games to be offered by different poker sites, so you should determine the type of game that you want to play based on your interest, skills and experience of playing the game. For example, almost the game of Texas Holdem is offers by almost every poker site but you should also check if it also offers some other games such as five and seven card stud or blackjack or stud or draw poker or Omaha poker or limit and pot limit games etc to its customers. You should also check of the various tournaments to be organised by the poker site as these tournaments offer heavy winning prizes.

Bonuses- almost all the poker sites offer exciting sign up bonuses to the customers when you register with the site. However the bonus amount is different for all the sites but those offering first time bonus depend on the money deposited initially. Some poker sites also calculate the bonus on the amount that is deposited and spent on the game website. Besides, some pokers sites also provide reload bonuses to their existing members to keep them as their permanent customers.

Graphics and Usability- Every poker site gives its screen as different look and graphics to attract the customer’s attention. So if you searching for a site to play online poker see that the site has comfortable screen graphics and better navigation to run through the programs. If you are not comfortable with the available graphics and usability, don’t try to play at it for real money.

Game Features- there are several game features to be offered by the poker site such as hand history, multiple playing windows, hearing and visual indicators, statistics, player notes, chat option and so on that should be considered before actually registering at the site.

Rake- It is the pre set pot amount which is taken by poker site from each hand as fees to continue business. So you should compare the rake amount of different sites to know the actual amount to be given. Generally, a Weighted Contribution rake method or Average contribution rake method is used for calculating rake by various poker sites online. So, it is clear that if the rake is low, the player would be able to collect more winning hand money.

These given criteria serve as a helping hand to detect the best possible poker site for you to enjoy the game online and you should consider all of the above mentioned features to take the maximum benefit of your skills and abilities to play poker. However, while deciding the perfect poker site for you, you should put all these criteria into consideration but it is up to you to decide which criteria would be given more importance than others.

So, happy poker searching and happy is playing!