- PokerStars - The largest online poker room in the world with a reputation for the best customer-friendly service in the business. No rakeback is available, but their frequent player point store can equal all but the most generous of rakeback offers for high volume players. The only thing keeping this site from #1 in all categories is the lack of rakeback. It truly is the bar by which all other sites are measured.
- Full Tilt Poker - 3rd in overall total size, Full Tilt Poker is the largest U.S.-friendly site that offers rakeback to its players. Home of the most sponsored pros in the world and some of the biggest games spread online, Full Tilt is a railbird's paradise.
- Ultimate Bet - Great software with a high number of hands per hour. They were recently bought out by the owners of Absolute poker and seem to have taken a turn for the worse as far as their customer service and player incentive bonus offers are concerned. The games are tighter than most sites and the micro-limits are swollen with obvious poker bot players. While this may sound like a bad thing, it is a great opportunity for testing yourself or your bot against stiff competition with very little risk. A $.02/$.04 table with 25% of players see the flop is not uncommon.
- World Poker Exchange - 100% rakeback is the draw for WPEX. Traffic is light, the software isn't the best, and they restrict the value of Poker Tracker opponent analysis by removing villain names from your hand histories (this limitation can be overcome with 3rd party software, however). All that being said, playing rakefree poker is a strong incentive to at least give this poker room a look.
I AM NOT AN AFFILIATE!
In fact, I don't want you to sign up for any of these sites from the links above.
To do so would only cost you money (and not make me a red cent). If you are first time customer to any of these sites then research a reputable rakeback/incentive affiliate that will give you something for your signup. Pokerstars affiliates often offer Poker Assistance Software, Books, or even small cash rewards. Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt are conventional rakeback sites that pay their affiliates (and ultimately the players) fixed percentages of rakeback. WPEX pays back 100% of rake automatically to your account without need for an affiliate go-between.
These sites all have several options for deposit and withdraw for American players. Withdraws from PokerStars to Epassporte (an online e-wallet similiar to Neteller of old) are reportedly taking less than 2 days for most players. Bank Wire, Western Union, e-wallets, site-supported debit cards, or the old fashioned paper check in the mail...Don't believe the rumors coming from your local poker sewing-circle. Online poker is alive and well in the United States and YES, you can withdraw.
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