Testing out different poker sites is the best way to truly find your favorite place to play poker online. Sometimes it works to listen to what everyone else says, but for the most part each individual will have their own opinions. Different people have different reasons for picking one poker room over another. There are at least 20 poker sites that have thousands of active players on each site. If one poker room was everyones favorite, then there would not be dozens of poker sites in business.

Picking the Initial Poker Site

Obviously you have to start somewhere. Deciding which poker site is worthy of your first deposit is the time to listen to what others are saying. Read some poker site reviews and see what the rest of the online poker world thinks of an individual site. Read the reviews and see why one is "better" than the other. That will help you a great deal when you are starting out.

Just about every online poker room offers some sort of bonus when you sign up and deposit for the first time. Once you have figured out what a good place to start is, you should take a look at the bonus that is being offered. If you are going to test out several poker rooms, it is ideal to take advantage of the poker bonuses you will get at each poker site. Other than that, it really doesn't matter where you start. At some point, it is likely you will try out every poker site that is available to you anyways.

Testing the Poker Site

This is where things start to get important. There are a lot of options, so why settle for anything less than the best? You are in control, so only you can decide which room is the best. Some things to look for when testing are as follows.

Software

Speed
Features
Statistics
Hand history
Graphics
Customization
Multi-table play

Games

Variations
Traffic
Tournaments
Cash/Ring Games
Freerolls

Bonuses

Signup Bonus
Reload Bonus
Promotions
Loyalty Program

Company

Rake
Customer Service
Financial Security
Deposit and Withdrawal Options

Players

Traffic
Competition

The next step is to take a look at the above features of a poker room and decide which of those is the most important to you. That is how you will figure out which poker sites are the best ones for you. For the most part, you can listen to the poker room reviews, but why not find out for yourself. Check out the competition in your games, check out the traffic. Make sure that everything that is important to you is at that poker room. If it isn't - then move on (after you clear your bonus).

For the most part, you will be able to figure out what poker site you like the best just by playing. You should not have to analyze it too much. You will pick on different things that you like and dislike about each room. Many of the best poker sites still have a lot to improve on, and they are each and every day. That is why it is a good idea to keep up on the various poker sites on a regular basis. Not to mention the fact that you will have to opportunity to pick up thousands of dollars of deposit bonuses by playing at various poker sites.