Poker Room
Why go to Las Vegas when you can play at the best online poker room with the best online poker tables - PokerStars! You can play all of the following games through our downloadable card room: Texas Holdem, Omaha Poker, Omaha High-Low, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, 2-7 Single Draw, Seven Card Stud High-Low, Razz, HORSE, 8-Game Mix and Poker Tournaments.
Click on any poker games listed above for a detailed description of that game's rules. If you're a new online poker player, we
recommend that you read our basic poker rules section before joining a
table. Also check out PokerStars' glossary of poker terms.
PokerStars is proud to offer a wide variety of multi-table poker tournaments in all of the games we offer. And by popular request, we are happy to offer play money pot-limit and no-limit poker on our free poker tables. These are in addition to our standard structured-limit play money games.
Like a traditional Las Vegas poker room, if a table that you want to play at is currently full you can request to be put on the waiting list. Only when you're playing online, getting on the waiting list for a poker table is as easy as clicking a button. Once a seat becomes available at the poker table, you will automatically be asked if you want to sit down and join that game.
At PokerStars, no matter which table you decide to play at, you will always be playing poker against real online poker players. Your fellow players may live down the street or halfway around the world, but they are guaranteed to be playing on their own behalf. That's because, unlike some other online poker rooms, at PokerStars you will never play against any house bots, shills (paid players), computerized opponents or against the “house” in any way.
You can review more of our policies and rules on our poker room rules page.
Room Limits
PokerStars is proud to offer a large selection real money poker games, from micro-limits of $0.02/$0.04 up to high stakes games of $1000/$2000. PokerStars also offers no limit, pot limit, and mixed limit tables, with games from $0.01/$0.02 blinds up to $200/$400 blinds. If you are interested in playing for play money, check out our free poker page.
Minimum Table Buy-In
The minimum buy-in our poker room for fixed limit tables is ten times the small bet (the bet on the first two betting rounds). For example, on a $10/$20 table, the minimum buy-in would be $100. For no-limit poker games, the minimum buy-in at most tables is twenty times the big blind.
All-In
When a player puts the last of their poker chips into a pot, that player is said to be all-in. An all-in player is not eligible to win any money past their final bet. If the bettor's all-in is greater than one or more of the other players still active after the bettor has made the bet, then the excess part of the bet is either returned to the bettor, or if it can be matched by one or more of the still active players, it will in turn form one or more side-pots, and at that point any excess still remaining is then returned to the bettor. However, the all-in player will be eligible for the main pot, and therefore cannot be forced to fold from the hand.
Sometimes a player has enough chips to continue betting or calling during a hand, but has been disconnected and is unable to respond. If you disconnect from the PokerStars game server, you are given a small amount of time to reconnect. If you are involved in a big pot, you may be given additional time to reconnect and return to the table. (The exact amount of extra time varies depending on the game and the size of the pot.) If you are unable to respond after the extra time given, your hand will be folded.
“Fast” Tables
These tables are identified by the word "fast" in parentheses after a table name. These special tables are designed for those players who want to keep the game moving at a faster pace than a standard table. These are the differences with a "fast" poker table:
- You receive only 15 seconds to act in a Limit poker game, instead of 25.
- You receive only 18 seconds to act in a no limit and pot limit poker game, instead of 35.
- You only have 1 second to show or muck, instead of 3 seconds.
- The pot is pushed to the winner faster.
- The showdown is over faster, in 2 seconds instead of 4.
In addition, "auto-posting" of blinds is required at a "fast" poker table. When you sit down, you're automatically in "Wait for Big Blind" mode, and will post at your first normally scheduled big blind. If you wish to begin play immediately, uncheck "Wait for Big Blind" and on the next available hand your big blind will be posted and you will be dealt in.
If during the course of play you want to take a break when the blinds reach you, then click on "Sit out next blind". You will continue to be dealt in until the blinds reach you, at which time you will be placed in "Sitting Out" mode.
Game Issues
In the rare event that our poker room server crashes, all transactions will be posted to your online PokerStars account at the completion of each hand. When a hand cannot be completed for any reason, all of the players' accounts will be restored to the way they were at the beginning of the hand. All bets are considered off and a new hand will be dealt. If a poker tournament is interrupted by a server crash, and is resumed, the poker tournament will resume play from the beginning of the current hand.
Poker Room Rake
PokerStars receives compensation for hosting poker games by taking a rake, or a small portion (for most games, 5% to a maximum of $3) of the pot. For detailed information about the rake see our poker rake page. In poker tournaments, a fee is taken in order to participate; no additional rake is taken for each hand dealt.
We hope to have answered any questions you may have had about our poker room here at PokerStars. Download our poker software now to start playing in our free poker tables or our real money poker tables. You can also learn more about our Las Vegas style “comps” by visiting our poker promotions page. We have done our best to make PokerStars the best internet poker room to play at on and hope to see you at our tables.
