Me, like many other online poker players in the world, started playing poker online in the year 2003. What’s so special about the year 2003? Well, it was after this year when online poker started booming, and after 7 years, the online poker bubble has yet to burst and is actually going very very strong, each year topping the previous year. This current online poker boom is, in most poker players eyes, referred to as the “Moneymaker Effect” solely contributed by Chris Moneymaker who won the World Series of Poker Championship in 2003. Why is Chris Moneymaker so significant? Well, he was just an average guy next door working as an accountant, played an online satellite tournament for $40 and won a ticket to the World Series of Poker Main Event worth $10,000 and eventually took down the tournament and raked in $2,500,000 in first place prize! After that, the whole world went nuts and everybody started playing online poker thinking they can be just like Chris Moneymaker.

However, online poker industry has seen its ups and downs over the past 7 years. From 2003 to 2007, the boom exponentially grew and it seemed like there was no end in sight. That is, until President Bush signed the SAFE Port Act which included Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 on October 13, 2006. This part of the Act prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an illegal gambling site, excluding fantasy sports, online lotteries, and horse racing. It does not make a player playing poker online illegal. However, many online poker sites pulled out of the US  market, but still a few remain. And those that have remained and allowed US players to play on their online poker rooms have benefited greatly as the poker boom continued. Over the past 7 years, I have played at many sites and I took time to review a few of them based on my personal experience. These sites are all US-friendly so go ahead and sign up and start playing. It’s totally legal so you don’t have to worry about it.

Full Tilt Poker – This is the 2nd largest online poker room in the world. Many well renowned poker players in the world play at this site as it offers games at the highest limits including $500/$1000 limit games. These players include Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham, Patrik Antonius, and Tom Dwan among others. They also have micro limit games starting at $0.01/0.02. Personally, I enjoy playing at Full Tilt because games are abundant and software is top notch. I rarely have to wait longer than a minute to start playing at any given table.

Pokerstars – I love playing at Pokerstars for their VIP program. They offer so many freerolls for those who are loyal to the site. The more you play, the more points you earn. With these points, you can buy into satellites for bigger tournaments, or buy merchandise. Because it boasts as the largest online poker room in the world, you get a massive array of different skill level players. One day, you might play with amateur players with very limited poker knowledge whereas on other days, you might be playing at a table filled with more advanced poker players. Pokerstars recently broke their own world record by hosting an online tournament that had almost 150,000 players.

Absolute Poker – Absolute poker is part of the Cereus Network which is comprised of Absolute and Ultimate Bet. AP offers blackjack games as well as poker games and also has a Bad Beat Jackpot program. On a few occasions, the BBJ went up as high as $800,000.

Ultimate Bet Poker – I enjoy playing at Ultimate Bet for their VIP program as well. I believe this program is even better than Pokerstars VIP program. You earn points quicker and can turn points into cash very easily. The only part I don’t like about this site is that they charge you $8 withdrawal fee when you request a check. Other sites such as Pokerstars and Full Tilt provide this service free of charge.