The Best High-Roller Online Poker Rooms
In the early years of online poker, almost everyone played small stakes poker. At the time, the $200 no-limit tables at Party Poker were considered “the big game” where only the best of the best played. New players looked up at the $200 no limit games and wondered what it would be like to play the high stakes tables some day.
Things have changed just a bit since then. Today, you can log on to several poker sites and watch players buy in at No Limit tables for $100,000 a pop. The Fixed Limit tables are no joke either, with stakes that run all the way up to $2,000/$4,000. At these sites, $500,000+ pots are won and lost by the high rollers of the poker world. If you’re looking for the biggest action in the world, you need look no further than these high stakes poker sites:
Full Tilt Poker has had the best cash games on the Internet for a while now. With a massive player base and a full lineup of well known pros, the high stakes tables at Full Tilt are the biggest and best in the world. The no limit tables go all the way up to $500/$1,000 with a $100,000 buy in and the fixed limit tables go all the way up to $2,000/$4,000. You can log in to Full Tilt Poker and almost always find a super high stakes game running.
You will notice a couple of odds things about some of the high stakes tables at Full Tilt. Some tables are listed in a red font rather than the usual black. That just means that one of the sponsored Full Tilt pros is seated at the table. You might also notice that some of the tables are named after players and only have one seat available. Those tables are reserved for heads up matches against the named pro. For example, if you want to play against Phil Ivey, all you have to do is join the table and wait for him to show up.
One fringe benefit of playing high stakes poker at Full Tilt Poker is that you can earn Full Tilt Points much faster than usual. You can earn up to three Full Tilt Points per hand at the high stakes tables. Those points can then be redeemed for all sorts of cool things at the Full Tilt Poker VIP store. Items like TVs, iPods, GPS systems and even a Harley Davidson motorcycle can be purchased from the store with your Full Tilt Points.
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Ultimate Bet was the first poker site ever to have high roller poker tables. Several years ago, "Mahatma" and "Green Plastic" had the first highly publicized heads up battles at the no limit tables at Ultimate Bet. This was during the online poker boom and at the time, high stakes battles like these were uncommon. Back then, people were excited to see $20,000 pots.
Today, the stakes at Ultimate Bet are significantly higher. The no limit tables go up to $200/$400 and the fixed limit tables max out at $500/$1,000. Ultra high stakes games don’t run as often at Ultimate Bet today, but you can still find them. If nobody is playing at any given moment, there’s almost always someone waiting at the high stakes tables.
Like the other two sites, Ultimate Bet has a strong rewards program for high rollers. With UB’s rewards program, you can get 5% interest paid on your account, $1,000 cash bonuses, and complete access to the Ultimate Points Store. High stakes players earn 2 points per hand, and those points can also be used to purchase high end items from the store.
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PokerStars was a little slower to jump on the high stakes bandwagon, but they now offer nosebleed stakes games as well. The highest no-limit stakes at PokerStars are $200/$400 ($40,000 buy in) and the highest fixed limit games are $200/$400. The highest games here don’t run as often as they do at Full Tilt, but you can still find plenty of high stakes action. If you don’t mind stepping down a little, the $25/$50 no limit games run around the clock.
As a high stakes player at PokerStars, you’ll be treated as a VIP by the best loyalty program on the internet. High volume players at PokerStars earn up to three VIP points per hand and those points can be used for all sorts of goodies at the store. Players can purchase electronics, luxury items and cash bonuses. There are even several $10,000 and $20,000 milestone bonuses you can achieve by earning enough VIP points.
$600 Bonus at PokerStars with Marketing Code: POKERSITE.ORG
Info for Potential High Stakes Players
Here is some more info you should have if you are considering playing at a high roller poker site:
Large Deposits
High stakes poker requires a large bankroll and that means you need to be able to make large deposits. The problem with that is most poker sites have restrictions on the maximum amount you can deposit in any 24 hour period. If you don’t get those restrictions removed, it would take you months to move enough money online to even buy in to one high stakes game.
Before you try to make a large deposit, contact your poker site’s customer support team and tell them you need your limits increased so you can play high stakes poker. They will probably want to verify for your identity but that’s completely understandable. After you contact them, they’ll be more than happy to help you get started. Once you have that out of the way, you will likely be advised to move your money online through wire transfers.
Account Safety
High stakes players have been targets of scams in the past so be careful with your account. Keep an anti virus program up to date at all times and make sure you never download files to the computer you use to play poker. If you like to download music or anything else, it’s recommended you do it on a different computer. For small stakes players, this advice is overkill but when you have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Also be wary of scammers. High stakes players have been conned in the past by scammers who acted like they were other well-known high stakes players. They would then ask to trade money at one poker site for money at another poker site under the guise of skipping the entire withdraw/deposit process. As you can imagine, the scammer failed to live up to his side of the bargain after receiving the funds.
The best advice I can give you is to use common sense and be a little more paranoid than you normally are. Lots of people play high stakes poker without any problems but it always pays to be cautious. That way, you can focus all your attention on the poker tables.