Welcome To PokerStars.com

For those of you that are new to the world of online poker, PokerStars.com is highly regarded as the best online poker site out there.  As the world's largest online poker room, PokerStars delivers a number of excellent features to players which simply aren't available at many of its competitors.  This includes everything from a wide selection of games to a comprehensive loyalty program as well as millions of dollars in guaranteed tournament prize money offered each week to Poker Stars players, including the famous PokerStars Sunday Million with $1.5 Million in guaranteed prizes.  In addition to the excellent tournaments and games, PokerStars also has the biggest line-up of qualifiers & satellites to various major live poker events around the globe.  Overall, Poker Stars is a top notch poker room that has been delivering the best in online poker for over 9 years.

Sign-Up Bonus For New Players
As a new player at PokerStars.com, you will have access to both their welcome bonus for all new players as well as instant access to their awesome VIP player program.  When creating your account, enter PokerStars Marketing Code "PONLINE" on the first page of sign-up and then proceed to use PokerStars bonus code "Stars600" in the cashier before you make your first deposit.  By using both the marketing code and bonus code during the registration process, you will be guaranteed to get the maximum free $600 bonus offer for new players.  Once you have successfully made a real money deposit, you may then begin playing real money games for which you will earn points which can be used towards clearing your bonus money as well as a number of other incentives.

Once you have claimed your first deposit bonus of $600, players will need to meet certain points requirements in order to convert their bonus into their real money balance.  This is achieved by playing in both cash games as well as tournaments on the PokerStars site.  For ring games, players will be awarded up to 3 points per raked hand and for poker tournaments players will earn 7 FPP's (frequent player points) for each $1 they pay in tournament entry fees.  The clearing requirements for the Poker Stars bonus are 10 times the bonus amount, so if you opted for the full $600 bonus you would need to reach 6000 points for the bonus to be released.  PokerStars only releases the bonus once you have met the full requirements so you will need to accumulate the necessary points in order to unlock your bonus.  Once the requirements are met, you are free to use the bonus funds to withdraw or to continue playing in both ring games and tourney.

Poker Software & Games
PokerStars has one of the most feature rich and highly customizable poker software platforms in the market and is constantly striving to innovate and develop new and useful features for players.  Developed entirely in house, the software includes a number of excellent features such as sortable games and tournaments, comprehensive data on your play including hand histories, preferred games and past transactions as well as multi-tabling capabilities, a complete VIP player program and tons of other features.  If you are looking for a top notch software package that offers a ton of flexibility and even better player security, Poker Stars is basically the cream of the crop in terms of software. Another huge benefit of PokerStars when it comes to software is the constant updates that they provide to their customers.  Normally updated every few months, PokerStars is consistently developing new upgrades and features to offer in their software platform.

In terms of games players will be happy to know that PokerStars provides the widest variety of poker games of any poker site.  Currently the site features Texas Hold'em, Omaha Poker, Seven Card Stud, Razz, H.O.R.S.E and H.O.S.E games available in a variety of limits ranging from micro limits at $0.01/$0.02 all the way up to the $1000/$2000 level in the higher limit games.  Competition at the site is widely spread depending on which types of games you play and at what limits, however since PokerStars.com is the world's largest poker site there are a ton of new players joining the site daily.  For the easiest action, we recommend sticking below the $5/$10 games on the site.  In addition to the excellent games, PokerStars also has the most impressive line-up of poker tournaments offering over $10 Million in weekly guarantees.  The largest tournaments currently at the site include the PokerStars Sunday Million with $1.5 Million guaranteed as well as the World Championship of Online Poker, a series of events with over $10 Million in prizes.

Player Promotions & VIP Program
On the player promotions and rewards side, this is another area where PokerStars really shines offering both ongoing promotions to players as well as a points based rewards program.  When you join the site and play for real money, you will start to earn both FPP (frequent player points) as well as VPP (VIP player points) for generating rake in cash games as well as paying entry fees in tournaments.  As you begin to accumulate points, you may use these for a number of different rewards ranging from tournament entries to cash bonuses, merchandise, games with the pros and ton of other items.  Below is a brief overview of the various levels included in the PokerStars rewards plan for players.

Bronze Star - The most basic VIP level at PokerStars, bronze star gives you access to standard merchandise from the store which can be bought with your VIP points.

Silver Star - Similar to bronze star, but silver star members get access to special merchandise plus they can qualify for entry into a monthly hosted $100,000 freeroll. Silver Star members will also earn FPP points at a rate of 50% faster and will need to maintain an earning of 1,200 VPP's per month to retain this status.

Gold Star - These members get full access to the VIP store plus they can qualify for entries into a $30,000 weekly, $75,000 weekly and $100,000 monthly freeroll. Gold Star members will earn FPP's at a rate of 100% faster than other members and will need to earn at least 3,000 VPP's (VIP player points) per month to retain status.

Platinum Star - Platinum Star members will earn FPP's at a rate of 150% faster than other VIP members and will have access to $30,000, $75,000 & $100,000 freerolls played on the site each week and month. To maintain your Platinum Star status as a member of PokerStars.com, you will need to earn 7,500 VPP's each month.

Supernova - Members will reach the Supernova level at PokerStars once they have accumulate 100,000 VPP's during a calendar year. Supernova members will have access to tournament entries and special VIP events, plus they will earn 250% more FPP's than other members, as well as get frequent re-load poker bonuses.

Supernova Elite - The top level of the PokerStars VIP program, these members need to earn 1,000,000 VPP's per year on PokerStars.com. Supernova Elite players will have access to a personal VIP manager plus a ton of promotions ranging from free gifts to trips and free entries into many of the world's best poker tournaments.

In addition to the VIP program outlined above, players will also be offered re-deposit bonuses for their PokerStars account on a quarterly basis as well as depending on their VIP level at the site.  As you can see from the huge amount of rewards and promotions offered, PokerStars truly does have the absolute best rewards program in the industry.

Deposit & Withdrawal Options
PokerStars offers a number of deposit and withdrawal methods depending on your country of residence.  Some of the major deposit and withdrawal options include credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), Neteller, eCheck (US & Canada only), Check, Moneybookers, Click2Pay, Wire Transfer, Entropay, Pay Safe Card as well as WebMoney.  The minimum deposit at PokerStars.com is $10 unless otherwise stated and they also have some of the fastest withdrawals for players of any online poker website, usually process in under 24 hours.  For exact deposit and withdrawal methods for your country of residence, see the PokerStars real money page for complete details on your options.

Poker Room Support
Players at PokerStars will have access to support 24 hours a day via email only.  To contact the team at PokerStars, please write to support@pokerstars.com with your inquiry and expect to hear back from the support staff within 24 hours of receipt.