Pokerstars vs GGpoker

I like both sites and here's my simple comparison regarding their software, rake, reliability, player pool, game selection, staking.

Software: The PS client is more reliable compared to the GG client. For example when I have network issues, PS auto-reconnects easily after the network is fixed, while on GG I have to re-lauch the client because it won't reconnect.
Also on GG I've occasionally been timed out while my network was working fine, I could even see the action happening on the table while I was being timed out.
GG is also more resource intensive, and my old laptop can't handle more than 4-tables at once, otherwise it starts glitching. PS is fine if I turn off the Aurora graphics.
However, GG client looks cooler with its emoji faces, card squeezes etc, which makes the game more enjoyable.

Rake wise: I can't make a full comparison, but I play Spins and MTTs on the micro stakes and GG charges ~8% for MTTs and 7% for Spins, while PS charges ~11% for MTTs and starting fro ~8% for Spins.

Rakeback: To be honest, I never really liked the reward system on PS, it really feels not even getting 5% rakeback, and even that on the form of coins and tickets which have to be converted. On GG, depending on the level you're at, you get from 20%-60% cash rakeback. Right now I'm getting 33% rakeback on average.

Support: I would rate the support 6.5/10 on both sites. My main issue is the time it takes too long to get back to a player, and the lack of live support, which 888poker offers for instance.

Withdrawals/Reliability: Never had an issue with withdrawing on PS, the money arrives quite quickly. Still, I've heard stories about people getting their account randomly frozen, so I don't like the idea of keeping a lot of money there.
As for GG, I have yet to make my first withdrawal, so I can't comment. But given their expansion and the inclusion of big series like wsop, they have to be correct with the players.
Regarding the stories about some regs getting banned previously on GG for "bum hunting", they recently tried making it right by giving the banned players a chance to rejoin the network. That said, I still wouldn't trust the site with large amounts.

Player Pool: On GG the player pool seems to be much more diverse then PS, specifically there seem to be a lot more Asians who have not been exposed to high levels of poker. On PS players tend to be more skilled, and there seems to be a high % of Russian players who seem to be both of above-average skill and quite aggressive.
Very recently, GGPoker seems to have surpassed PS regarding the number of active players.

Game selection: Given the PS's long experience and historically large user-base, they have a wider selection of games and MTTs. On GG the SNGs seem to be missing, but otherwise there is plenty to choose from.

Staking: Pokerstars doesn't support staking. GG has a very well implemented in-client staking which is very convenient for many players, making staking much easier and transparent, and also allowing players to engage and "invest" and possibly generating some profit by not even playing.

I only play PokerStars. More convenient and visually pleasing

Last week I was playing at a micro stakes cash table in GG and got my money in good, then a message from the opponent "lets run it 3 times". WTF is that? I promptly hit no! I've seen run it twice in stars though I have that option turned off, but 3 times? Pretty sure I didn't imagine this.

At the moment I could not give an opinion I just started playing in gg poker the only thing that bothers me is to turn the cards over jjj

SillentHunterZ said:

What are your opinion about these two sites.
I played on both of them, atm i am on ggpoker but to be honest i liked more PS. Rake on ggpoker is brutal, on PS is decent, mb not very rewarding with the chest system but i still liked it more.

If i had to chose all over (i came to GG cos of the nice promo and it's not excluded that i am going back to PS) i think i would start again on PS.

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I like the two rooms. But I feel more comfortable at the PS because I'm used to it there.

Allways PokerStars.....
Good hands.

gg poker is very attractive nowadays but i think i stick with poker stars

I play pokerstars have more than 10 years and i like so much!

I have been playing at poker stars for over 5 years and I like to play there. There are times when I win small amounts. I think poker stars is one of the best poker rooms.

No problems at GG for me

I am unable to play at PS real money as my country is blocked.

I play on GG\Natural8.

My question would be, why choose, why not play on both or any that you feel you want to play on.

GG has had problems with big tournaments, but compensated players for cancelled tournaments.

For me PokerStars is the best poker site although there is a very strong field for the game for beginners it is better to choose a site with a weaker field.

lately I've been playing more on the 888 platform, but I learned poker in pokerstars, so first love doesn't show

Pokerstars is better for me.

I think Pokerstars is superior but GG Poker has its strengths and the features at the sites are pretty cool. I enjoy the being able to peek at your cards feature like live play when i am playing only 1 or 2 tourneys. The tournament prize pools are 2nd to only pokerstars. I would say though that at this point I do not trust their software nearly as much as pokerstars and that their software engineers need to ensure that their servers crash less. Pokerstars still has no competition but its good that maybe there is some on the horizon.

ptracco said:

THanks guys, I think I will try ACR instead of GG
for micros I think is better

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Right on man, I use Pokerstars and ACR as well. I tried GG for a while but never felt comfortable with how reliable it is and it always seemed that bad beats came at the most inopportune times of big tourneys. Not to mention how often the site crashes. Would say their customer service is better though but yeah Pokerstars and ACR are the best to me.

cardartist85 said:

Right on man, I use Pokerstars and ACR as well. I tried GG for a while but never felt comfortable with how reliable it is and it always seemed that bad beats came at the most inopportune times of big tourneys. Not to mention how often the site crashes. Would say their customer service is better though but yeah Pokerstars and ACR are the best to me.

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I play on Android, yesterday on GG for 4 hrs it crashed only once, on PS before it was banned last week, it had way too many crashes.

I think The GG poker very lot update which It's irritating

_

My first room is pokerstar, I'm used to It. PokerStars is old school.
Now we can tell you briefly why you should play PokerStars because Of its poker client. Because it:
fast and reliable;
allows you to easily find and select the desired game;
it has convenient tables and a large number of settings for changing them;
it has a large number of layouts and programs that change the appearance of tables and expand the possibilities for playing.
There are a lot of interesting things on ggpoker, such as: selling shares, now attracts new players with no Deposit bonuses of$ 11 for account verification. Generous bonuses and promotions are one of the main advantages of the GGPoker room. The room is ideal not only for an interesting game, but also for real earnings.

The main advantages of the good Game Network poker room:

Setting up repeated actions. In the game client, you can configure auto-purchase of chips, sitout, buy-in, and other actions in the game.
Full customization of the client. Ggpokerok branded software has a huge set of options. The administration prohibits using auxiliary SOFTWARE, but you can create notes for your opponents.
Finishing rounds. Even if you saved, you can still see what cards would have fallen on the table on the Turn and River.
Straddle. As in an offline game, you can buy the right to move last on the Preflop. To do this, you only need to place a bid of 2BB. And if no one interrupts her, then you will have the last word in the first round.
Poker Craft. This feature compensates for the ban on additional software. You can view the history of hands played without auxiliary SOFTWARE. The EV chart is also saved in the game client.
Both rooms are quite good, they lead by number

PS forever

I started off playing on PS. and over the years I have tried other sites, My favourite was PKR. But they went bust and I thought I had lost the bankroll I had built up until PS bought the player database from PKR and I was rewarded full credit for my earnings on PKR in my PS account so lost nothing.
BetFred was another site I liked but they have changed a few things and every time they update their site it clears my screen name and password and when I try to re-enter them it blocks me and I have to go through customer service to get my account up again, so it is driving me mad at the moment.
So I always return to PS which is the site I like best! they are one of the biggest and sure sometimes you get bad beats but I don't believe it is rigged that way. Bad beats happen at the live tables as well so it is nothing new.
The only difference is they seem to happen on-line with any site more frequently because the number of hands you play is more frequent.

GGPoker Seems to be for Serious Players

I played a tournament the other day (I think it was a $5 buy-in) on GGPoker and was amazed at the level of play. Unlike Pokerstars, they were actually playing thoughtful poker! I think it may be because they don't have a lot of micro buy-ins? Not sure, but I'm definitely impressed.

I went to ggpoker, not very convenient, unpleasant to the eyes. PokerStars is more convenient in this regard

I'm used to PokerStars, but now I have to look for another poker room. PS is blocked in my country. So far, I've read a lot of good reviews about GG, so I'll probably continue playing there. It seems a little confusing to me, but that’s just maybe my first impression.

In my opinion, the traffic that exists in Pokerstars is not compared to any other client, it also has many tournaments both micro-limits and high levels, GGpoker honestly I did not like it as software