Which sites to stay away from?

So ive been playing on a few different platforms and I just want to find out which to stay away from as a novice. I'm not a complete novice, I've been playing my whole life but it just seems on some platforms I just can't get anything right? If I raise the stakes would I play against better players?

crasure said:

So ive been playing on a few different platforms and I just want to find out which to stay away from as a novice. I'm not a complete novice, I've been playing my whole life but it just seems on some platforms I just can't get anything right? If I raise the stakes would I play against better players?

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Not necessarily. If you're struggling on a particular platform, it doesn't automatically mean the site is tougher or that something is wrong. Variance can make even good players feel unbeatable on one site and cursed on another over relatively small samples.

In general, though, higher stakes tend to attract stronger and more experienced players. You'll usually find more regulars, better bankroll management, and fewer obvious mistakes as you move up. That doesn't mean every player at higher stakes is great, but the average skill level is often higher.

As a novice or developing player, I'd focus less on finding the "easiest" platform and more on reviewing your results, studying key spots, and making sure you're playing within your bankroll. Sometimes what feels like a tough site is simply a downswing or a small sample size.

My advice would be to stay at stakes where you're comfortable, track your results over a large number of hands, and only move up when you're consistently winning. Moving up in stakes to escape bad results usually leads to facing tougher opponents and bigger losses.

Botuna said:

Not necessarily. If you're struggling on a particular platform, it doesn't automatically mean the site is tougher or that something is wrong. Variance can make even good players feel unbeatable on one site and cursed on another over relatively small samples.

In general, though, higher stakes tend to attract stronger and more experienced players. You'll usually find more regulars, better bankroll management, and fewer obvious mistakes as you move up. That doesn't mean every player at higher stakes is great, but the average skill level is often higher.

As a novice or developing player, I'd focus less on finding the "easiest" platform and more on reviewing your results, studying key spots, and making sure you're playing within your bankroll. Sometimes what feels like a tough site is simply a downswing or a small sample size.

My advice would be to stay at stakes where you're comfortable, track your results over a large number of hands, and only move up when you're consistently winning. Moving up in stakes to escape bad results usually leads to facing tougher opponents and bigger losses.

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I get you and it makes sense what your saying. Thanks!

In general, yes—higher stakes usually mean tougher opponents. As the stakes increase, you'll tend to face more experienced regulars who make fewer mistakes and study the game more seriously.

If you're struggling on a particular platform, it doesn't necessarily mean the site is tougher. Small sample sizes and normal variance can make it feel like you "can't do anything right" for weeks or even months.

As a novice, I'd focus less on finding the perfect site and more on finding games where you're comfortable, managing your bankroll properly, and reviewing your hands. If you're beating the lower stakes consistently, then moving up makes sense. If not, moving up can sometimes make things even harder.

One thing I'd ask: are you losing because you're getting outplayed, or because you're running into bad beats and coolers? The answer can tell you a lot about whether it's a skill issue or just variance.

To be honest, I didn't like PokerStars, but mainly I didn't like the lobby, plus there are incredible hands that you lose all the time.

crasure said:

So ive been playing on a few different platforms and I just want to find out which to stay away from as a novice. I'm not a complete novice, I've been playing my whole life but it just seems on some platforms I just can't get anything right?

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A lack of results have nothing to do with the site, since all sites have beatable games at least in the micros. Many some particular games have a bad structure or are overly raked, but then you can just select the better games. So you should only stay away from sites, that are not trustworthy. And by this I mean, your money is not safe, or there are issues with payouts. According to your profile, you live in South Africa, and as far as I know, that limit your options severely. So in your situation I would not focus on avoiding particular sites other than those, where your money is not safe.

crasure said:

If I raise the stakes would I play against better players?

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As a general rule yes, and that makes it more difficult to win.

Coolcassv9. said:

To be honest, I didn't like PokerStars, but mainly I didn't like the lobby,

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In my opinion PokerStars have the best software in the industry, and its not close at all. I recently started playing on GG Poker. And while volume is much larger there these days, the software is absolutely terrible. Even just playing two tables, it was a nightmare to get them adjusted to the right size and dragged into place. Maybe this is an issue specific for Sweden, since we recently got our own site, but boy was it bad.

Coolcassv9. said:

plus there are incredible hands that you lose all the time.

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Thats just poker and has nothing to do with any particular site. In my first 8 or 9 SnGs on GG Poker, I saw a lot of crazy action boards and bad beats already, but that does not mean, GG Poker is rigged.

Good morning, everyone.

Smaller poker sites with limited visibility may raise more concerns about their reliability. However, if a site were cheating or engaging in practices that harm players, it would likely be exposed quickly by poker news websites and community forums.

Even so, although the chances of any site engaging in illegal or unfair activities are low, it's always wise to be cautious. In my opinion, the large, well-established poker sites have an almost zero chance of having issues related to this kind of misconduct.

Just play whichever site you are comfortable and also start with micros and freerolls

fundiver199 said:

Even just playing two tables, it was a nightmare to get them adjusted to the right size and dragged into place. Maybe this is an issue specific for Sweden, since we recently got our own site, but boy was it bad.

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It must be specific to Sweden because for me, GG works the same as Stars. No difference. Same for anyone that I watch streaming poker.
I can preset my tables to fit 12 on one screen, 6 on the other or just 4 in the center of one (if playing ZOOM style).
Adjust table size on the fly... they re-size the same as Stars.
Overall, GG works just as good as Stars... if not better.

Poker Orifice said:

It must be specific to Sweden because for me, GG works the same as Stars. No difference. Same for anyone that I watch streaming poker.

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In the swedish version of the software its close to impossible to make the mouse catch the edge of a table, so that you can adjust its size, and grabbing a table to move it is also extremely difficult. Its so bad, it would be completely intolerable except for the fact, you can store a table layout, so that you only need to fiddle with this a few times.

fundiver199 said:

In the swedish version of the software its close to impossible to make the mouse catch the edge of a table, so that you can adjust its size, and grabbing a table to move it is also extremely difficult. Its so bad, it would be completely intolerable except for the fact, you can store a table layout, so that you only need to fiddle with this a few times.

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Yah that is strange & could be very annoying.

fundiver199 said:

In the swedish version of the software its close to impossible to make the mouse catch the edge of a table, so that you can adjust its size, and grabbing a table to move it is also extremely difficult. Its so bad, it would be completely intolerable except for the fact, you can store a table layout, so that you only need to fiddle with this a few times.

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Really weird and I would report that to support. Definitely worth looking into from their side and clearly a programming error. Decent chance it gets resolved.

In my opinion, you should avoid PokerStars; it's a really bad site with a lot of bad beats—far more than what's normal in poker.

i would avoid ClubWPTgold . i've heard lots of horror stories about cashout attempts . those sweepstakes poker sites tend to be on the shady side of things .