New Online Poker Sites

New poker sites pop up all the time, although it’s less frequent than it used to be. But operators jump into this market because online poker and gambling is still a growing market. It takes a lot less to jump into online poker than it does a brick and mortar establishment, too. The software does the heavy lifting, catering to millions of players without the need of human dealers. So online operators really only need to focus on promotions, support and licensing. And with legal online poker on the horizon for so many states in the US, we’re only going to see more and more poker sites launch.

That said, some new poker sites do it better than others. And it’s important to know who those better sites are, as there is more risk in a new poker site compared to an existing one. So we thought it would be helpful to post our top picks for newly launched poker sites below. Choose one to get started now. Alternatively, you can read on below to learn more about the pros and cons of joining a newly established poker site.

Pros and Cons to New Poker Sites

There are both good and bad things about new poker sites. I think it’s important to share those with you now, so that you can decide if it’s worth your time to check one out, or just stick with the tried and true poker sites.

New Poker Site Pros

Here is what I feel are the biggest upsides to playing at a new poker site.

Tournament Overlays – When new poker sites launch, they have to roll out a couple of big promotions to get the attention of potential customers. It’s a saturated market, after all. And one of the promotions that new sites like to roll out with is guaranteed tournaments.

But it’s not the guarantee that’s exciting. Being new, they can’t afford to guarantee millions of dollars. They have guarantees of maybe $50 or $100,000. So instead, the draw here for those ‘in the know’ is the overlay that these tournaments have.

An overlay is the difference between the guarantee and the number of players that actually pay to play. For example, with a $10 buy-in and $1,000 guarantee, 100 players would have to sign up for the guarantee to be matched. However, if only 50 players sign up, the poker room has to cover the $500 difference. Either way there is $1,000 to play for, but in the 2nd case there are 50 less players. That means a higher chance of you reaching the final table and winning.

So you want to pay attention to the new rooms because often times they won’t have the traffic to fill their guarantees, but they’ll have to run these tournaments anyway. That’s a +EV opportunity for any competent player.

Large Bonuses – Like guaranteed tournaments, new poker rooms offer larger bonuses compared to older, more established rooms. These bonuses are 100-200 percent matches on deposits of $1-$3,000, sometimes more.

More Frequent Promotions – Again, new poker sites are going to run frequent promotions to bring players in and keep them playing. This mean additional deposit bonuses, cash back offers or VIP programs. Maybe even free tournament entries or freerolls.

Accept US Players – Many (if not most) of the new poker sites accept US players. This immediately sets them apart from the other (international, larger, more established) sites that don’t.

Weaker Competition – Because newer poker sites have less traffic, the experienced players or ‘grinders’ usually won’t bother to play there. They just won’t be able to play the number of games or hands they need to make a living. So that means the competition will be softer. So if you don’t need to worry about volume and profit, you should join a new poker site so that you can sit down to play in some easier games.

New Poker Site Cons

Not everything about a new poker site is rosy. There are some downsides to new poker sites, too.

No History – Is the room good, trustworthy, secure, safe, etc? Or will they burn you the first chance they get?

There’s no way to know.

If the site has only been around for a month, 6 or even 12, what’s happened during that timeframe isn’t indicative of how the next 6, 12 or 24 months will be like. That’s because when a site first opens, they have less traffic, are dealing with bugs, growing pains, have an abundance of capital (or the total opposite), less games (running) and so on.

Only time will truly tell if a poker is safe, fun and worth your hard earned money, or if it’s a site that you wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole, for whatever the reason(s).

So you have a couple of choices – you can take the risk, and try out the site to take advantage of the pros mentioned above. Or, like many products and drugs put out today, let other brave people take the risk and see what happens – some make it our alive, while others lose their shirt to the company. Either way, you’ll know, and can make your decision to join later based on what you see.

Less Traffic – Traffic is so important to poker sites. The more people there are, the more games that run, the more cash flow that’s coming in, which means more promotions and tournaments, and the increased likelihood that you’ll find a game running at off peak hours or days.

Traffic also means that obscure or lesser popular games, like stud, HORSE, 5-card draw or omaha sit and goes, run. These sort of games will hardly ever run at a new poker site.

Lack of Compatibility – New poker sites will lack the compatibility that you’ll find on older, more established sites. Obviously, all rooms will have a Windows download. Some will have a download or instant play version for Mac and Linux operating systems. And no one will have a mobile app or game. If I had to guess, it’s just because they don’t have the player base to justify having an app created. So everyone else has to suffer for it.

Regarding all the downsides, you’ll notice that it can be difficult for new poker sites to overcome these downsides, because the problem compounds. In other words, a poker site needs traffic to thrive. But no one wants to play at a poker site that has no traffic. You understand what I mean? The same applies to compatibility, games or promotions. And all of these things impact how good, or bad, a time you have playing there.

So, ultimately, if you choose to check out a new poker site, I recommend only allocating a portion of your and budget to it, while keeping the majority for a more established site. That way it’s not a total loss if the new site doesn’t work out.