PokerStars is the world's largest online poker room, having overtaken PartyPoker after the United States Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and PartyPoker withdrew from the U.S. market. PokerStars received a boost in popularity when one of its tournaments produced a player who went on to win the Main Event at the 2003 World Series of Poker. That was Chris Moneymaker. Then, in 2004, Pokerstars's satellite tournaments generated another winner, who went on to be the WSOP Main Event champion. That was Greg "Fossilman" Raymer. Both are designated spokespersons for Pokerstars. Though the 2005 winner, Joe Hachem, did not come to the WSOP via a Pokerstars satellite tournament, he also assists in marketing Pokerstars, together with several other professionals and well known amateurs, who comprise what the company calls "Team Pokerstars." read more »

FullTilt Poker was started in June of 2004 by a number of private investors including several well-known professional poker players. One of the original owners is Howard Lederer. The list includes Jennifer Harman, and also several other well-known poker personalities like Chris Ferguson, Andy Block, Phil Ivey, and Mike Matusow. Full Tilt is based in Costa Rica, though the company goes to some trouble to keep information about itself out of public hands given the uncertain legal status of online gaming. It is the third largest poker site on the Web in terms of the number of online players. FullTilt is licensed by the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake. read more »

Doyle's Room, founded in 2004, started out on the Tribeca Poker Network (which was later absorbed into iPoker, Playtech's network). In 2006, DoylesRoom moved from Playtech and is now part of the Microgaming Poker Network. A company known as DBPN -- which stands for Doyle Brunson's Poker Network -- is responsible for DoylesRoom. The company is privately held, and is registered in Curaçao, N.A. DoylesRoom is sometimes referred to as the "flagship" of the Doyle Brunson Poker Network. Doyle Brunson may be the most famous contemporary poker player, having won 10 WSOP bracelets over a 30-year span and being a prolfic author on the subject of poker. His namesake poker room is among the top poker rooms onlne. read more »

Carbon Poker, established in 2007, was a charter member of the Merge Gaming Network, a collection of interrelated sites created by Poker.com and using the player base of Poker.com when Poker.com left the card room business and became a poker portal. The site has grown rapidly, particularly because it is U.S.-friendly. Carbon Poker is licensed by the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake. Ownership information on Carbon Poker is not publicly available. Some websites indicate that Carbon Poker is owned by an unnamed but well-reputed (contradiction in terms?) live casino operator in Denmark. Others state that it is owned by Poker.com. Correct information is not subject to independent clarification or verification. read more »

Titan Poker is rated by experts as one of the world's top poker sites. Titan Poker achieved this acclaim quickly after launching in 2005. The site offers the PlayTech software platform, with a look and feel specially adapted to Titan Poker's brand, and Titan Poker participates in PlayTech's iPoker network, which can pool players from several participating sites for cash games, tournaments and special events. Play money gaming and training information is available on titanpoker.net as well as at the real money site. The owner of Titan Poker is Fastengine Limited, headquartered in Cyprus. This company also owns and operates nine sibling gaming sites of Titan Poker: Poker Ocean, Cameo Casino, Bingo Day, Craps.com, Casino Del Rio, Casino Bellini, Vegas Red, Europa Casino and Casino Tropez. The gaming license of Titan Poker was issued by the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake. read more »

PartyPoker is a large, respected and well-established poker website. PartyPoker is licensed in Alderney, one of the English Channel Islands and a respected licensing authority. It also is licenses in Gibraltar, where it maintains headquarters. The company is wholly owned and operated by PartyGaming plc, which went public in 2005. (London Stock Exchange, Market for Listed Securities). PartyGaming was started by Ruth Parasol in 1997 and her husband, Russ deLeon in the Caribbean. Parasol is one of Forbes Magazine's top 400 richest Americans, having started her fortune in California in what is referred to as "adult entertainment services" via telephone and Internet. She left that industry in 1996. PartyPoker was started in 2001. It has become PartyGaming's most successful Internet gaming site. During peak usage, the March 2008 statistics showed 9,500 ring-game players and 60,000 tournament players in its virtual poker room. As of 2008, PartyPoker had dealt well over 6 billion real money poker hands. Mike Sexton, host of the WPT television broadcasts, endorses the PartyPoker web site. read more »

Bodog Poker is owned by Bodog Entertainment. Established by Calvin Ayre in 1994, Bodog Entertainment has expanded from online gambling, where it is perhaps the largest company in the sector, into music, sports and entertainment. Its headquarters are now in Antigua and Barbuda, having moved there from Costa Rica. Licenses are maintained in Antigua and Barbuda, and also in the United Kingdom, Costa Rica and the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake. The poker room operates under the Kahnawake license. Bodog's claim to fame in recent years has been its cavalier willingness to target U.S. customers in the face of an increasingly hostile legal environment. read more »

Hollywood Poker's claim to fame is that players can play poker against famous poker players and Hollywood celebrities of various magnitudes such as James Woods. Hollywood Poker was launched in 2004. James Wood and Vince Van Patten are spokesmen for the site, which promotes itself as being an online poker hangout of the celebrities. It also hosts a forum for poker enthusiasts called the Hollywood Poker Lounge and published an online poker magazine through the site. Hollywood Poker is a participant in the "Ongame Network." It consists of a poker room and a related online casino. Ongame Network, Ltd., a Gibraltar company, provides the software for the site as well as a large network of players and assistance with promotions, tournaments, deposits and withdrawals. bwin Interactive Entertainment AG (until 2006 known as Betandwin.com) of Vienna, Austria is the owner of Ongame e-solutions AB. It is a listed company on the Vienna exchange. Ongame e-solutions, through a Costa Rican subsidiary (SafePay Int. SRL), owns Hollywood Poker. The poker part of Hollywood Poker's site is licensed in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake. Hollywood Poker participates in eCOGRA, and its card shuffling practices are subject to audit by that organization. read more »

Players Only is part of the Cake Poker Network. Like the other sites on this network, it is open just for players from the U.S. The site is a portion of a larger Players Only site, which offers sports book, race book and casino action as well. The web site is a licensee of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Players Only is part of the Sportsbook.com group of gaming sites, owned by Jassy Sports Events Limited, a Maltese company organized in March of 2007 (presumably as a successor to previous companies). It is a private organization that does not disclose information about its management, ownership or financial strength. Though Players Only Poker is relatively young (2006), Sportsbook.com as an online gaming group have been around for nearly a decade. read more »

Empire Poker was started in 2001 by Empire Online, four years after the debut of the first online poker room and five years after Empire Online started its online gaming business. In 2006 Empire Online transferred ownership of Empire Poker to PartyGaming, as part of a dispute settlement with former partners. As a result, Empire Poker is a sibling to PartyPoker, using the same software platform. It is not accurate to call it a "skin" of PartyPoker, as they are indeed separate web sites, and Empire Poker engages in separate - and often creative and generous - marketing promotions. Party Gaming owns Empire Poker. Empire Poker is licensed in Gibraltar. read more »