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Poker Networks

The media has hyped the growth of internet poker, claiming there are over 100 poker sites one can choose from. While this is technically correct, the truth of the matter is that there are a few poker networks that often encompass dozens of sites.

Think of it this way: suppose there are a 100 hamburger places in your area, 20 Burger Kings and 80 McDonald's. While it is technically correct you have 100 hamburger places to choose amongst, you really have just two options: McDonald's and Burger King.

This is the same concept behind poker networks. Many sites will create multiple skins, similar to multiple franchises, in order to reach out to more and more players. Sometimes these poker networks are wholly owned by the same company and it's just a marketing ploy, other times different casinos share a poker room, in order to build a larger overall poker room. After all, you need players to attract players, so sometimes different companies will have the same poker software in order to increase both companies' market share. The software is virtually the same across a poker network, with minor differences in appearance (such as different colors).

Below is an explanation of the networks, as well as my personal thoughts about them. I am not including stand-alone sites such as Pacific Poker or PokerStars, so still please read the full reviews list to learn about the different poker sites. Also, under the site reviews, I will only list one poker room from each poker network (the exception being Party Poker and Empire Poker because there are some minor differences and they are by far the biggest poker rooms.)

Network	Sites	Comments
IGlobalMedia	Empire Poker Party Poker Intertops Poker CoralBet MultiPoker	The main companies are Party and Empire, the other casinos have a very small market share in this group. Basically, they all host different multi-table tournaments and have different bonuses available. But the bread and butter of these sites (the live games and the single table tournaments) are the same across the network. This is the best poker network in my opinion.
Cryptologic	Caribbean Sun InterPoker William Hill Caribbean Sun Poker Poker Plex	These are decent poker rooms, and I have played a fair amount on this network over time.
Playtech	Noble Poker CD Poker Fair Poker Poker Plex	The Playtech network is a newer poker network. They have grown very quickly since these poker rooms tend to offer very nice signup bonuses. No-limit games are very popular on this network.
Apex	Victor Chandler Golden Palace Grand Online Flamingo Club Poker Gold Nugget Poker Card Slingers BigShot Poker and others.	While there are a lot of poker rooms that are part of this group, the actual network is about a mid-sized poker room. Victor Chandler is probably the most famous poker room on this network.
ACR Group	America's Cardroom Aloha Poker Poker Solei Poker Shootout and others.	I have never played here, which is why there is no review. This site hasn't had their random number generator verified by a reputable third party (to the best of my knowledge), and it is a relatively small site. Thus, my decision to not play here is because I choose not to, not because I just have not gotten around to it.
Prima Poker	Gaming Club Poker Royal Vegas Poker Golden Tiger Poker	This is a fairly large poker network. This network has stirred up a lot of controversy because it unfairly banned a fair number of high-stakes players, including an editor of this website.
Power Network	ThePokerClub TheBinion.com Uplaypoker.com Worldsbestpoker.com American Poker Club NewYorkPoker.com Aces Up Poker Joe Wpoker.com Mirabelle and others.	This is a very small poker network that has almost no players. In our opinion, there is little reason to play at any of these poker rooms.