Poker770 is one of the largest rooms on the iPoker network with a huge presence in France. Several French pros head up its pro team, including Pascal Perrault.  Players are welcome from all over the world and several languages are supported.

As one of the rooms on the iPoker network, Poker770 offers a number of high-value promotions, frequent satellites to major live events and plenty of action to be had around the clock – particularly during European peak hours. Games at Poker770 also are usually a little looser than standard with a lot of new players from the network’s casino and sportsbook. Perhaps the most appealing promotion at Poker770 is a $7.70 bonus for new players.

Poker770 offers all versions of Hold’em and both versions of Omaha and Stud.  And as with most online poker sites, Poker770 offers plenty of multi-table tournaments and sit-and-gos. What is great about Poker770 and the iPoker network though are the massive sit-and-go jackpots offered for winning several sit-and-gos in a row – jackpots hit $50,000+ on a regular basis.

Traffic volume overall is in the top layer of the industry. Real-money player statistics as of January 2011 show 8200 ring-game players at peak hours and 45000 tournament players at peak hours.

Once the biggest online room in the world, Party Poker has been playing catch up since 2006 when it moved out of the U.S. market but it appears to once again be advancing.

Play is still definitely on the soft side, especially at the lower-limits of Hold’em and Omaha. It is very soft in some cases, especially in tournaments.

Party Poker also has a new team of pros that includes stars like Mike Sexton, Tony G and Kara Scott as well as new pros like Stewart Scott, Ian Frazer, Remy Biechel, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos and Bodo Sbrzesny.

Games offered are all variations of Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo. Because of its size and geographical diversity, action at Party Poker can be found in any game at any hour.

A major software redesign last year has also added a lot of terrific new features, including crisper graphics, a quick-seat feature, a live-action preview, customized player images and enhanced multi-tabling options.

Party Poker is traded on the London Stock Exchange.  And Party Poker is arguably the most secure online poker room in the world with certification from eGaming, GamCare and eCOGRA.

Last year the parent company of Party Poker, PartyGaming, purchased the World Poker Tour which has made Party Poker the best source for WPT satellites.

bwin is one of Europe’s oldest and most popular bookmakers and after acquiring the Ongame network in 2005, it also became Europe’s largest poker network.

bwin Poker has long been known for great software and design, and a recent software upgrade has added even more features. The improvements include direct seating from the lobby, resizable tables and a downloadable Mac client, putting bwin up near the top of the industry as far as software and design goes.

bwin Poker also offers super statistical analysis of your game and an open database of hands played. Also on the table now with the growth of the bwin network are many more promotions, high-value guaranteed tournaments, more satellites to live tournaments and a great player base.

Games offered are Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo and Five-Card Draw.

Poker players seem to have noticed the recent improvements.  bwin Poker now counts itself as one of the top traffic generators in the industry.

Everest Poker is a multilingual poker room with a solid player base with plenty of growth potential. The software comes in all major languages, including French, Japanese, German, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Spanish.  15 languages are supported.

The software itself is high quality, runs smoothly and is quite popular among players. Currently the games available are Texas Hold’em and Omaha, but plans are in the works to add Seven-Card Stud – something that would cement Everest Poker’s reputation and standing in the online poker market.

Everest is actually one of the few sites that has profited from U.S. online gaming restrictions. Its international focus seems to attract new players from all corners of the globe every minute. The recent addition of high-stakes play has also attracted a new audience playing the $25/$50 blind Hold’em games. Being the sponsor of Antoine Saout, a member of the 2009 WSOP Novemeber Nine also helped Everest’s reach into the poker world.

Overall, Everest Poker offers very good software and great action for Hold’em players in particular. The mix of players is unique in that many of the loosest and craziest are at the medium and high limits, making Everest Poker very profitable for skilled players.

Real-money player statistics as of January 2011 show 7000 ring-game players at peak hours and 16000 tournament players at peak hours.

William Hill Poker is one of the oldest and largest bookmakers in the U.K. Now part of the booming iPoker network, traffic and promotions at William Hill are top notch and a massive $16 million in prize money is guaranteed every month on the network.

Given its U.K. origins, William Hill Poker is a popular poker room for British players (and European players in general).  The busiest traffic here is around European peak hours.

Because of the prominent sportsbook and the tendency for the punters to drift over to the poker room for a few hands, the Will Hill tables are usually filled with wild and loose players. Play in general is considered pretty loose with tons of easy games, especially at the micro stakes.

The software is decent and the lobby got a well-deserved makeover in 2009, giving it a smarter  look and making finding tournaments easier. Multi-currency deposit and play is also available, as is a wide range of games and sit-and-gos.

Games offered are Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo and Five-Card Stud. William Hill Poker also offers high-stakes blackjack, casino games and sports betting.

Real-money player statistics as of January 2011 show 10000 ring-game players at peak hours and 55000 tournament players at peak hours.

Sportsbook.com is a sportsbook, poker room and casino that egan in 1997. The poker room opened in 2006 on the Cake Poker network and just moved to the Merge network.

Unlike most poker rooms, Sportsbook Poker is available only to U.S. and Canadian players. The poker room has grown very quickly and offers the loosest and juiciest games available online today. Most of the player base comes through the sportsbook and casino, which makes a large portion of the players beginners and so very easy to beat.

The software features great graphics and functionality as it was developed by a group of poker players looking to “re-invent” the online poker world. Game play is very good and offers  everything most poker players need, with good table stats, fast action, 10 tables for multi-tabling and great support features.

Game selection is also good, with all variations of Texas Hold’em plus Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo. Games are definitely concentrated in No-Limit Hold’em, and especially at the small and middle limits, but at peak hours players can be found at pretty much any limit and game.

Sportsbook Poker offers a decent number of tournaments with the traffic volume overall in the lower segment of the industry but growing fast. Sportsbook Poker also offers monthly massive-value $100,000 freerolls.

Real-money player statistics as of January 2011 show 1700 ring-game players at peak hours, and 6000 tournament players at peak hours.

PokerStars is the largest poker site in the world, offering massive volume in cash games and tournaments on a 24 hours a day basis. It sets the standard in the industry for tournaments as well.  It has an unmatched selection and sit-and-gos at all stakes starting up virtually every second.

The software is also great and offers fast play, high reliability, great multi-table options and a lots of customization – it pretty much sets the bar for the industry there.

If you’re looking for a disadvantage, it’s probably the inconsistent competition. Because of the huge player base there are some very fierce opponents on the site if you select the wrong game.

If you like more obscure poker variations, PokerStars is for you with a wide variety of games offered – Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Seven-Card Stud in all versions, H.O.R.S.E., H.O.S.E., 2-7 Triple Draw, Five-Card Draw, Razz, 2-7 Single Draw Lowball, Badugi, 8-Game, Mixed Hold’em and Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo. By the time you read this, they’ve probably added more.

PokerStars also has a great loyalty program and becoming a Supernova player is a status that is coveted throughout the online poker community.

The bottom line is that PokerStars is one of the best poker sites in the world and if the competition wasn’t so tough at the higher stakes, it would be tough not to rank PokerStars higher.

Real-money player statistics as of January 2011 show 22500 ring-game players at peak hours and 55000 tournament players at peak hours.

Titan Poker is the flagship room on the iPoker network.  It has a great international feel, solid software and slick 24/7 action. Games are loose with lots of casino players and new recruits trying their hand at poker. Titan Poker also offers some of the best promotions in the business and also offers aggressive promotions for new players.

There is more activity at the low and micro-stakes Hold’em games, and particularly at European peak hours, but action at other games is also good. If you’re looking for an Omaha game, Titan’s a great place to start.  The standard of play is probably a little bit higher than normal thanks to the heavy European presence.

Game selection includes the following: Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Omaha Hi, Seven-Card Stud Hi and Five-Card Stud with full-ring, six-max and heads-up tables available.

Titan Poker additionally offers plenty of tournaments, satellites and freerolls with really good value. The premier event for the network is the multi-million dollar European Championship of Online Poker.  Titan naturally runs plenty of satellites for this, but satellites for big ticket packages to live events around the world are also plentiful.

Software is available in 15 languages and overall traffic volume is close to the top of the industry. Real-money player statistics are very good: as of January 2011 show 10000 ring-game players at peak hours and 55000 tournament players at peak hours.

BetClic is a good poker room on the Boss/IPN network that offers a great daily guaranteed tournament schedule, a massive bad beat jackpot, a rapidly expanding player base and the exclusive endorsement of French Canadian poker superstar Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier.

Once known as BetClick, the site’s primary focus is the French market.  The software is available in English and several other languages so the player base is actually quite diverse.

BetClic also has a very good tournament schedule, with a lot of daily guarantees. The guarantees are a little smaller than average, but the number of tournaments and the low number of players makes it easier for multi-tabling several at a time, giving you more action with less risk and more chances to win.

It’s definitely worth checking out for tournament players looking for lots of smaller but easier takedowns. Also look at the weekly €100,000 tournament on Sundays for good value.

BetClic’s cash-game traffic leans towards to the lower and mid-stakes, but the higher-stakes tables are filling up more consistently. As with most European-based sites, the traffic is highest during “European prime time” or 7-10 p.m. (GMT). If you like to gamble, BetClic also offers blackjack, various table and lottery games and sports betting.  This provides a nice flow of players to the poker room with less than optimal poker abilities.

Overall, if you’re looking for solid software and soft competition, BetClic is a very good choice.

Previously known as Pacific Poker, 888poker is a flagship poker room of the world’s largest online casino, 888.com. This means lots of wild casino customers at the poker tables. Combined with big, high-value promotions, this also means a lot of Texas Hold’em players come to 888poker for juicy high-action tables and good bonuses.

The upgraded 888poker software (called POKER 6) offers players over 100 new features including improved search functions and layout, 3-D table graphics, integrated casino play,  always-visible cashier and improved multi-tabling abilities.

Other great functions that stand out are password-protected SNGs and hand histories you can write on your hard drive and import to hand-analysis software tools. 888poker has also introduced a no-download client for Mac and Linux users.

Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo are available. Real-money player statistics as of January 2011 show 2000 ring-game players at peak hours and 8000 tournament players at peak hours.