Golden Tiger Poker

Golden Tiger Poker was launched in October of 2002 and is still one of the smaller, but more active poker rooms on the 'net. Since launch, Golden Tiger has delivered over 500,000 hands to their customers, primarily for Texas Hold'em, but also 5 and 7 Card Stud Poker. The advantages and disadvantages of a “smaller” poker room are just two sides of the same coin: Fewer people make it a more friendly atmosphere, since you keep seeing the same folks whenever you play, but fewer people usually means it's harder to find a game other than Texas Hold'em during non-peak hours.

The interface and the “play” of Golden Tiger is consistent, the number of seats at a table varies from 2 for 1 on 1 Hold'em, to 8 seats for 5 and 7 card stud and 10 players to each Texas/Omaha Hold'em, tables. The lobby allows you to view open tables, by the type of game. Each game list allows you to view the stakes for the game, the number of people playing and when relevant and the number of people waiting to play. You'll be able to choose the betting limits you're comfortable with. Texas Hold'em stakes range from $.50/$1 to as much as a $50/$100 table. Once your in there, you'll see a table and chairs - but only names for players, not Avatars (people) like at most poker rooms. Right click a players names for more info on them and the ability to keep notes.
All the games are great if you like that particular version of poker. Texas Hold'em is typically the most popular variation, with 7 Card Stud following closely behind.

Golden Tiger also has a $250 prize for highest Texas Hold'em hand every day!

　

Virtual City Poker

Virtual City Poker is another operator of the Prima Poker Network and has been since March 2003. The benefit of playing on the network is the continual strong flow of players, a result of many poker sites all feeding through to one big room. Because of the size of Prima, they also spread a good variety of games from very low limit (easy pickings!) to high stakes pot limit and no limit (great if you’ve got the bankroll or good to just watch)

Graphics / Software

Call me old fashioned, but there is much that you can do to convince me that I’m anywhere but sat in front of my computer looking at cards on screen. (I’ve tried True poker, but it’s just too slow.) The graphics are clear here and your hole cards are easy to see. When the flop comes, the cards are always visible, and they even have an indicator that shows who has acted and what they did.. I did have a few issues with the software when they first introduced the Multi Table Tournament, as it always seemed to freeze and was really slow, but I think after constant calls from thousands of players, they have ironed out these glitches

Cashout / Bonus

The reason that I chose this site was due to the fact that there are so quite a few different sites that operate for the prima network, but Virtual city is one of the few that has the backing of a large casino group. When putting down my hard earned dollars, I feel that security of information and credit details are a huge part of where I play, and knowing that Virtual City comes under the highly professional banner of CasinoRewards and is therefore heavily monitored, I am safe in the knowledge that all is secure, and when it comes to cash out it comes safely and without hassle. The bonus was the first thing that attracted me to Virtual City, as I did not want to have to put up $100 that some of the other sites have as a minimum deposit. $30 for $30 is good for me. As well as this Virtual City offer a daily prize of $250 for the highest hand and a bad beat jackpot of a minimum $500.

Customer / Support / Security

Customer support is important to me as things in the online world inevitably go wrong. The Poker room shares the same support as the casinos attached to it, so there is always someone on the phone 24/7, and even though for big technical issues, the support has to contact the Prima network (why the player can’t contact Prima Poker direct, I don’t know) you usually have any questions resolved within a 24hour time frame. Most quick questions I had about my account or cashout, were answered right there on the spot.

Live Games

This site has 5 Card Stud !! Not many online poker rooms cover this game anymore, but as an old school player, it’s great to find a site that not only has it, but also has a whole bunch of players ready and willing to play. Virtual city has all the big games such as Holdem, Omaha and as mentioned above 5 Card and 7 Card Stud. It also has a whole spread of games with heads up action, so if you can find a willing partner, you can sit at a private table and go back and forth.

Limits

I’m a middle limit player so Virtual City is right up my alley, but they do have all limits, from very low 25c/50c all the way up to pot limit 50/100. A lot of people I come across say that they like the micro limit (2c/4c) games offered at other poker sites, but I find that no one is willing to lay down a hand at that level, so I’d rather stick to playing for fun than playing for such small limits.