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GGPoker beats PokerStars. Why?
After less than a decade of operating,
GGPoker beat PokerStars in PokerScout rankings.👍 For over a year now, GGPoker has the
first place across all the rankings. Why did this happen? Although PokerStars👍 vs
GGPoker is a complex matter, we can think of several reasons; let's start with the main
ones:
Global availability and👍 focus on crucial markets
GG Network focused on robust and
unexplored markets like Asia, Eastern Europe by having several skins accepting👍 online
poker players from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, etc. In other words, GG revived a
global online poker market, similar👍 to a pre-Black Friday situation.
Massive
promotions
Who doesn't like rakeback? GGPoker has always offered profitable promotions
for players: rake races, leaderboards,👍 freerolls, and private deals. Although today
direct rakeback is strictly forbidden, players still benefit from monthly promotions
with millionaire prize👍 pools.
Partnerships
GGPoker partnered with many big affiliates
to promote its brand when they were young. Once they became famous, they recruited
👍 poker stars like Daniel Negreanu and offered online series under WSOP or WPT
brands.
One way or another, GG Network remains👍 the world's largest network and indeed a
top site to play online poker.
PokerStars vs GGPoker
Nevertheless, from a player's
perspective, playing👍 in a poker room with 8,000 or 10,000 cash games players or
100,000+ total connections makes almost no difference, so👍 let's be honest and conclude
the title "world's largest poker room" is mostly a promotional thing.
So, comparing
PokerStars vs GGPoker,👍 how can a player decide where to play? This article will compare
the most important features so you can take👍 an informed decision:
Software : it's
online poker; hence platform is crucial
: it's online poker; hence platform is crucial
Traffic :👍 yes, thousands of players, but what is behind these numbers?
: yes, thousands
of players, but what is behind these numbers?👍 Games : what formats are available?
:
what formats are available? Softness of the field : are there amateurs at the👍 tables?
:
are there amateurs at the tables? Promotions : is there any rakeback?
: is there any
rakeback? Rake : How👍 much fees will you pay?
: How much fees will you pay? Cashier:
We're guessing you'd like to know how to👍 get paid
Software
PokerStars has been
developing its software for over 20 years, and it has done a great job. It remains👍 a
simple client, but it includes all functionalities needed by casual players and regs.
On the other hand, GG Poker👍 has included into its platform many features crafted for
amateur players. However, such options overload the client and make it👍 laggy.
We
clicked both PokerStars and GGPoker icons at the same time on our MacBook Air M1
laptop. We managed to👍 make the entire process (login and logout) in PS four times
before the GG client showed up. There is absolutely👍 no doubt here. PS client is much
faster and stable. PS used 5,4% of our CPU in terms of performance👍 while GG used up to
50%. Regarding RAM usage, GG took over 1GB and PS less than 300MB. Also, expect👍 a loud
song once it finally opens, so be aware if you want to play a night session.
However,
in terms👍 of uniqueness and innovation, GG is leading the way here; for example, the
staking feature is crushing it. We consider👍 PokerStars to have the best poker software
nowadays. If GG Poker wants to compete with it, it needs to drastically👍 improve its
performance.
Third-party software
There is not much to say here. GG Network prohibits
all third-party software. PokerStars allows using HUDs,👍 trackers, and other tools for
grinders. Point for Stars.
Mobile client
Both sites offer a great mobile app, although
you must reach👍 GGPoker support to install in iOS and also use an extra profile (sort of
underground procedure), while the PokerStars mobile👍 app can just be installed from
official stores. Point for PS.
Overall you can access all games (cash, tournaments,
spins, etc.)👍 from a mobile device and process all kinds of transactions. We must
highlight that GGPoker mobile app and its counterpart👍 are just not "minimized" versions
of the desktop client but were designed to fit small screens.
Traffic
As we said above,
GGPoker👍 overtook PokerStars in terms of cash game tables in 2024. However, from a
players' perspective, this information is almost useless👍 without proper analysis (you
cannot play against all 100,000 users connected), so let's dissect this by studying the
portfolio.
Game portfolio
PokerStars👍 takes the lead here, as it offers more variants.
However, GG Network seems to be innovating with new games, while👍 PS sticks to
traditional formats. If you are a Draw, Stud, or Mixed games fan, you should look no
further.👍 PokerStars is the only site offering decent traffic across these so-called
traditional "exotic" formats. However, GGPoker also offers modern games👍 like Flip & Go,
All-in or Fold, or Battle Royale.
Cash games
Besides traditional Texas Hold'em and
Omaha cash games, PokerStars leads👍 by offering much more:
7 Card Stud Razz 5 and 6 Card
Omaha Omaha Hi/Lo 5 Card Draw 2-7 Single and👍 Triple Draw Badugi 8-Game HORSE
GGPoker
offers (exotic games):
All-in or Fold
Short Deck
PLO5
Fip & Go
Battle Royale
Overall,
PS has a more extensive portfolio,👍 but GGPoker has launched unique and modern games
like AoF or Battle Royale, which definitely attracts a fresh audience of👍 international
poker players to the tables (let's face it, newcomers won't start playing HORSE in
2024). Let's not forget PokerStars👍 is one of the few sites offering HU cash game
traffic.
How about high rollers? GG Poker hosts nosebleed games up👍 to NL100000 with
grinders like Wiktor Malinowski or Linus Loeliger.
Fast-fold poker
Zoom or Rush & Cash
are very similar games, so👍 there is not much to study here. However, PokerStars offers
9-max, 6-max, and a unique HU variant. GGPoker has only👍 one format for Hold'em and
PLO.
Tournaments
Probably tournament players will feel comfortable playing either at
PokerStars or GGPoker. The rake is👍 similar; both offer many structures, including
progressive knockout PKO, high roller, regular series with millionaire prize pools,
weekly main events,👍 etc. Nevertheless, GGPoker went the extra mile by adding Super
MILLION$ and tournaments focused on the Asian market (time and👍 currency), attracting
many casuals.
GG doesn't offer any SnG (besides Spin&Gold). A small point for Stars
here.
We must highlight that tournaments👍 have become a powerful tool in the
competition. In recent years between ongoing promotions and tournament series, players
have enjoyed👍 massive prize pools. Compared to PokerStars, GGPoker has clearly focused
on this area, as their portfolio has exponentially grown.
Spin&Go...ld?
Although
PokerStars👍 made Spin&Go trending several years ago, when GGPoker launched Spin&Gold,
they went further and added unique features like all-in insurance.👍 The maximum prize
pool is 1 million dollars.
GGPoker offers regular spins in NLH and an exclusive 6-max
variant, but PokerStars👍 has higher stakes (up toR$1,000), Spin&Go Max, and Grand Tour.
Overall, tournament players will find a bigger portfolio at Stars,👍 but in this
competition, both sites lead.
Unique events
GGPoker focused on this area. Since 2024 it
has signed up partnerships with👍 the biggest brands worldwide: World Series of Poker
(WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT), Asia Poker League (APL), etc.
However, we highlight
👍 that PokerStars has created its own brands recognized worldwide, like Sunday Million of
the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).👍 We have to give GGPoker this one
because only there will you win a WSOP golden bracelet.
Softness of the field
No
👍 recreational players, no soft games. Although many pros read our reviews to decide
where to roll, we should not forget👍 that fans are crucial for online poker. It's
complex to evaluate the quality of the traffic of such massive rooms.👍 But, we can take
feedback from our online poker players database, countries welcome, and study terms and
conditions in detail.
G👍 G has loaded its platform (by paying the price as we said
above) with features to attract amateurs: sending short👍 videos at the tables, dancing
emojis, reactions, and most importantly: banning all third-party software. Many regs
just don't like this.
GGPoker👍 also welcomes players from "fishy" countries like Israel,
China, Malaysia, etc.
Overall, we feel that GGPoker features softer traffic.
Terms and
conditions👍 deserve an insightful analysis.
Poker ecology
GGPoker is definitely the
winner here. Although PokerStars has been working towards protecting amateurs recently,
from👍 day one, GG introduced its "Security & Ecology Policy," a live document listing
all predatory behaviors prohibited at the tables.
We👍 highlight that although we don't
agree with all GGPoker restrictions (like forbidding using printed GTO tables as this
can lead👍 to unjustified bans), at least such information is public, and anyone wanting
to play just needs to double-check they don't👍 fit in any predatory
behavior.
Ambassadors
Probably a reg doesn't care that much about the ambassadors of a
poker room. However, an👍 amateur can register following his idol. GGPoker is doing the
homework in this area as they currently have several teams👍 with figures like Daniel
Negreanu, Jason Koon, ElkY, among others. They have also created teams with winners of
important tournaments.
PokerStars👍 sponsors professional players like Lex Veldhuis
(Twitch star), Rafael Moraes, or Ben Spragg, all big names in the poker industry,👍 but
we still give the point to GG.
Rakeback and bonuses
Those who recall the "golden era"
of poker always say that👍 VIP Rewards with Supernova Elite was a fantastic rewards
program. Many years after changing "Porsches for chests," PS reconsidered its👍 position
and relaunched its rakeback program.
Let's start with welcome bonuses. Both sites offer
almost the same package with two options,👍 including a free ticket package or a matched
bonus up toR$600. However, GG gives more tickets (up toR$100 vs.R$30). PS👍 requires a
traditional bonus code vs. a dropdown menu; probably the second one is better.
But what
really makes a difference👍 is the monthly promotions package by GGPoker that gives
millions of dollars in prizes across all games and stakes. Such👍 promos include
leaderboards, jackpots, rewards for getting bad beats or winning massive hands,
etc.
Fish Buffet vs StarsRewards
From 2024 to 2024,👍 the conclusion was straightforward.
StarsRewards gave no rakeback, so GGPoker Fish Buffet was a clear winner
here.
FishBuffet Rewards promises up👍 to 60% cashback, but we must emphasize that
GGPoker uses an indirect distribution (PVI rake structure), so the promoted 60%👍 can be
much less. On the other hand, the all-new StarsRewards gives from 15% to 35% fixed
rakeback, and bigger👍 percentages depend on luck.
Although both sites have tailored
their rewards program for casual players, PokerStars deleted the randomness of chests,
👍 so we feel G G Poker and its endless levels and ranks can be more entertaining in the
long term.
Overall,👍 we think the new StarsRewards is better than Fish Buffet rewards,
mainly because PS gives an accurate rakeback percentage with👍 some random boosts, while
GGPoker openly promotes massive percentages that cannot be contrasted.
GGPoker vs
PokerStars rake
Recall: anytime you've been offered👍 a rakeback deal, you need to
compare it to the rake structure of the room. If they charge an unfair👍 fee, then a
massive cashback won't sound that good. This is sort of the situation here.
GGPoker is
the only mainstream👍 site charging preflop rake in 3-bet pots. All-in-all, you will be
paying more commissions to GGPoker than any other site👍 due to this rule, no matter the
structure.
Cash games, G G also charges a bit more with a 5% standard👍 across all games,
while PS starts from 3.3% for micros-stakes to 4.5%-5% for the highest games. The first
one also👍 has higher caps.
Lottery SnG, GG Poker charges a 7% rake across all buy-ins,
while Stars has a ladder model from👍 8% (lowest stakes) to 5%.
MTTs, PokerStars charges
from 12% to 5%, and GG from 9% to 5%.
Overall, GGPoker charges more👍 rake than
PokerStars, and if we compare the distribution model, the secret PVI leans the balance
towards the Red Spade.
We👍 would also like to highlight that there is no public
information about the preflop rake on the GGPoker website (ok,👍 there is, but buried in
one of the many FAQ questions), so many players can be unaware of this unusual👍 rule.
Less 1 point for lack of transparency here.
Cashier
Usually, GGPoker and PokerStars
take deposits via several payment options, including e-wallets👍 and local methods
available in your cashier according to your country.
Credit
cards
Skrill
ecoPayz
Bitcoin*
MuchBetter
LuxonPay
AstroPay
*The main difference between
PokerStars and GGPoker is, of👍 course, Bitcoin. The second has embraced
cryptocurrencies, and because of this, GG wins here.
GGPoker agents process deposits
and withdrawals with👍 alternative payment methods in some countries. We recommend being
extremely careful with such offers as those can lead to massive👍 scams. We don't think
having this feature is a good thing in the long term.
How about if you win a👍 million
dollars? In that case, you should reach customer service to find a payment solution for
withdrawing your winnings. Bitcoin👍 would be among our recommended options.
Customer
service
Ideally, you should never need to contact customer service. However, when a
problem arises,👍 it's crucial that you reach the poker room as fast as possible.
You can
reach PokerStars via a virtual assistant, email,👍 contact support form, FAQ, and a
community forum. GGPoker beats PS in this area. Players can interact in a Discord
👍 community, contact an agent via live chat, and other traditional ways like email and
forms.
Final Thoughts
It isn't easy to call👍 for a winner in the GGPoker vs PokerStars
fight as both are great options to play online poker. To make👍 things easier for you, we
have answered some questions, and if you fit in one of the categories below, you'll
👍 know where to go:
Are you a fan of traditional draw games? Head to PokerStars Do you
need to deposit and👍 withdraw via Bitcoin: GGPoker is the answer Do you like to compete
for massive prizes in rake races: Go to👍 GGPoker Is your PC 3 years older or more? Go to
PokerStars Are you chasing a WSOP golden bracelet: Head👍 to GGPoker Do you play SnG or
HU?: PokerStars is the way
Topic / Site GGPoker PokerStars Software X Traffic Tie👍 Games
X Softness of the field X Promotions X Rake X Cashier X
Or you can just read our
PokerStars review👍 and GGPoker review, reach our customer service, and ask for a
round-table to find out what other rooms fit you👍 better:
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