Paradise Poker vs. Poker Stars

First Deposit Bonus

Paradise Poker: Get 100% back up to ?500; bonus clears at the rate of ?50 per 100 Frequent Player Points with 180 days to clear

Poker Stars: Get 100% back up to $50

Verdict: There's a lot more bonus for your deposit at Paradise Poker.

Promotions

Paradise Poker: Get 4 entries into the weekly ?250 Beginner Freeroll for 5 FPPs, ?15K Final Table Freeroll, ?10K Jackpot for Sit & Gos

Poker Stars: Revolving promotions; The Sunday Million

Verdict: The two sites are pretty comparable in the types of promotions that they run; however, Poker Stars, being a super sized poker room, has more tournaments and opportunities to accomodate their many international players.

Games

Paradise Poker: Texas Holdem, Omaha/Omaha Hi/Lo, 5-Card Stud, 7-Card Stud, 5-Card Draw, and Scandanavian Stud, called Sökö at Paradise. Other non-poker games include Blackjack, more casino games, Video Games, Sportsbetting, and more!

Poker Stars: Texas Holdem, Omaha/Omaha Hi/Lo, 5- and 7-Card Stud, 5-Card Draw, HORSE, RAZZ, and 2-7 Triple Draw

Verdict: Paradise has one of the most unique repetoires of games, but Poker Stars is on the front of the trends, as well, offering some non-traditional poker games like HORSE and RAZZ.

Tournaments

Paradise Poker: ?3 million guaranteed monthly in tournament prize cash from multi-tables, single-tables, multi-table Sit & Gos, Freerolls, Satellites, Heads Up, Turbos, Deep Stacks, Rebuys, Lotto Frenzy and others.

Poker Stars: Single-Table, Multi-table, Satellites, Sit & Gos, Freerolls, Heads Up, Rebuys, Turbos, and Private tournaments

Verdict: Again, Paradise is more cutting-edge with their tournaments, like they are with their games, but Poker Stars does offer a full gamet of popular tournament types.

Frequent Player Rewards

Paradise Poker: 1 point for every ?0.25 in rake generated; exchangable for tournament play, cash, and merchandise.

Poker Stars: Frequent Player Points can be redeemed for merchandise or tournament entry tickets.

Verdict: FPPs are about equal in earn and worth.

Play now at Paradise Poker or play now at PokerStars. The choice is yours.

Traffic

Paradise Poker: About 4000 players during peak hours

Poker Stars: 100K-150K players at any given time

Verdict: Bigger rooms don't always mean less fish!

Deposit Options

Paradise Poker: Neteller, Click2Pay, Moneybookers, Major credit cards, and others

Poker Stars: Neteller, Visa/Mastercard, Solo, Maestro, Delta, Visa Electron, WebMoney, Moneybookers and more

Verdict: Both rooms have an abundance of deposit options for the needs of all players.

Customer Support

Paradise Poker: Live Chat, Email, Telephone

Poker Stars: 16 different departmental email addresses

Verdict: Poker Stars can't possibly offer the high level of support that a small room like Paradise, but they do a good job via email support.

Software

Paradise Poker: Newly upgraded software is available in 22 languages, offering new features like the Timebank, the Miniview Feature, a personalized tournament list, and improvement in betting system.

Poker Stars: Available in 15 different languages, with opponent notes, player stats, hand history, tournament lobby preferences, multi-table options, image upload avatars, and multiple background themes.

Verdict: Like everything else Paradise does, their software is big with lots of bells and whistles. Poker Stars has a perfectly adequate software and is very user-friendly.

Established

Paradise Poker: 1999

Poker Stars: 2000

Verdict: The sites are about the same age, but Poker Stars has grown at a much higher rate than Paradise Poker, but that doesn't mean the Paradise Poker people don't operate at the same level as bigger rooms like Poker Stars.