Poker Room Traffic
Aug 2013 Update: This page is out of date. I will be updating the information shortly. – Greg
Jul 2020 Update: I don't think I will be updating this page. – Greg
Below is a table of traffic rankings for all of the major online poker rooms and poker networks as of July 2009.
The independent rooms and networks have been grouped in to 4 separate tiers (as shown by the colours). Rooms in this tiers may shift around within them from time to time, but rooms are far less likely to move out of their band.
There is also a handy HAS (Highest Active Stakes) column to indicate to highest stakes that you can comfortably multi-table 4 or more tables on at each room.
Poker room traffic rankings.
| Rank | Room / Network | HAS | Mac | PT | HEM | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | $2,000NL |  |
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Visit | |
| #2 | $2,000NL | |
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|
Visit | |
| #3 | $2,000NL |  |
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||
| #4 | $2,000NL | |
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|
Visit | |
| #5 | $1,000NL | |
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Visit Tower | |
| #6 | $200NL | |
|
|
Visit UB | |
| #7 | Everest Poker |
$400NL | |
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- |
| #8 | €400NL | |
 |
|
Visit Heaven | |
| #9 | $200NL | |
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Visit 32Red | |
| #10 | $200NL | |
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Visit Cake | |
| #11 | Pacific Poker |
$400NL | |
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|
Visit |
| #12 | €400NL | |
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Visit NoiQ | |
| #13 | PKR |
$200NL | |
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- |
| #14 | $100NL | |
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Visit | |
| #15 | $200NL | |
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Visit Aced |
Visit PokerStars - The top online poker room for player traffic
Which is the highest traffic poker room?
PokerStars comfortably takes the title as the highest traffic online poker room. Even though PokerStars does not offer rakeback, it does a large amount of advertising and simply offers the best all-round poker room and support to its players.
Full Tilt comes in at a fairly distant 2nd, although it still attracts an extreme number of players to its tables throughout the day. Full Tilt is the highest traffic poker room that offers rakeback.
Fact: Party Poker actually used to be the most popular online poker room back in 2006, but since it stopped accepting US players (thanks to the UIGEA) it has slipped down in to 4th. It's still a very respectable room though.
How important is poker room traffic?
The more traffic a poker room has, the more players there will be at the tables throughout the day. In addition to this, the higher traffic rooms will play host to a greater volume of poor players for you to take advantage of.
So the more traffic a poker room has, the easier it will be to find tables to play at and the greater the number of fish there should be hanging around the room.
Poker room traffic also tends to be a rough indication of how good the room is. After all, a room is only going to be really popular if it has a lot to offer to its players through good software, promotions and support.
Is there much difference in traffic at the rooms above?
The range in traffic between the biggest and smallest poker rooms is quite large. In spite of this, these rooms have enough players to keep the most popular stakes sufficiently active throughout the day.
You should not have any problem at all multi-tabling up to $200NL at any of the rooms above. The table ranks only the more popular rooms, which is why none of these rooms have a horrifically low volume of players.
In all honesty, unless you are a higher stakes player ($400NL or greater), the player traffic at these rooms should not affect you in any way. Some rooms will have more tables running at your desired limit than others, but you're not going to have an issue finding a seat or multi-tabling at the most popular stakes.
If I played $50NL for example, I wouldn't force myself to play at Party Poker over Bodog if I preferred the software and level of competition at Bodog. There will be more than enough players at these stakes at both rooms for the player traffic to not be an issue.
Go back to the Texas Hold'em rooms.