How to select a good online poker site

Online Poker Site choices have seen an enormous growth in the last couple of years and there are now literally hundreds of them to play at. But how do you select a good poker site?

Here are 5 factors that you should consider when making your choice of where to play poker online.

1. Reputation
It is usually best to stick with an online poker site that has a good solid reputation, especially if you are a beginner and you've never played poker online before. Most of the big name poker sites have an excellent reputation and they have to be absolutely scrupulously fair in order to maintain this. The major online poker sites are those such as Party Poker, Poker Room, Absolute Poker, Empire Poker and Full Tilt Poker.

2. Signup Bonuses
We all love something for nothing and you will certainly get that when you sign up to play poker online. Almost all of the sites will offer you some sort of bonus to sign up with them so you need to shop around and see who is offering the best deal. Of course there is nothing to stop you opening an account at more than one online poker site if you want to.

3. Number of players.
All of the major poker sites have many thousands of players online at any one time. You will never struggle to get a game, there should always be a seat available for you. However some of the smaller poker sites attract far fewer visitors and you may end up frustrated waiting for the right playing opportunity to arise.

4. Software
Most online poker sites require you to download a piece of software (normally referred to as a "client") before you can play. Some of these are better than others, there's a big difference in the quality of graphics and ease of play between the clients available. You need to make sure you are playing on a site that you feel comfortable at.

5. Statistics
One of the important aspects of playing poker online is the availability of statistics. The client of each online poker site has a "lobby" area where you can view the tables and check out what's happening, some of them also have good statistics about the table so you can decide which one to play. While you are playing there are some sites which give statistics of each hand "in-running", this can also be a very useful feature.

So there you have it, how to pick the best online poker sites. Have fun!