Shorthanded Poker Sites
Shorthanded poker sites flourish today thanks to the power of the internet. In the days before the internet, shorthanded poker tables were hard to find because poker rooms didn’t want to spend the resources to set up additional tables and hire more dealers. Live poker rooms find full tables a more efficient use of resources.
Internet poker sites can spread all the shorthanded tables they want because virtual tables don’t take up any space and don’t require additional dealers. This is a great thing because shorthanded poker has become hugely popular over the years. Today, you’ll find more shorthanded poker tables than full ring tables.
On this page, we have a list of the best shorthanded poker sites. These poker sites are the best for shorthanded games because they have good game selection, reliable software and fair games. Check out any of the following poker sites for the best shorthanded poker experience on the internet.
1. Sportsbook Poker
Sportsbook Poker is the best shorthanded poker site on the internet. The Sportsbook company has been online since the mid-90s and the actual poker room has been online since 2006. They joined the Merge Gaming Network in 2010 and have since built up a strong player base complete with lots of shorthanded tables.
Sportsbook Poker has a wide selection of games at stakes that range from penny blinds to $300/$600 blinds. The games list includes games of all types, but no-limit Holdem is by far the most active. They have both heads-up and six-max games at all levels. The competition is soft by internet standards thanks to all the sports bettors that stop in at the poker room to gamble it up.
The software at Sportsbook Poker is also conducive to playing shorthanded poker at multiple tables. Sportsbook Poker recently upgraded its software and everything now moves quickly and looks nice. The tables have simple graphics that make it easy to switch between tables and see where the action is at any point in time.
2. Absolute Poker
Absolute Poker is a great shorthanded poker sites thanks to its sheer size. This poker room has 25,000 or more players online during peak hours and has a long list of shorthanded tables running around the clock. They have been online since 2003 and have processed deposits and withdrawals for millions of poker players.
The shorthanded poker tables at Absolute Poker run at stakes that range from $0.02/$0.04 to $200/$400. At the no limit tables, this means you can buy in for as little as a couple dollars and as much as $40,000 at a time. Needless to say, players of all backgrounds and skill levels will find a table at Absolute Poker.
Speaking of finding tables, the massive amounts of players at Absolute Poker means you will never suffer from a lack of tables. You’ll find games at all stakes and will be able to multi-table with ease. The poker software is fast and reliable, so multi-tabling is a breeze. Overall, Absolute Poker is an easy poker site to recommend for shorthanded players.
3. UB Poker
UB Poker, also known as Ultimate Bet, is another large shorthanded poker site. They have tables of all types, but their shorthanded tables get the most action. UB Poker was established in 2001 and now stands as one of the most populated internet poker sites. Even during off peak hours, you will find shorthanded tables at all stakes.
The games here run at stakes that let players buy in with anywhere from $4 to as much as $40,000 and everything in between. The games stay the busiest at the low and medium stakes levels, but even the high stakes tables get action. If you like to multi-table, you will find plenty of tables to choose from.
One advantage to playing at UB Poker is that you will find both shorthanded ring games and tournaments. On the tournament side, UB Poker has shorthanded multi-table tournaments and shorthanded SNGs. They even have heads up tournaments where players can buy in for $5,000 and battle it out in winner-take-all format.
Finding the Best Shorthanded Poker Sites
Shorthanded poker sites are easy to find in general. The trick is figuring out which poker sites are the best. For this list, we looked at a couple of factors. We gave extra weight to the variety of shorthanded ring games, because shorthanded ring games are more popular than shorthanded tournaments.
Primarily, we looked at the game offering and competition level at each poker site. We tried to find a balance between poker sites that have a lot of players vs. poker sites that have the softest tables. For the most part, the smallest poker sites have the softest shorthanded poker tables.
In addition to that, we also looked at other factors such as the quality of software and overall quality of the each poker site. The software took extra importance for us because ring games tend to move quickly and lots of people like to multi-table shorthanded ring games. Software that is reliable and has crisp graphics makes it easy to keep up with multiple shorthanded tables.