Originally posted by kingdippy2008
Stars is definately my favourite. So much traffic.
Party is second because if you have a linked account then you earn loads of SP's.
Pretty much this. Stars also has superb software. Party's traffic and software is away from PokerStars greatness but is still pretty good, and they are getting more and more generous with their promotions and bonuses every day, some day they'll actually pay you for playing there if they keep going this way. PokerStars reward program, on the other hand, is extremely miserable for micro-stakes players, but hey, if you want quality, you have to pay the price for it.
If you want to forget about bonuses and rakeback and just enjoy poker in its finest form around the clock, PokerStars is your room (unless you're a pro who plans to reach supernova level or better, in that case, the worst reward program suddenly becomes the best!). If bonuses and StrategyPoints accumulation are an important part of your criteria, PartyPoker will be the best room overall most of the time, sometimes by far. If I ever reach Platinum status or better at PS.com, I will certainly do so by playing at Party.
Apparently, Full Tilt is another serious contender, but I haven't played there yet, so I have no info.
I also played at Titan many years ago, where I blew away a $50 no-deposit bonus (not from PS.com); at Pacific Poker where I blew away a $5 no-deposit bonus the room itself gave me; and at Mansion Poker when it was a part of the Ongame network, where I did pretty well, despite the extremely low traffic at certain times and the tables that liked to suddenly close on me by themselves. I don't know how good these rooms are now, but if they are pretty much the same, then they just suck compared to the big, reliable platforms.