It took PokerStars a lot of time and effort to develop such an effective platform. PokerStars did extensive beta testing on their software before going live for real money in September of 2001. There was a period of a few months where they just had play money games. After this period PokerStars moved on to beta testing for their world class poker tournaments. This period allowed PokerStars to work out any kinks that they had before finally going live for real money.
PokerStars is extremely easy to navigate, and it is easy to filter their massive game selection to the games of your choosing. One of the best things about the PokerStars software is the custom avatars. These custom avatars were implemented from the start of the site. This innovation helped PokerStars to build a community feel, as users were able to pick an avatar of their choosing. Some people chose pictures of themselves, others chose pictures of attractive women, while some chose to upload a picture of their pet. The ability to add custom avatars in the PokerStars poker software made it extremely easy to remember players. This in turn led to a more community feel, which led to stunning growth.