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Exclusive Deposit Bonus
100% up to $500
Bonus Code: POKEROLOGY
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…and download the free Party Poker software. Enter the bonus code “POKEROLOGY” and receive your $500 bonus (or 100% of whatever you deposit).
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Note: see the Party Poker Bonuses & Promotions section of this review for more information.
Party Poker Screen Shots:
Party Poker – Full Review
Party Poker is a very well known online poker room which is part of the trusted Party Gaming family – one of the world’s leading online gaming companies since 1997. They used to be the world’s largest online poker room, but after the UIGEA legislation in 2006, they withdrew from the U.S. market, and as such they lost a lot of players to their main competitors. This hit them hard and they’ve spent the past couple of years re-grouping and concentrating on new emerging markets. But Party Poker is still a big name and still attracts a lot of traffic from Canada and Europe.
While they might have lost their status as the most popular online poker room, I think they could now claim to have the best software – and while it could do with a few minor adjustments, I think they have a strong case. It’s super quick and the game play is superb. They’ve recently given the entire poker room a much needed make-over. The lobby area has been dramatically improved and the new table software now has improved betting options, custom avatars (photo upload), and re-sizeable table windows. When I first saw the new table I didn’t like it at all, and I quickly went back to the classic version. But I really like it now and it has some really cool little quirks.
While players in the USA can’t play at Party Poker anymore, there is still great value to be had for non-Americans. They have a long standing reputation of having some of the worst poker players, and even subtly advertise this as fact on their website. If you’re a good poker player then you’ll love the action at Party Poker, and there are serious profits to be made. Sure, there are probably fewer fish than the days when they accepted U.S. players, but there really is still a huge amount of soft games to be found.
In addition to a good choice of cash games, they’re perhaps best known for their excellent multi table tournaments. Anyone who plays poker in the real world is probably familiar with deal making, which is common when tournaments reach the payout stages. Party Poker understands the concept of deal making and has implemented it into their software for many of their multi table tournaments. Players at the final table of a tournament can negotiate custom deals, and with the Party Poker software it’s an automated process. Of course, deals are only possible if all players agree to it – but this is a really great feature which adds to Party Poker’s status as the natural home for multi table tournament poker players.
Sign up today: Click here to join Party Poker
Software & Features
There have been some major upgrades at Party Poker lately, with impressive results. They’ve made massive improvements to the lobby area, which was previously one of the most annoying and frustrating aspects of the site. It’s now one of the best of any online poker room, which is some turn around. It’s now amazingly easy to navigate and find the right game, especially if you use the quick search feature.
They have also updated their poker table, and you can choose from the classic Party Poker table or their new “ergonomic and modern” version (their words). The new table design also allows you to upload your own player image to Party Poker and use it as your avatar. This was no doubt been inspired by Poker Stars, and I’m quite surprised it’s taken so long for other online poker rooms to adopt this feature. Although many of the players at Party Poker are still using generic images, but I’m sure there will be more using their own image as people start to switch to the new table design – which can take a bit of getting used to (I didn’t like it at first).
Without doubt, the best thing about the Party Poker software is the speed. I have noticed that the software is quite memory intensive which can sometimes affect the lobby area, but the game play is so fast. It’s not uncommon to see over 80 hands per hour on full 10 handed ring games. This is a huge difference when you consider that under the same conditions, some online poker rooms run at around 40 hands per hour. There’s no hanging around after each hand is complete and the software moves swiftly onto the next hand, meaning a much more enjoyable experience.
The software at Party Poker is definitely one of the best, if not the best. It’s not really a surprise that Party Poker has excellent software, seeing as they’ve been in the business since 1997. They’ve had plenty of time to develop it, and the latest software update is a massive step in the right direction.
Try them for yourself: Sign up to Party Poker
Player Traffic / Ease of Competition
Before the US anti-gaming legislation back in 2006, Party Poker was the world’s most popular online poker room. Unlike their major competitors Poker Stars and Full Tilt, they had little option other than to withdraw from the US market, primarily because Party Gaming is a public listed company (on the London Stock Exchange). This was obviously a massive blow to Party Poker since a large amount of their regulars were forced to jump ship and find a new home. Alas, Party Poker is no longer the most popular online poker room in terms of player traffic. However, they still have a lot of players and are certainly not a small poker room. They still have a strong player base in Canada and many European countries.
Party Poker has a long standing reputation as being the home of some of the worst players in the history of online poker. Many would say that Party Poker is a complete fish magnet. They even boast about this on their website, and I quote “an independent opinion poll of poker players shows it’s easier to win at Party Poker than at any other online poker room”. Is this true? Well I don’t think there are as many fish as when they accepted U.S. players, and I’m not so sure they have worse players than some other online poker rooms. But there are certainly a lot of bad players remaining and if you pick the right games, and play smart, then you should do well at Party Poker.
See what all the fuss is about: Play at Party Poker
Cash Game Action
Party Poker has a wide range of cash games to choose from. With the excellent lobby area, finding a game is a piece of cake. Here’s a rundown of what’s on offer and what you might expect to find:
- No-Limit Hold’em ($0.02/$0.04 to $25/$50): As you’d expect, there is lots of action at all levels up to $5/$10, and half a dozen full tables at the maximum of $25/$50 during peak hours. You’ll find that 6 handed games are by far the most popular with the higher stake games. You won’t be bored at Party Poker if you’re a no limit hold’em fan.
- Limit Hold’em ($0.05/$0.10 to $250/$500): You’ll find lots of limit hold’em action at Party Poker, all the way up to $15/$30. Beyond this you’ll also find some interest in the $20/$40 limits, and occasionally higher during peak hours.
- Pot Limit Hold’em ($0.10/$0.25 to $10/$20): There is very little action on the pot limit tables, even during peak hours. If you’re lucky you might find a few games but there never seems to be any games running above $0.25/$0.50.
- Limit Omaha, and Hi-Lo ($0.50/$1 to $30/$60): There’s not much to be found here, other than maybe half a dozen at the $0.50/$1 limits.
- Pot Limit Omaha, and Hi-Lo ($0.10/$0.25 to $10/$20): This is much more popular with lots of low to medium limits, and even the odd game at $5/$10 and above. This should keep pot limit Omaha fans occupied.
- 7 Card Stud, and Hi-Lo: Traffic at these tables is low, and you might find half a dozen tables at $0.50/$1, including a few of the Hi-Lo variation. During peak hours you might find the occasional game above this, but don’t expect much action.
If you play cash at Party Poker then one of the first things you’ll notice is the jackpot tables. Party Poker runs a special progressive bad beat jackpot, with a massive prize pool. If you play on a jackpot cash table and get four of a kind (8’s or better) cracked by a better hand, then you’ll win the jackpot. Actually you get 50%, the winner of the hand gets 25%, and the other players on the table share the remaining 25%. The only downside is that $0.50c is taken from each raked hand to contribute to the jackpot. But you can choose from regular tables or a jackpot tables – I guess it depends if you’re feeling lucky (or unlucky)!
Get a piece of the action: Take a seat at Party Poker
Multi Table Tourneys (MTTS)
Party Poker is well known for providing some of the biggest and best multi table tournaments in the online poker world. They have a great selection of scheduled tournaments, and cater for all budgets. Beginners will be pleased to know that Party Poker run a whole host of freerolls as well as a large number of low buy-in tournaments from as little as $1. These attract huge numbers, providing big rewards for such little risk.
You’ll find the usual mix of regular, speed, and rebuy tournaments, many with big guarantees. The regular $6, $11 and $22 tournaments seem the most popular, but they also have a selection of scheduled tournaments with buy-ins up to $500, which should suit those poker players with slightly bigger bankrolls. Plus there’s nearly always a big event to play for such as their latest “King of the Table” tournament, which had a whopping $2m guaranteed prize pool. You’ll also see regular promotions for big live events, with plenty of low buy-in satellites where you can win your seat.
One of the most exciting tournaments at Party Poker is the “shootouts”. The format consists of different rounds, and unlike a standard multi table tournament, players only play against the other players at their table. If you finish in the top 3 of your table (10 handed) then you win a portion of the prize pool and advance to the next round, and so on. The final round is played like a standard multi table tournament. The Party Poker shootout tournaments run daily from $6 up to $33, and they’re really fun as the tournament play tends to be faster and more importantly, more players get paid.
Tournament lovers: Join Party Poker today
Sit & Go (SNG) Selection
You’ll find plenty of sit & go’s at Party Poker, with games starting from as little as $1. The most popular tend to be the $6 and $11 games, but the $22 level also attracts a lot of players. There are certainly fewer games above $55 than you’d find at Poker Stars or Full Tilt Poker, but there’s nearly always some games available at the higher end, particularly during peak hours. I really like the sit & go’s at Party Poker as they run very quickly on this software, but the speed tournaments are a little too quick for my liking (3 min levels). I prefer the standard 10 min blind levels, with 2,000 chips.
The Party Poker “Steps” tournaments offer an interesting twist on the standard sit & go format. This format contains 6 steps, which have buy-ins of $3, $10, $30, $70, $170, $500. You can start where you want and pay the buy-in, and the top 2 from each game can progress to the next step, with 3rd and 4th getting the opportunity to repeat the same step (i.e. get their money back). Even 5th to 7th get some back, pushing them down 2 steps, unless of course they started at the $3 level. These tournaments are really good fun, and you can choose to just take the cash instead, rather than work your way up through the levels.
Take the first step: Sign up to join Party Poker
Bonuses / Promotion
The Party Poker sign up / first time deposit bonus is a very generous 100% up to $500 – just follow our links and use the bonus code POKEROLOGY. You don’t get the bonus immediately, but you didn’t expect that, right? You have to earn the deposit, but unlike a lot of other online poker rooms with similar bonuses, this one is achievable. To clear the bonus you need to earn five times the amount you deposited in Party Points within 90 days. So if you deposited $50 then you need to earn 250 Party Points to get your full $50 bonus. If you deposit the maximum $500, then you need to earn 2,500 Party Points for the $500 bonus.
How do you earn Party Points? You earn them from the raked hands in real money cash games or from tournaments. For tournaments you get 2 points for every $1 in tournament fees, and for cash games it varies depending on the limits you play. If you play at $0.50c/$1 then you’ll earn 3.5 points for every 20 raked hands. If you play below these limits then it might be best not to go for the full $500 bonus, as you might find it tough. But you should know that this isn’t an all or nothing bonus, as it’s released in 5 stages. To be honest, it’s a very good bonus and you won’t find many better sign up bonuses than Party Poker’s.
In addition to the generous sign up bonus, new players also have the chance to enter the many freerolls and bankroll builder tournaments. Party Poker hosts over $100k worth of free to enter tournaments each month, including the weekly $1,500 beginners’ freeroll. This represents excellent value and it’s a great reason to sign up to Party Poker and make a first time deposit. There are a whole host of other promotions on offer at Party Poker, and they do a really good job of keeping you informed. As soon as you login, you can clearly see what promotions you’re eligible for, and check your inbox for new messages.
If you play regularly at Party Poker then you’ll be automatically entered into their loyalty program. They have developed a system that combines the standard Party Points, which are then multiplied depending upon your loyalty points and whether you hit your weekly goal, which are then turned into reward points. Confusing? Yes, very. It’s all a bit stupid and I’ve no idea why they have to make things so complicated. I don’t want to write an essay on their loyalty program, so to keep it simple – you can use reward points to enter tournaments and even convert into cash. To be honest it’s not really the best loyalty program out there, which is a shame as Party Poker generally tend to offer good promotions.
Enter the code POKEROLOGY and claim your $500 bonus: Join Party Poker
Customer Service
I’ve never had a problem with payments at Party Poker, but the email support is very slow. They claim to respond to most emails within 24 hours, but it’s usually nearer the 24 than anything else. This isn’t really good enough, so don’t expect quick answers. There is no online support which you can find at other online poker rooms, but they do have free telephone support. When I’ve got fed up waiting for an email response I’ve used the telephone support and they answer quickly, with little waiting time. They also seem to be well trained and know their stuff. So this makes up for the poor email service.
