The Most Haunted Online Poker Rooms

     >> Subscribe to our Newsletter

Featured Site

Empire Poker

 

 


Featured Site

Empire Poker


>> Empire Poker Review - Online Poker Rooms

Empire Poker

 

Click here to visit Empire Poker.

 

Overall: (4.5)
Bonus: (4.5)
Promotions: (4.5)
Fish: (3.5)
Tournaments: (5)
Software: (4)
Cashouts: (5)
Customer Service: (5)

  Empire Poker

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Empire Poker has been sold to Party Poker and will no longer be a standalone poker room.

 

For a suitable alternative, please visit Party Poker.

 

 

Overall: 4.5
Up until just recently, Empire Poker has been a skin on the Party Poker network, sharing both a player base and software. While Empire retained its software, the two companies have parted ways and Empire players now share traffic with other Party skins. I still give this site high marks, and it has been one of my niche favorites for a couple of years now because of their guaranteed tournaments. I believe that this split will eventually help Empire to grow into its own, and I think that new players will benefit from a tighter player base that they can get to know. Fixed limit players will appreciate the full tables up to the mid-high stakes. Overall, I think that this is a choice for players who value a good loyalty program, weak competition, and guaranteed tournaments.

Bonus: 4.5 ($25 free or 20%)
Normal visitors to their homepage won’t find a deposit bonus. However, we do have a couple of bonus codes for you to get a couple of nice deposit extras. If you visit the site through one of our links, download the software, and use bonus code “EP25BUCKS”, you’ll get $25 free on any deposit. It really only takes a couple hours of play to clear the $25, so it’s a pretty nice perk. You’ll get this regardless of how much you deposit. If you’re depositing more than $100, you should probably use our other code. If you go to the site through one of our links, download the software, and use bonus code “FREEPOKER20”, you’ll get a 20% good up to $100 extra. I give them a good score for being able to choose the best bonus for your deposit.

Promotions: 4.5
Empire has always run a pretty good amount of promotions other than the deposit bonus. They’ve just added a new freeroll structure with 5 daily $500 and $200 events. These don’t usually fill up to capacity, so it’s a decent tournament to keep open as a second window. They’ve also added a monthly $200,000 guaranteed tournament for larger tourney players. The VIP Club is probably their promotion, allowing you to build “EPoints” and cash them in for free merchandise like iPods, poker books, or cash into your account. They also run the occasional freeroll open only to VIP club members. Overall, I think that Empire does a good job of showing loyalty to regular players.

Fish: 3.5
Now that Empire has its own player traffic, it seems like the main word to describe the competition is weak. While some tables are still pretty wild, players now seem to be more weak-tight than they ever have been. Many pots are won with a preflop raise, and I recommend playing an aggressive game from middle and late position. On the other hand, many players are still inexperienced calling stations who will often stay in with thin draws or bottom pair so you shouldn’t be afraid to bet out with your strong hands. Fortunately, the tables are still pretty beatable and I find that I can usually play smaller limits than normal but still expect the same hourly profit. This is also a good site for limit players, and you’ll find full 10-player tables up to $5/10 and $10/20 limits.

Tournaments: 5
I like the tournaments here not because of the volume, but because of the structure. They do run a good number of events daily, but over half of them are guaranteed events. Since overall traffic at Empire hovers around 5,000 players or so during peak hours, many of these tournaments don’t meet the guarantee. For example, let’s say that 100 players show up to a $1,000 guaranteed $5 buy-in event. Since the total player prize pool is only $500, Empire adds another $500 to meet the guarantee of $1,000. This means that you get the prize pool advantage being in a larger event but only have to face half the number of players. They also have begun offering 5 freerolls daily, so freebie players will appreciate that. The big $200,000 guaranteed event runs on the last Sunday of each month, and they’ve also started offering turbo tournaments with increased blind times.

Software: 4
The Empire Poker software basically gives you what you need and not much more. I like the blue color scheme, and the graphics are decent but probably will become monotonous after some time. Fortunately, graphics are probably the least important aspect of a poker room unless you’re playing more for entertainment. The hand history feature is pretty detailed, and allows you to see everyone’s hole cards at the showdown. Game speed is pretty good, but they could “deal” out the cards a bit faster and cut down on transition time between hands. The lobby is very natural and it’s easy to find your desired game.

Best Features
-Good deposit bonuses. These are pretty easy to earn and you can get a flat $25 regardless of your deposit amount.
-Player loyalty program. They have a unique rewards system including cash bonuses.
-Weak players. The best way to describe many of them is weak-tight.
-Guaranteed tournaments. They fall short of the guarantee in terms of players often so you'll have money added to the pool

Cashouts: 5
Their banking options are pretty extensive, and EmpireOnline is a financially stable corporation. Heck, they do have the guts to take on a lawsuit against PartyGaming. I’ve always prompt cashouts – within 24 hours via NETeller.

Customer Service: 5
I appreciate when sites have an instantaneous help feature, and Empire has a live chat feature from within the poker software. If you need help, this is probably the fastest way to get it. If you do write to them via e-mail, responses are usually handles pretty quickly.
 

Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Stud


Limits:    Fixed Limit: .50/$1 - $100/200     No Limit: .10/.25 - $10/20


Tips
Playing at one of the weak-tight tables at Empire is one of the few opportunities that you’ll have online to employ a Doyle Brunson-esque strategy of pure aggression. I definitely recommend an aggressive approach from middle and/or late position if no one has shown any strength in the hand. Since you’ll probably be picking up a lot of pots uncalled, your opponents will start to get suspicious of your holdings. This is exactly what you want. Sometimes, you’ll be raising with a premium hand. Let your opponents try to reraise you and try to put you on a bluff. You’ll probably take down a big pot and then the cycle starts over again: you keep raising and your opponents will probably still be scared from you dragging that huge pot recently. Of course, you’ll need to pick and choose the best opportunities for aggressive play. If you do run into a check-raise or a reraise on a bluff, you should simply let the hand go and wait for a strong hand to make your next move.
 

 

Click here to visit Empire Poker.