Overall: 5
Pacific Poker is the multiplayer poker room
of the 888 franchise of online gaming. Currently, it is
our top rated poker room as it consistently receives
high scores in our categories. The most
attractive aspect of this site is the frighteningly,
spookily, ridiculously, and downright ghoulishly bad
level of play. Without a doubt, you’ll find the worst
players online and the loosest tables at
Pacific. Judging from our experiences here,
you'll probably earn the most money in the shortest
period of time when you get a decent run of cards. This
is especially true at their no-limit tables. Besides the
terrible players, we also like that they're sticking
with an instant cash bonus for players. The software is simple, they have a busy
tournament schedule, and no other site can come close to
the fish at this pond.
Bonus: 5 (25%
Upfront Cash)
For Haunted Poker visitors,
Pacific Poker offers a 25% deposit bonus,
which is good up to $100. This may seem like an average
deposit bonus, but we really give them points for how
they disperse it to you. It’s an upfront bonus that goes
right into your cash account when you make your first
deposit. You can see it and play with it at the tables
or for a tournament right away. You won’t have to suffer
any BS terms and conditions that require you to play a
certain amount of raked hands before the bonus is
useable. The importance of this type of bonus to me is that
it is available to bring to the tables right away unlike
the vast majority of sites that make you jump through
hoops to get a few extra bucks. This
is a straight 25% bonus and one of the few upfront
bonuses left in online poker.
Promotions: 4.5
Pacific hosts a pretty strong assortment of promotions
to players. I like their weekly $50,000 guaranteed
tournament, which offers a substantial prize pool for a
$65 buy-in. They have satellites throughout the week to
win your buy-in for $1. They also host a “Showdown”
series, which is an interesting idea. Basically, they
count up how many hands at showdown you win over a
specified time period, and give the top 100 cash prizes.
You can imagine the increased action during the
promotional period. Other promotions include cheap supersatellites into big live tournaments, Ultra speed
tournaments with 10 second decision times and 3 minute
blinds, and of course the initial 25% instant bonus.
Finally, new depositors will be able to play in their
weekly $1,000 freeroll.
Fish: 5
Pacific Poker is certainly the fish tank of online
poker, featuring the worst poker players online. It’s
almost tempting to give them a “6” in this category, but
I decided to keep it simple. This poker site experiences
a good amount of crossover traffic from their partner in
Casino on Net, and thus seems to attract inherent
gamblers. You’ll inevitably run into fast and huge pots
at all table stakes. When you pick up a premium hand
preflop or a monster hand on the flop, you can usually
rest easy betting, raising, and reraising since you’ll
almost always get action. When you get a good run of
cards that hold up, you can really make some very easy
money in a short period of time. The flop percentage is
insane, sometimes reaching 60+% at the highest limits.
The tables are absolutely wild here and full of
inexperienced and clueless players. Just be sure to
raise your premium hands and raise ‘em hard to thin the
field and increase your winning potential.
Tournaments: 4.5
The tournament schedule is quite busy on
Pacific, and
they seem to cater to both small-stakes players as well as
players with a sizeable tournament bankroll. I think the
range is buy-ins is an important aspect, and you’ll find
a good number of events all the way down to $1. At the
same time you’ll find plenty of $100 events during peak
hours. Their best offerings include 5 daily $10,000
guaranteed tournaments with a pretty small $15 buy-in.
Also, their weekly big tournament is a $50,000
guaranteed event. They hold freerolls throughout the day, and they
structure them well so you can take a shot without
investing too much of your time. Finally, besides the
obvious no limit hold’em choices, you’ll find a good
number of fixed limit and pot limit events. Overall,
they have strong tournament offerings and a busy event
calendar.
Software: 4 (PC and Mac compatible; now
allows multi-tabling)
In my opinion, the
Pacific Poker software is clean,
simple, and easy to use without a lot of frills. I’ve
heard players complain about the interface, but I think
this largely comes from the impatient players.
Fortunately, they've released a new software upgrade to
allow players to sit at multiple tables. With the latest upgrade,
cards are dealt quickly and game speed is pretty quick.
You can expect to see about 50-60 hands per hour at full
tables. The graphics give you everything you need and I
like their hand history feature, which shows previous
hands in a movie-like format. Also of note is that this
software is available in no-download format, which is
great if you’re at a friend’s computer. This also makes
Pacific a Macintosh-compatible poker site. Overall, the
software is playable and gives you what you
need with some unique features.
Best Features
-The worst players online. The average level of play is
downright terrible at this site.
-Upfront cash deposit bonus. No bizarre playing
requirements - just an upfront bonus.
-Busy tournament schedule. They have a good number of
international players so you can usually find events
going at all hours.
-No-download software version. If you're on a Mac or
can't download extra software, this is a handy feature.
Cashouts: 4
First cashouts tend to take between 2-4 days via
Neteller. As you continue to withdraw, these generally
speed up. You’re dealing with one of the largest online
gaming companies around, so you have nothing to worry
about in terms of financial security. Everything is
confirmed via e-mail, and we have no complaints about
cashouts.
Customer Service: 5
I’ve had positive experiences with
Pacific
customer support. We appreciate the direct telephone
support if you need immediate attention, which is
available at any time. Also, e-mail service is very
secure and they seem to have a large staff that responds
quickly to concerns (usually within 20 minutes).
Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Stud
Limits: Fixed Limit: .05/.10 - $30/60
No Limit: .05/.10 - $3/6
Tips
As mentioned in the overview, you’ll run into some
frightfully poor players at
Pacific. Terrible, loose
players are usually the ones that will pad your wallet,
but how do your extract the most money from them while
still protecting yourself against suck outs? In a
nutshell, you should follow Doyle Brunson’s classic
advice: play the opposite style of the table. Since
almost all tables here are wild and loose, play a tight
and conservative game. Wait for your premium cards
(unless you’re getting great pot odds for a hand like
suited connectors from late position) and raise them
even more than normal. Don’t worry, you’ll usually still
get plenty of action. After the flop, if you still think
you still have the best hand, keep leading out and bet
at least the size of pot. Don’t allow these players a
cheap draw, and protect your strong cards as much as
possible with big bets, raises, and reraises.
Click here to
visit
Pacific Poker.
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