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Party Poker

 

 


Featured Site

Party Poker


>> Party Poker Review - Online Poker Rooms

Party Poker

 

Click here to visit Party Poker.

 

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

  Party Poker

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall: 4.5
Party Poker is the staple of online poker, mostly known for its enormous volume of players and some of the loosest players online. While you shouldn’t choose a new poker site based solely on popularity, this site is strong on other merits such as their large number of inexperienced players, an extremely busy tournament schedule, and good customer service. They're always first or second in terms of player traffic, and their biggest advantage over the competition is the sheer volume of filled tables at all limits on their network. Since they regularly top 70,000 players at peak hours, you don’t have to wait for new tables to open up. I also appreciate the new effort to cater to new players through deposit bonuses and other promotions, while still upgrading their loyalty program to regulars. Scoring high in our ratings, this is a well-rounded site overall.

Bonus: 4.5 ($25 free or 20%)
Unfortunately they don’t publicize a deposit bonus directly through their home page. However, you’re eligible for two exclusive bonuses through our site. Firstly, you can get a $25 flat bonus on any deposit. To receive the $25 free, visit the Party Poker homepage, download the software, and use bonus code “PP25CASH”. I like this bonus since it is awarded regardless of how much you deposit. If you’re deposit more than $100 or so, it might make more sense to go with our second bonus. It’s a 20% bonus, which can get you up to $100. To receive the 20% bonus, visit the Party Poker homepage, download the software, and use bonus code “HP20”. Both of these bonuses don’t require much action on your part to cash it out, so I give it a high score.

Promotions: 5
Being such a large poker site, Party Poker offers a bunch of promotions to its players. Firstly, you can enter a $5,000 freeroll as a new player. You’ll be up against a large field, but it’s pretty generous for a freeroll. Another new feature is the assortment of “Beginner’s Tables”, which are played at limits down to 2/4 cents. Note that you’ll only be able to play these micro-limit tables for a few weeks. After that, you’ll need to move up to the normal stakes. They also run a weekly $200,000 guaranteed event, which is double what many sites offer. The Sit ‘n Go Step tournaments are also fun, which is a ladder-type event that allows top finishers to move up. If you don’t do very well, they give you another shot at the same (or lower) level. Also, they run satellites for the PartyPoker.com Million, which is a huge WPT-sponsored event that takes place annually aboard a cruise ship. It seems like a cool event, but does it have to be limit Hold‘em?

Fish: 4
Party Poker seems to have the reputation of being the fish tank for online poker. While they do attract plenty of inexperienced players via their advertisements, the tables aren’t overflowing with pathetically second-rate competition. That being said, these tables are still some of the loosest that you’ll find online. Average pot sizes and flop percentages are both generally higher-than-average, and most players are easily beatable for even average. If you’re new to poker, you’ll still find plenty of players at your skill level here. Most players don’t know when to give up bottom pair, and the bluff percentage seems to be higher at Party than other sites. Of course, you’ll find the occasional tight-aggressive player at your table, but you should be able to tag and avoid him for future hands.

Tournaments: 5
Party Poker is probably in the top two for both multi-table tournaments and Sit ‘n Gos. Because of the huge number of players at this site, you can always find a Sit ‘n Go at all stakes waiting to be played. An interesting idea that only works on such a big site is the multi-table Sit ‘n Go, which actually get going pretty quickly. Even limit tournaments are popular here. In terms of larger multi-table events, they do offer a good amount of mini buy-in events under $10 for players on a small bankroll, but serious tournament players will still find several hundred opponents in larger buy-in events. The $500,000 guaranteed event is their biggest weekly tournament promotion. The buy-in isn't huge, so serious tournament players should appreciate this event. Finally, you can find scattered freerolls that can only be entered with Player Points, which limits the field and makes skill more important.

Software: 4
To sum it up, the Party Poker software isn’t super-advanced but it does have the necessities. On a side note, I’m constantly surprised at how important casual poker players think that the software is. If it is stable, has decent graphics, allows you to easily find a table, and plays at a quick pace, what else do you really need? Anyway, the graphics are decent here, and the hand history feature is pretty extensive. You’ll be able to everyone’s hole cards at the showdown even if they mucked the hand, so that is one advantage. The lobby is also laid out in a logical format, so you can find your desired game pretty quickly. Party has recently upgraded their software to include features like Blackjack, side bets on the color of the flop, and the ability to make tournament deals. While the tournament feature is handy, I recommend that you stay away from the other new features since they always have a house edge. Other new positive upgrades include listing all tables by the amount of the blinds, an upgrade in the overall presentation, a more logical lobby layout, and best of all, the ability to cascade, resize, and tile multiple tables.

Best Features
-The most players online. The biggest advantage of this site is that you'll never have trouble finding full games at your desired variation or limit.
-Busy high-stakes action. Larger players will find plenty of active tables.
-Very loose tables. Still attracting plenty of new players, this is still a very fishy site.
-Good deposit bonuses. You have a couple of choices and I like the flat $25 bonus as it is good regardless of how much your deposit.
-Plenty of tournaments. With their massive traffic they hold some huge events.

Cashouts: 5
Obviously, Party Poker wouldn’t jeopardize their enormous player base by annoying players with sub-par cashouts. You’re now able to directly link up your bank account with them, so you can easily deposit and withdraw your money without any fees. Cashouts are generally processed within 12-24 hours, so you won’t run into any problems in this category.

Customer Service: 4.5
They automatically get a good score for offering telephone support, which is a step up on many poker sites. E-mail support time is decent, but I recommend giving them a call if you have an immediate concern.
 

Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Stud


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


Tips
Playing at Party Poker, you’ll often be up against frequent bluffers or opponents who bet out with weak draws. While I usually recommend a tight-aggressive strategy in which you should probably have a good draw, top pair, or better to continue after the flop, you may run into a few interesting situations playing here. If you have position on your opponent and you’ve flopped at least one pair, you can consider just smooth-calling your opponent. You should usually do this against just one opponent, since you’ll usually be beat against more than that. If you think that your opponent is over-betting the pot, or you’re up against a frequent bluffer, it is often profitable to call him down. You may improve on the turn or river, and you might even consider throwing in a raise on the flop to see where you stand in the hand.
 

 

Click here to visit Party Poker.