Party Poker Review

Party Poker Summary

Party Poker is one of the largest and most trusted online poker rooms in the world, established back in 2001 on its own privately developed Party Poker network and software platform. Good game variety, a fully loaded tournament schedule and vast real-money player traffic are only a few of the perks at Party Poker. Party Poker does not normally offer a first-time deposit bonus, but BonusAndRaces has set up a special deal with Party Poker that awards a 100% matching bonus worth up to $500 on a new player’s initial deposit using the special bonus code “BARVIP”.

Party Poker Software

Powered by privately developed software, Party Poker is fast, stable and highly functional with a host of customizable features and statistics to help players fine-tune their poker skills. Party Poker offers both a downloadable and no-download version of their outstanding software, resulting in compatibility across all major operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux). The software and web site are available in 13 languages. All sounds and animations can be disabled, which is good for experienced players who tend to be annoyed by such things after awhile. The graphics are clean and offer nice avatars for use at the classic-style green felt tables.

The Party Poker Lobby offers most of the essential stats and tools needed to assist players in finding the most suitable table as quickly as possible with user-friendly filtering of games, limits and stakes/buy-ins. Lobby stats include average pot size and hands per hour, but there is a prominent lack of viewed-flop percentages. Take notes during play; analyze highly statistical hand histories that can be exported to most poker odds calculators; multi-table at up to 12 simultaneous ring games. Special features include deal making and 4-color decks.

Party Poker Bonuses & Promotions

Party Poker does not offer a new player first-deposit bonus on the web site, but BonusAndRaces has consulted with the online poker room to offer our visitors a special welcome bonus of 100% up to $500 by entering the Bonus Code "BARVIP". New players have 30 days to collect 4 poker points for every $1 of the bonus in order to release the full amount into their real money account.

New players are also granted entry to daily $100 Rookie Freerolls for the first 60 days on membership, along one entry to a weekly $2,500 Freeroll.

Regular Party Poker promotions include a $50 refer-a-friend bonus, cash games worth $10,000 each week by playing the specially marked “tables of the week”, and a Bad Beat Progressive Jackpot. Part Poker hosts a minimum of $100,000 in Freerolls every week and a $300k Guaranteed every Sunday.

Leaderboard competitions are held both weekly and monthly at Party Poker. Weekly Leaderboard winners compete heads-up for a shot at $1,000, while the top 100 Monthly Leaderboard winners receive exclusive entry to a $5,000 Freeroll, held on the 2nd of each month.

Party Poker Ring Game Variety & Traffic

Party Poker offers Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, varying between Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit. Stakes range from micro-limits to high-roller action, and with such a large player base, members will find open tables to suit all game preferences and bankrolls. Ful-tables, short-handed and heads-up action can be found.

Peak hour ring game traffic averages 9,500, with most seated at FL and NL Hold’em tables. Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo cash games average about 1,000 players combined, with near 500 in Stud games. The juiciest competition is generally found in the lowest stakes, but with such a massive traffic rate, even the $2/$4 and $5/$10 tables reveal frequently high viewed-flop percentages.

Party Poker Tournaments & Traffic

Party Poker has a very lucrative tournament schedule, offering consistent Freerolls, Guaranteeds, Satellites and Qualifiers, ranging from re-buys, add-ons and freeze-outs to turbos, shoot-outs and time-based events. Daily Freerolls offer prize pools of $250, $500 and $1,500, though most require a certain number of points to enter. Some Freerolls are region-specific, keeping the numbers low and the odds of winning substantially higher. Occasionally, Party Poker will hold promotional Freerolls with much higher prize pools of $10,000+.

Guaranteed tournaments offer buy-ins as low as $1 scaling up into the hundreds. Party Poker recently integrated a new buy-in rule that caps the fee at $10 for any tournament with a buy-in of more than $200. Guaranteed tournaments with lower prize pools see a lot of entries and often loose game play, while the bigger tournaments are much more difficult to win. The largest weekly prize pool at Party Poker is a $300k Guaranteed with a direct buy-in of $200. Multiple qualifiers are held throughout the week for as little as $3 awarding seats in the $300k GP.

If a major live poker tournament is coming up, you can bet Party Poker is offering Satellites and Qualifiers with Main Event prize packages. Check the Party Poker News page for current live poker tournament satellites and qualifiers.

Support

Party Poker supplies 24/7 customer support via multiple email departments and toll-free telephone lines. The staff is fast, friendly and reliable. An in-depth FAQ page is very useful for answering most common questions.

Payment Methods

Party Poker offers a plethora of payment options to accommodate players all over the world (US players not accepted).

Deposit Methods: Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Visa Electron, Chinese Debit, Laser, Switch, Solo, Maestro, EPS, Web Money, Mister Cash, iDeal, ClickandBuy, Click2Pay, GiroPay, Ukash, eWire, ELV, EFT, UseMyBank, BPay, Moneybookers, NETeller, EntroPay, Citadel, MyCitadel, Bank Transfer, Bank Wire Transfer and Party Poker Gaming Cards.

Withdrawal Methods: Visa, Switch, Solo, Maestro, Web Money, Click2Pay, BPay, Moneybookers, NETeller, Bank Wire Transfer, Check by Mail and Check by Courier.