Party Poker Review
Party Poker was launched in 2001 just like many of the other massive poker sites in the industry. Party Poker was in a great position for the online poker boom in 2003 and at the time they were the most visited poker site in the world. After the UIGEA was passed in the United States Party Poker had to exit the market and payoff a huge fine. Party Poker still doesn’t accept US players right now, but if online poker becomes regulated in the USA Party Poker is in good shape to receive a license to operate within the USA.
In March 2011 Party Poker merged with Bwin to form Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PLC. The merge hasn’t provided the poker room with much more traffic yet unfortunately, but in time Party Poker should become more popular throughout Europe. Party Poker is licensed by the Government of Gibraltar and is one of the safest poker rooms in the industry. Bwin.Party is traded on the London Stock Exchange and they need to follow lots of rules and regulations that most poker rooms don’t need to worry about.
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Party Poker Bonus Overview
Party Poker has a great welcome bonus that’s available in 4different currencies. Players can receive a 100% match bonus for up to $/£/€500 based on the currency that your account is set-up in. Players have up to 60 days to clear the full bonus and Party Poker will even release the bonus in small 10% chunks. The rollover on the bonus varies based on the currency you use. You need to earn 6x the Party Points if you deposit in CAD or USD. If you deposit in EUR you need to earn 8x the size of the bonus in Party Points and if you deposit in GBP you need to earn 9x the size of the bonus in Party Points.
Party Poker Software
Party Poker uses proprietary software that can compete with any other software suite in the industry. You can multi-table up to 12 tables at the same time at Party Poker, which is enough for most grinders out there. Party Poker has great graphics and players can choose from many different avatars to represent them at the tables. Party Poker handles tons of traffic and I’ve never had problems with the connection while playing online at Party Poker.
Party Poker has a download version of their software that PC and Mac users can download. There is also an instant flash version of the software that is compatible with the majority of operating systems out there. You can play the instant play version in your web browser and you don’t even need to download anything to the computer you’re using.
Party Poker Games & Tournaments
Party Poker actually has the traffic to compete with the big poker games in game selection if they wanted to, but Party Poker made the decision a long time ago to focus on the “Big 5” poker games including Holdem, 7 Card Stud, Omaha, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo. Party Poker boasts non-stop ring game and tournament action in all 5 of the poker games they spread. You can find tons of micro limit, low limit and even medium limit games running all the time with high limit games running during peak hours.
The tournament situation at Party Poker is great and they’re one of the top tournament poker sites in the industry. You can qualify to lots of live poker events including the Aussie Millions and WPT events. Party Poker also hosts millions in guaranteed prize pool tournaments every month including the weekly $300K. New players will also be able to test out the tournament ring by playing in some of the many freeroll tournaments hosted at Party Poker on a daily basis.
Party Poker VIP Program & Promotions
Party Poker has a 5-tier VIP program that’s very rewarding for players. Each time you play real money poker you earn Party Points, which you can use to in the Points Store. Most players exchange their Party Points for cash or bonuses. If you exchange your points for cash you receive less than you would if you exchange your points for a bonus, but with the bonus you need to meet the rollover requirements before the money becomes yours to keep.
You also want to work your way up the 5-tier VIP program so that you can earn more rewards with your points. If you’re a Bronze level VIP you can earn 5% cashback whereas if you’re a Palladium level VIP you can earn up to 15% cashback. Party Poker also has tons of regular promotions that new players can usually participate in without much of a bankroll. Many of the promotions allow 1000’s of players to earn small prizes, which in my opinion than a couple players winning a large amount of money.
Party Poker Overall Summary
Party Poker is one of the top 3 online poker sites in the industry in 2012 and they’ve only been getting better. They aren’t in any legal trouble with the USA and they run a very tight ship as far as security and finances go. You’ll never have a problem at Party Poker and if you can join Party Poker there aren’t many reasons why you’d choose another poker room over Party Poker.
