Party Poker Review  90/100

Introduction

Party Poker is one of the largest European poker rooms, launched in 2001 and has been in the industry since the original poker boom. They offer huge tournaments including signature events and super fast sit and go tournaments.

Party Poker has kept its focus on keeping the games fun and easy to play, making it a great room for new players. They focus on the European market and offer their software and website in many different languages, making it easy for everyone to play.


Bonus & Promotions   |   9/10

PartyPoker offers one of the industry’s top Rewards Programs with large cash incentives for regular play. Every Party Poker player earns valuable points through real-money play.

The PartyPoker bonus offers you a 100% match up to $500 with the bonus released in increments of $10 once you have earned at least 5 Party Poker player points.

A minimum deposit required for the exclusive Party Poker bonus is $25. To claim your full bonus, collect eight times the amount you deposited in PartyPoints. For example if you deposited $50 you need to collect 400 points to get your $50 bonus. The bonus is broken down into 10 increments and you have 120 days to claim it.

Points are credited to your account right away for all real-money play and your balance is updated whenever you leave a game. No more restrictions, penalties, multipliers or loyalty levels, and you can spend your points on tournament entries, gifts, cash and bonuses.

Players earn two PartyPoints for every $1 in tournament fees and a varying amount based on raked hands and limits at cash games. For players with more than 5,000 points in a month, Party has also introduced the Palladium Lounge Club with bigger rewards, rake races, exclusive events and VIP service.


Software Graphics   |   18/20

Party Poker’s software has improved dramatically over the last few years. The current Party Poker offering is one of the sharpest, fastest and most reliable poker clients available.

Party Poker offers the following software features:

• Four-color decks
• Comprehensive hand histories
• Customizable sounds
• Deal-making
• Avatars
• Quick seat
• Training tables
• Multi-tabling with support for play at 12 tables simultaneously and table re-sizing
• Tiling and cascading is also available as is the unique “stacking” view
• “Hot hand” hand alert – notifies you whenever you get a specific hand like pocket aces or pocket kings
• PartyPoints – Players can accumulate PartyPoints through ring games, tournaments, or making deposits. These points can be used to enter special freerolls, or even purchase merchandise from a wide range of items available at the PartyPoints Store.
• Player Notes – An easy to use, excellent notes facility is in place at Party Poker.
• Buddy List – Keep a look out for players using the Party Poker buddy list, which is fast and user friendly.
• Create a private table – Set the password and the table will be up and running. Great for online friends to meet up and play amongst themselves privately.
• Party Account – Your account also grants you access to wagering at PartyGammon, PartyBets, PartyBingo and PartyCasino. Your bankroll can be used across a range of exciting Party Gaming brands.

It’s possible to play Party Poker on Windows, Apple Mac and even Linux computers. The download version is restricted to Windows.


Tournaments & Freerolls   |   19/20

Party Poker hosts a lot of great tournaments with buy-ins from $1 up to several hundred. The biggest volume events are definitely the small buy-in tournaments and play at any level is relatively loose, but the big buy-in tournaments will definitely offer up some tough competition as you get closer to the final table.

The biggest tournament available on Party Poker is it’s own signature event called the “Party Millions” which offers players a once in a life time tournament taking place on a cruise ship with a prize pool guaranteed at $1,000,000.

They have also started their qualifiers and satellites to the WSOP with Party Poker announcing that at least 100 players will qualify through their room. Qualifiers start as low as $2 or you have the option to buyin directly.

Every Sunday at 12:45 there is a huge $300,000 guaranteed tournament. You may buy in directly for $215, or you can win yourself an entry via the satellite tournaments that start at just $3. It’s one of the biggest tournaments online.

Party Poker offers one of the best freeroll spreads in the poker industry, with special events for new players, country- and region-specific freerolls as well as special points freerolls and promotions. Party also offers plenty of different qualifiers to big live events all over the world like the Aussie Millions and the World Series of Poker.

Overall, Party Poker is one of the world leaders in both multi-table and sit-and-go tournaments.


Deposits and Cashouts   |   9/10

Deposit options include: VISA, MasterCard, Paysafe card, eps (Australia), WebMoney, Bancontact Mister Cash, iDeal, Laser card, Click & Buy, Click2Pay, Giro pay, ukash, Przleway24, DirectPay24, my citadel wallet, Poli, eWire, ELV Germany/Austria), Electronic Transfer (Canada), UsemyBank (Canada/U.K.), Switch/Solo/Maestro, Moneybookers, EntroPay, Neteller, bank wire transfer and bank transfer.

Withdrawal options include: VISA, Mastercard, WebMoney, Switch/Solo/Maestro, Electronic Transfer (Canada), Neteller, Click2Pay, Moneybookers, bank wire transfer, my citadel wallet, bank transfer, checks by mail and checks by courier.


Service & Support   |   19/20

PartyPoker is well known for its “5 Star Customer Care” and provides 24hr online support in 12 languages via phone, live chat and email.


Traffic   |   9/10

There is a high amount of traffic on Party Poker, averaging close to 10,000 players daily, there are very few disconnections or slowdowns.
Slower hours still have lots of action with over 5,000 players.

There are always numerous games going no matter what limit or variation you enjoy and you’ll always find action at Party Poker.

Party Poker has remained one of the really big online poker operators with 9,000 ring game players and 60,000 tournament players at peak hours (February, 2008).


Game Variety   |   8/10

There’s a respectable range of poker variations in the Party Poker gaming rooms, including:

• Texas Holdem
• Omaha
• 7-Card-Stud – in the usual high and high-low combinations

Summary

Party Poker is a great online poker room, especially for new players as they have a good reputation for trustworthiness and you can always find a game to play due to their good number of players online.