Party Poker is currently one of the world’s most visited poker rooms, both for normal games and tournaments. Party Poker used to be part of a network that included Empire Poker and MultiPoker, among others. This network was clearly the largest in the world as regards members. After the network broke up, with Party Poker going it alone, the number one slot has become less clear – is it Party Poker or PokerStars? This fight for first place is certain to continue and, depending on who is doing the counting, either one can clain top spot. Even after the split, Party Poker’s traffic continue to be impressive and it is not unusual to see 45-55,000 players logged in at any time, playing on over 6,500 tables.
The Party Poker organisation was launched in August of 2001 and it didn’t take long before it was one of the key players in the online poker sector. In addition to its significant traffic, Party Poker has a lot to offer, for example relatively easy games, a variety, events and a loyalty scheme.
The Party Poker loyalty scheme offers you points for everything you do, for example playing a hand, or taking part in a Sit & Go or a tournament. These points can then be used to buy into tournaments or buy clothes and other items in their special store. They have even offered the possibility of directly buying into big, live tournaments. As opposed to a number of other loyalty schemes, it is relatively easy to accumulate enough points to buy a t-shirt or cap.
Overall, it is rare to hear anything negative said about Party Poker. To take one example, you never hear it said that they have a problem with withdrawals and most people seem to like their software. Being the leader is often back-breaking work, but Party Poker seems to have no thoughts of letting go its hold on first place and is focusing its efforts on existing and new players.
Software and graphics
Bearing in mind the number of players who frequent Party Poker, their software is simply impressive. A couple of problems in the client have now been fixed and it all works in a stable and simple manner. However, the client can occasionally experience a bit of slow down. As for the graphics, it may be on the simple side, but many enjoy the tables’ clean style. You can now have up to 10 tables on the go at the same time. Unfortunately, you cannot see how many players have taken part in each hand, or how many hands have been played per hour, information that is normally used to see how far in a game is at any particular table. They only information given is the average pot for the last 20 hands.
Games and numbers of players
As previously mentioned, Party Poker is one of the largest online poker rooms and this obviously means that there is never a problem in finding a table to play at. They offer games of Texas Hold’em, Omaha and 7-Card Stud, the last two in both High and Hi-Lo versions. For Texas Hold’em, the levels vary between $0.50/$1 up to $30/$60 at the Fixed Limit tables and from $25 to $1000 tables at the Pot- and No-Limit tables. This means that beginners start at a relatively high level compared to other poker rooms, which can offer levels at $0.05/$0.10 or lower, which generally makes games at the lower tables fairly loose and easy to beat. On the other hand, the highest limits are a touch too low for the real high rollers.
Party Poker also has two special sections found in the lobby: Bad Beat Jackpot and High Hand Jackpot. Both these only have Fixed Limit Texas Hold’em ranging in levels from $2/$4 up to $15/$30 and for every pot played, $0.50 is taken out and placed in the jackpot. For Bad Beat Jackpot, the Jackpot is awarded when someone loses with hand of four eights or higher. 70% of the jackpot is dealt out around the table, with half of this going to the losing hand, a quarter to the winning one and the remaining quarter split up around the table. In order to activate the High Hand Jackpot, someone has to get a Royal Flush, in which case 70% of the jackpot is dealt out (with the remaining 30% carrying over), with 70% going to the winning hand and the rest being distributed around the table. Bear in mind that for both Bad Beat and High Hand, the losing and winning hands, respectively, must use both their hole cards.
Tournaments
As with normal games, when it comes to tournaments, Party Poker is one of the biggest. Their tournaments come in all sizes and for all the games that are offered as cash games. Something that Party Poker is really big on is Fixed Limit tournaments, with their flagship live tournament: PartyPoker.com Million, played only as Fixed Limit. It is a special tournament which basically happens daily with, for example, a guaranteed prize pot amount.
Technical support
Party Poker offers telephone, email and live support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Recently, Party Poker invested significantly in improving their service, which now has good response times for all modes.
Email support: info@partypoker.com
Telephone: +350 50509
Deposit and withdrawal options
Deposits: Neteller, Visa, MasterCard, Wiretransfer, Citadel Commerce, Diners Club, Firepay.
Withdrawals: Neteller, Solo, iGM-Pay (eChecks), Bank cashier withdrawal
Minimum deposit: $50
Advantages
Huge base of players
Excellent bonus offers
Lots of tournaments
Good support
Disadvantages
Poor information available in the lobby regarding the games
Limited statistics feature