Review of Party Poker

Our review of Party Poker focuses on the biggest online poker empire in the world. They attract traffic because of their traffic. The top advantage to Party Poker is that they always have a table ready at any limit any time of the day or night. If I get off a feeding frenzy at 4 in the morning and want to play poker, there are plenty of players still online for ring games or tournaments. Their customer service is good, and the fish pond is pretty large to dip into.

Categories Reviewed at PartyPoker.com

Fish: 4
While Party Poker tends to be well-known for attracting large amounts of inexperienced players, there aren't as many compared to a site like Pacific Poker. They do attract their fair share of mackerel, tuna, and swordfish, but they also attract their fair share of sand, hammerhead, and great white sharks. I find the fish to play even more recklessly at Party, and will raise and reraise regardless of if they actually hit anything on the flop. The fish have infiltrated higher stakes and tournaments pretty well. You'll find plenty of new players at this site, but they're not the softest competition.

Sharks: 3.5 (inverse rating)
It was inevitable that they came to Party Poker at some point with the massive marketing campaign that they put out. Since there are plenty of fish at Party, the sharks know where to find them. The result is that you'll usually find a few fish and a few sharks at every table. Realize this and don't try to run over everyone at your table at once. As much as we hope, they can't all be juicy little goldfish.

Bait (promotions): 4.5
Party Poker's deposit bonus is unique in that it allows you to choose the best structure for your depositing level. If you're not depositing a large amount, you can take the $25 free right off the bat. However, if you have a larger bankroll you can take advantage of the 20% bonus. They also create a buzz from the televised Party Poker Million cruise tournament every year. Naturally, you can win a seat by playing on PP. Another tasty treat that earns points in my book is the free money that they sometimes give out when you haven't been playing much on their site. I've received an e-mail from Party on a couple occasions letting me know that they're putting $15 free in my account to help generate action at the tables. Not too shabby…

Skin (software): 4
The software has decent graphics that can get tedious after a while. I can't give them a bad rating since there isn't much to actually complain about, but there also isn't much to rave about. Still, Party's avatars are detailed the graphics are pretty nice. They seat 10 to a table, but game speed is a little slower than many other sites. The hand history feature is excellent, as you can peek at all your opponent's hole cards if there was a hand showdown.

Prey (tournaments): 4.5
With so many players, they can afford to run tons of tournaments every day. There are plenty of freerolls and guaranteed tournaments to whet the appetite. They also feature Multitable Sit 'n Go tournaments, which fill up quickly and are interesting to play in.

Overall Party Poker Rating

Pearls (positives)
With the largest player base and good customer service, Party is always a solid choice. They offer tons of tournaments, and are generous in terms of bait.

Hooks (negatives)
Their software can be slow and dull at times. Also, the fish-to-shark ratio isn't as high as is often thought.

The Hammer (overall rating): 4.5

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Tips for Playing at Party Poker

Meat (tips)
With lots of reckless competition, don't be so quick to back down with your mediocre kicker or middle pair. You'll often be beat, but don't throw your hold away too quickly to an out-of-line bet. As with other loose sites, you should raise your good starting hands enough to discourage draws. Finally, don't play your own draws too often as betting is usually aggressive at Party.

Blubber (babble)
Why do they call it Party Poker? Is it supposed to be a party for everyone at the table? I rarely feel like I'm sitting at a party, especially when someone tries to put the hammer on me. That's my move! And if you're supposed to recreate the social aspect with the chat box, you'd think we're back in remedial school learning basic sand shark grammar by the spelling skills. Anyway, it's a great site to catch a fish sandwich on if you play the right hands. Don't forget the tartar sauce!

♣ ♣ For further details and ratings for PartyPoker.com, you can visit our basic Party Poker review.

     

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