Home Party Poker Review

Party Poker Review

URL: www.partypoker.com
Founded: 2001
Based: Gibraltar
Registered owner: Party Gaming
Licensed (1): Gibraltar
Licensed (2): Alderney
Poker Network: Not part of any network
Software verified by: Itech Labs
Accepts US players: No
Supported languages: 13
Official forums: None
Support: Phone & email 24/7

Total Score: 7.7/10

Player activity: 8/10
Promotions: 7/10
Game selection: 6/10  
Software: 8/10 
Cash games: 9/10 
Tournaments: 8/10
Support: 7/10 

The good Smile
Plenty of action around the clock
Very beginner friendly
Exclusive VIP treatment for dedicated players
The hottest Bad Beat Jackpot in the business

The bad Cry
High Sit and Go fees on low buy-ins
No mixed games
Not much action at higher stakes
Max 4 concurrent tables

First Deposit bonus: 100% up to $500

Get your Party Poker bonus code.  

Promotions


First Deposit Bonus: 100% up to $500

Bonus ratio ($): $0.33 bonus per $1 fee/rake
Bonus ratio (€): €0.25 bonus per €1 fee/rake
Bonus ratio (£): £0.22 bonus per £1 fee/rake
Bonus release: 10% of deposit
Time limit: 60 days

General promotions
Reload bonus: Not at the moment of writing
Rakeback: Not expressly but rake dependent points can be redeemed for cash in VIP store
Freerolls: Over $100,000 worth of freerolls every month
GTD tournaments: $6 million in guaranteeds every month + main events
Satellites to live events: Yes

Races/Leaderboards
$30,000 worth of single and multi-table tournament leaderboards every month running on both weekly and monthly basis

VIP Program
Point system: Party Points (2PP per $1 fee/rake)
Bronze: 0-399 PP monthly
Silver: 400-999 PP monthly
Gold: 1000+ PP monthly
Palladium: 9000 PP per quarter year (concierge, exclusive events and other benefits)
Palladium Elite: 50,000 PP per quarter year (even more benefits)
VIP store (spend PP): Tournament entries, gift cerificates, cash & luxury articles
Minimum cash per point (Bronze): 400 PP -> $10 = 5% rakeback
Maximum cash per point (Palladium Elite): 100,000 PP -> $20,000 = 40% rakeback

Special promotions
Bad Beat Jackpot: Lose with quads of 8s or better on special cash game tables to release the progressive jackpot

Poker Games

Standard
Texas Holdem
Omaha
Omaha Hi/Low
7 Card Stud
7 Card Stud Hi/Low

Mixed
None

Software

General
Developer: Internally developed by the owner Party Gaming
Network: Not part of any network
Compatibility: Windows / Mac OS / Linux
Client size: 45.1 MB
Flash client for browser play: Yes, Party Poker "Anywhere Beta"
Encryption: SSLv3/TLSv1
Random number generator: TRNG
Verified by: Itech Labs

Lobby
Signup process integrated: Yes
Cashier screen integrated: Yes
Live chat support: No
Change language: Yes

Search
Search for player: Yes
Buddy list: Yes
Hide from player search: Yes
Bookmark feature for tables/tournaments: Yes

Special features
Opportunity alerts (good hand, big pot, raise sequence)
Show hand strength option

Table
Seat preference: Yes
Max concurrent tables: 4
Increased time bank when multi-tabling: No
Option to show/hide lobby when opening tables: Yes
Option to keep current table in focus until you have acted: Yes
Custom table size: Yes
Save custom layout: No
Remember table positioning: Yes
Predefined table sizes: Only 1
Fullscreen mode: No
Set all tables to predefined size: Yes (tile)
Cascade tables: Yes
Tile tables: Yes

Analysis
Hand history: Yes
Tournament history: Yes
Hand replay (recording): Yes
Take notes on players: Yes
Chat with players: Yes

Aesthetics
3D graphics: No
Four color deck option: Yes
Change table theme: Yes
Create table theme: No
Change card theme: Yes
Change avatar: Yes
Custom avatar (global): Yes
Remove avatars: Yes
Switch off animations/sounds: Yes

Cash Games

General features
1on1 (heads-up): Yes
Standard seats: 2, 6, 9 or 10
No-flop, no-drop? (no rake if hand ends pre-flop): Yes
Rake: 5%
Rake cap: $5
Disconnect protection: Yes, unless table states "no DP"

Time banks
Fixed limit: 25 seconds
No limit/pot limit: 35 seconds
Disconnect time bank (no DP): 0-60 seconds

Special Features
Beginner tables: Tables where only players who have recently signed up can play
Bad Beat Jackpot: Party Poker has over 100 highly active Bad Beat Jackpot tables where 50 cent of every raked pot is collected and reserved for the Bad Beat Jackpot. The jackpot hits when somebody at the designated tables loses a showdown when holding quads of 8s or higher. Both pocket cards must be part of the hand to qualify. 70% of jackpot is paid out to the players while 20% is retained as seed for next jackpot and the final 10% is claimed by the poker room. 50% of the payout goes to the bad beat loser, 25% to the winner and the remaining 25% is distributed between the remaining players who were dealt into the hand. You can watch the jackpot growing by the second in the Party Poker lobby. The biggest jackpot so far hit at an astounding count of $1,013,381 on a $0.50/$1 Limit Holdem table on the 11th of September 2008 at 23.12 ET. No other poker room comes close to the jackpots of Party Poker.

No Limit Holdem stakes
Fullring (9 seats): $0.01/$0.02 - $25/$50
6-max (6 seats): $0.02/$0.04 - $25/$50
Heads-up (2 seats): $0.25/$0.50 - $5/$10

Fixed Limit Holdem stakes
Fullring (10 seats): $0.02/$0.04 - $100/$200
6-max (6 seats):  $0.05/$0.10 - $250/$500
Heads-up (2 seats): $1/$2 - $20/$40

Lobby info     
Players per flop: Yes
Average pot: Yes
Hands per hour: Yes

Tournaments

Special features
$6 million guaranteed monthly prize pool
Monthly million
Weekly Guaranteed $300k Sunday
Party Night $250K Guaranteed every friday  
Entry fee capped at $10 for single table tournaments
Party Poker Steps: a 6 step SitnGo tournament that begins at a $3 buy-in table and ends at a $500 buy-in table where $2000 can be won
Time-based Sit and Go tournaments

Leaderboards
Total tournament leaderboard prize pool of $30,000 per month
Weekly Sit and Go leaderboard where winner gets $500
Weekly MTT leaderboard where winner gets $500
Monthly Sit and Go leaderboard where winner gets $2500 and top 100 in the money
Monthly MTT leaderboard where winner gets $2000 and top 100 in the money

Hosted main events
Party Poker Million - $1.2 million guaranteed
Party Poker World Open - $504,000 guaranteed
Party Poker Women's World Open - $108,000 guaranteed
Party Poker Premier League - $1 milllion prize pool; 12 entrants only

Owned Poker Tours
World Poker Tour (WPT)

Satellites to external events
World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Asian Poker Tour
Pokernews Cup Australia
Conrad Poker Tour

General tournament features
Disconnect protection: No
Disconnect time bank: 0-60 seconds
Final table deals allowed: Yes
Standard time bank: 25 seconds
1on1 (Heads-up): Yes
Heads-up time bank: 15 seconds
Private tournaments: Only for affiliates

Tournament info     
Payout displayed before tournament: Yes
Number of entrants displayed: Yes
Blind time remaining: Yes - table & lobby
View own position: Yes - lobby
All players position: Yes - lobby
Exiting players displayed: Yes

Multi Table Tournaments (MTT)    
Standard starting stack: 3000
Standard blind increments: 14 mins
Buy-in fee: 10% at average
Standard seats: 10
Heads-up: Yes

Freerolls
Over $100,000 worth of freerolls every month
$30,000 worth of beginner exclusive freerolls every month
VIP freerolls with PP buy-in

Satellites      
Standard starting stack: 3000
Standard blind increments: 14 mins
Entry fee: 10% at average
Standard seats: 10

Sit and Go (single table)
Fullring buy-in (10 seats): $0.80+$0.20 - $5000+$10
6-max buy-in (6 seats): $0.80+$0.20 - $5000+$10
Heads-up buy-in (2 seats): $5+$1 - $5000+$10
Entry fee: 5-25% and capped at $10
Standard starting stack: 2000
Standard blind increments: 10 minutes
Speed: 5 minutes
Turbo: 3 minutes
Standard number of seats: 2, 6 or 10
 
Party Poker Steps (Sit and Go)
Description: A six step Sit and Go Tournament. At the first step you buy-in at $3. If you win you gain entry to the next step with a higher buy-in and so on until you reach the sixth and final step where the buy-in is $500 and first prize is $2000. It is a long journey but it can pay off well for someone with a modest bankroll and great deal of patience and luck.

Time-based Sit and Go
Description: These special single table tournaments end after a certain time instead of when a player has won all the chips. The prize pool is divided between the top 3 players as determined by chip count. The typical time limits range from 15 to 60 minutes. When 10% of the tournament remains the time to act is reduced in order for the game to escalate. There are two variants. One that ends at the fixed time and one that can end up to 10% earlier.