POKER EVENTS

Party Poker is an European poker room and clearly one of the largest with shares traded on the London stock exchange. Through some dedication they remained at the top of the industry even after the UIGEA. Use bonus code SQUIDOO to receive a 30% bonus of up to $150 on your first deposit.

Software
The software is available in a download and flash client although if you’re a MTT player you will need the download version. MTT games will be available sometime soon in the instant play. They have developed high volumes of traffic from the UK as well as other areas of Europe so finding a game will never be an issue. Players can use Euros, Pounds and Sterling. A bad beat jackpot is available for players who opt for specific ring games. These games are highlighted so you know which ones qualify and the jackpot can go well above the $400,000.

Competition
For starters everyone talks about the reckless play and the swings in the micro and low limit tables. This is true to an extent. If you look at the tables you will find some micro games leading an average viewed flop percentage of 55%, but this doesn’t mean that all the games are weak. There are still ample players who are there playing a solid game. Now if you look at the limit poker, that’s a whole new ball game. In limit, even up to the $2/$4 tables you can expect a lot of players to be in the hand till the end. This holds true for the Omaha PL games. If you understand the game of Omaha than you should be able to profit easily with the stakes up to $1/$2. Ring games where the stake is at least $3/$6 will start to ease up with over aggressive players.

Games
Ring games are packed almost any time of the day and not just in Holdem either. Party Poker offers Texas Holdem in NL, PL, L formats while the Omaha spread is PL and Limit. They also include Stud but not in Hi Lo. Of course Texas Holdem is full of action, that’s a given with most poker rooms of this size. The stakes range from 1p/2p up to$25/$50. If you want to play NL Holdem at top level, be sure to note that the majority of the players are occupying the NO DP tables. Not often will they play where disconnections are taken into consideration so you should make sure your internet will hold up for your games. Omaha is well targeted. Almost anytime I have logged on to my account I can find a pot limit game running, with all stakes active up to $3/$6 with the occasional $5/$10 game going. If you want micro games than you will never have a difficulty finding a busy table. As far as Stud, the tables do see some traffic but not a lot, and I prefer to play H/L which they don’t offer either.

Tournaments
Tournaments at Party Poker are loaded with everything you could want. High guaranteed payments, exclusive tournaments giving away seats to events based out of Europe as well as fast paced. These games see plenty of traffic, with average peak hours exceeding 60,000 + real money players. Party Poker only offers tournaments in Texas holdem and Omaha but they do support a lot of re-buys, GP’s, freezeouts and my favourite - the turbo games. Your largest tournament you will find is the $200,000 GP. Players can buy into these directly (215) or enter in one of the daily qualifiers in MTT format or SNG. The SNG games are great. I have never played one where I had to wait above 2 minutes for it to start. During peak hours it may take you a couple of attempts to register because they fill so quickly. SNG tournaments are available in your standard selection as well as qualifiers, sub-qualifiers and the new Hellkat tournaments. These are alot of fun. If you don’t have much time to play or you’re not wanting a long tournament the Hellkats are available for this purpose. These Hellkat SNG’s are played on a time schedule with an allotted amount of time. So if all you have is 5 or 15 min and want a fast game look for these.

Party Poker Bonuses - The sign up bonus is a 30% up to $150 and add the extra offers on top of this (which can come weekly or bi weekly) Party Poker does meet the same standards as most of the other poker rooms for bonuses and they are not as difficult to clear. PartyParty Poker bonus is released in increments of $10 with players earning 5 points for every dollar in rake.

Customer Support
The support team is great. They are available 24/7 through email, live chat and phone. I have contacted them a few times with email response being minimal. The phone support team answers very quickly and will assist you anyway they can.

Deposits and Withdrawals
Party Poker offers multiple methods for deposits and withdraws and each financial processor has been tested for security prior to being used. Your current options available include; VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, FirePay, Western Union, eChecks (by iGM-Pay), bank draft, cashier’s check, money order, check