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Party Poker
PartyPoker ReviewIf you've been around the online poker scene for any amount of time, you've most likely heard a story or two about Party Poker. The room rode the crest of the poker boom as one of the largest and highest-traffic rooms around, known for its soft games and crazy players. The high concentration of players was mainly due to Party's aggressive advertising campaigns in the United States- for most who were looking to try out online poker, Party was the first room they heard of. All this being said, the landscape of poker has changed significantly since the golden days. With the passing of the UIGEA in the US came a boot up the rear for American players on Party. Uncle Sam's legislation forced half of the room's player base to look elsewhere for games, and changed the dynamic of play on the site for a period of time.At present, Party Poker is slowly recovering its traffic. Instead of drawing players from the US, Party has been marketing to Western European countries, as well as planting the seed for a boom in far eastern countries. Averaging about 7500 cash game players and about 55,000 tournament players online at peak hours, there is an increasing amount of action happening at Party to satisfy any player's needs. It remains a popular and reputable room to play at. PartyPoker CompetitionIt's true, the games aren't quite what they used to be. Gone are the days when you could win 4 buyins a session value betting top pair bad kicker- the Americans are gone, and everyone else has learned how to play (at least, sort of.) Micro stakes cash games are still very easily beatable- typical weak-passive play dominates limits under 100NL allowing for a fun and profitable game. With the influx of European players coming through Party's doors however, have come a new breed of hyper-aggressive players found at various concentrations throughout the stakes. You will run into a few at micro stakes, but not enough to worry about. Small stakes remain somewhat passive, but more aggressive than some sites. Stakes above 400NL can get pretty wild, so be prepared for action if you're a high roller.Tournament competition remains pretty soft, on account of the sheer volume of entries. If you're looking for easy MTTs or Sit n Go's, you probably want to be playing at Party. Party Poker TournamentsParty's strength as a room has always been its tournament schedule and promotions. A huge variety of multi table tournaments are available for play at all times, with buyins ranging from $2 to $640. All sorts of structures are spread, including rebuys, big stacks and shootouts- any tournament craving can be satisfied at Party. The most popular tournament game is No-Limit Hold'em, but games are available for Stud, Omaha and Limit as well.Sit n Go tournaments are a popular choice for those who want fast playing games. They are available in pretty much any conceivable combination of game, limit and structure. Standard 10 person one-table games are a popular choice, available in Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha 8, Stud and Stud Hi-Lo varieties. Multi-table Sit n Go games are a bit more restricted in variety at Party, Hold'em being the only game being offered, and games only found in 20 man and 50 man versions. The multi-table SnG's rarely fill up, except for during peak hours. Even then, they could take a while. A real upside of playing tournaments at Party is the available selection of weekly guaranteed tournaments and events. These are tournaments that run at a scheduled time every week, usually with a guaranteed prize pool, and are generally the highest traffic tournaments at the site. The biggest is the $300,000 Guaranteed Sunday. Held every Sunday at 12:45PM EST, the tournament has a $215 buy-in, a guaranteed prize pool of at least $300k, and is always fun to play. The Super Weekdays tourneys are held every Tuesday through Thursday afternoon. Super Weekdays are high-stakes tourneys for those who just can't wait until the weekend for tourney action. Friday nights are big at Party, with a plethora of guaranteed tournaments being offered, including a $50,000 guaranteed turbo, and a $5,000 guaranteed standard (with a buyin of only $33!) On top of all the constantly running tournaments, Party Poker also holds a yearly flagship tournament, the Party Poker Million. The big selling point behind this tournament being that, first prize pays at least one million bucks. Players qualify for the Million via a series of 'steps' qualifiers. Players move up through the steps for as low as $10, in order to win a seat on the Party Poker Million cruise- valued at $12,000. Poker PromotionsThe $300,000 Sunday guarantee is a huge event at Party Poker, and the site wants all its players to take part. For those who don't want to buy in for the full $215, Party offers a series of satellites and qualifiers that all lead to a seat in the Sunday. There are 9 daily multi-table tournaments available, including 7 rebuy tournaments, 1 turbo, and 1 regular tourney. Guaranteed seats in each range from 4-16, and buyins range from $3 to $23. These satellites tend to be pretty soft, and are a great way to get into the big Sunday tourney. Also available are 6 weekend multi-table satellites into the 300k, ranging from a $12 buyin to a $24 buyin. Single table Sit n Go's into the Sunday are available on-demand, ranging from a $3 buyin for a 10 man tournament, to a $120 buyin for a heads-up tournament.Party also offers “table of the week” cash games, which offer $10,000 worth of cash bonuses to players sitting at selected tables. Prizes are distributed via a random draw, and 200 lucky players are selected to receive free cash every week! Poker GamesAs far as cash games, Party spreads games and limits of all kinds. Games spread include Limit and No Limit Hold'em, No Limit Omaha (Hi and Hi-Lo,) Pot Limit Omaha (Hi and Hi-Lo,) and 7 Card Stud (Hi and Hi-Lo.) Stakes range from Beginner's Games with $0.02/$0.04 blinds, to high stakes with $25/50 blinds.Poker Client SoftwareParty's software is generally intuitive, although bland. Everything you need to do is easily accessible and visible from the main lobby, and well laid out. Actual game tables are somewhat dated, featuring bad 3D renders of players set to a beige backdrop. A recurring complaint about Party's software is that play buttons are sometimes 'sticky.' For instance, if one wants to sit in at a table, sometimes the first click will not register, and one will need to press a few times for a response.A plus to Party's software is its no-download version, making play on Macintosh computers possible. Not many rooms support Mac these days, which brings a certain demographic to the room that might not be found elsewhere. The feature is also comes in handy when traveling without your normal computer. A great feature for tournament players is the deal-making function Party Poker has implemented. The feature allows for players at the final table of a tournament to split their winnings however they so choose, just like in live tournaments. Here are some screenshots: 
 Payment OptionsParty accepts deposits from most major online transaction service providers, including Neteller, Click2Pay, Moneybookers, Citadel, Click and Buy, Use My Bank, Paysafe and a few more depending on jurisdiction. As well, deposits can be made by Visa and Mastercard where permitted. Cashouts can be processed by paper check, bank transfer, or bank wire where available, as well as to eligible payment processors such as the ones listed above.PartyPoker Bonus Code100% up to $150 on your first deposit! Simply enter CAN500 when making your first deposit.Clearing the BonusTo clear your bonus, you need to earn four Party Points per bonus dollar you receive. Party Points are collected by playing raked hands of poker, and generally come fairly soon. In order to receive your bonus you'll need to clear the point requirement within 30 days.The Good- $XXXX Bonus- Busy and robust tournament schedule with lots of guaranteed prize pools. - Soft low stakes cash games - Mac compatible. - Easy deposit options, reliable cashouts. The Bad- Slightly dated software.- Lower traffic than pre-UIGEA era (although still high traffic compared to most sites) - Americans cannot play.  PartyPoker References: Party Gaming on Wikipedia |
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