Party Poker Review

Expert View of Party Poker

Party Poker Summary

Party Poker is one of the oldest online poker rooms in the world. It started out as an online casino in 1997 and launched a poker room in 2001, where it quickly became a favorite for poker players. Party Poker’s simple and smooth software, combined with an impressive marketing campaign, pushed Party Poker to the top in 2003, where they stood for a few years.

The company decided to leave the US market after the UIGEA went into effect and traffic subsequently suffered as they quickly fell to third place in the online poker world behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Today, Party Poker is a functioning online poker room but one that is struggling to hold the balance between keeping rewards-minded players happy while still attracting new players. They recently reintroduced a VIP program that hopes to appease players with a program that pays up to a 40% rakeback rate for the highest generating players, while keeping the more recreational player Missions program intact. New players signing up to Party Poker can take advantage of a 100% up to $50 sign-up bonus.

Players can find decent Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em action at the lower limits but not a lot whole lot else. Tournament players can still find some good guarantees up to $150,000 as well as plenty of opportunities to qualify for major live tournaments across the globe.

A Personal Opinion of Party Poker

What Party Poker Players are Saying

Party Poker receives a fair amount of criticism from players who see the poker brand as out of touch with players on such topics as the recreational player model, withdrawal fees and lower rewards. Some of these policies have since been adjusted but it has caused some players to move their play elsewhere.

On the positive side, many players are able to deposit at the site with confidence and experience relatively quick withdrawals and abundant payment methods. The game quality (softer games) receives praise compared to sites like PokerStars.

Just because a poker room has a clean record, doesn’t mean there can’t be issues in the future. If you have a problem or know about a problem with Party Poker, please let us know about it.

Depositing and Withdrawing at Party Poker

Party Poker is big online poker brand and Party Poker accepts players from nearly 150 countries across the globe. This means that Party Poker offers a huge selection of payment options regardless of where you are playing from.

Typical deposit offerings available globally include ewallets such as Neteller and Skrill as well as credit card options like Visa, Mastercard and prepaid options such as paysafecard. Other methods include Ukash, entropay and bank transfers. There are no fees through for most deposits and usually you can find your funds in your account instantly after initiating your deposit.

Withdrawals are also available for many payment options — if you have made a successful withdrawal at Party Poker first. Make sure to check the specific deposit and withdrawal methods available from your location. Players who have withdrawn to Party Poker in the past will be comforted to know that they have waived a very unpopular 3% fee on most withdrawals due to player feedback. However, fees still exist for Neteller and Skrill payments.

Withdrawals are typically paid relatively quickly at Party Poker, with some withdrawals taking just a few hours while others may pay in a couple days. Overally, players should be very pleased with how Party Poker handles your funds.

If you have any questions about payment related issues at Party Poker contact customer payment customer service at transactions@partyaccount.com

Party Poker Safety

Although Party Poker has its fair share of flaws, we consider them to be a very safe online poker to play. They have been a top, independent online poker room for over 15 years, during which time they have been regulated by the most reputable jurisdictions in the world, including more recently regulated markets in the state of New Jersey and countries in Europe.

In addition to their staying power, Party Poker’s parent compay, bwin.party is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange. Although they are a possible acquisition target by another gambling heavyweight, Party Poker and its software aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Deposit your money with confidence on Party Poker.

Party Poker receives a fair amount of criticism from players who see the poker brand as out of touch with players on such topics as the recreational player model, withdrawal fees and lower rewards. Some of these policies have since been adjusted but it has caused some players to move their play elsewhere.

On the positive side, Party Poker is 100% safe and most players are able to deposit at the site with confidence and experience relatively quick withdrawals and abundant payment methods. The game quality (softer games) receives praise compared to sites like PokerStars.

Yes, PartyPoker is legit. Having launched in 2002, PartyPoker has proven that they are a poker room that is here to stay and can be counted on despite their flaws.

Party Poker Bonuses

Party Poker offers a 100% up to $50 first deposit bonus. The bonus releases at a rate of 8 Party Points for every $1 in bonus. It expires after 60 days. Because 2 Party Points are earned for each $1 in rake, the bonus clears at the rate of 25% when earning the deposit bonus.

In 2017, Party Poker released a new VIP program that now rewards players with cash rewards and tournament tickets based on their status level. As is the case with most online poker VIP programs, the more Loyalty Points you earn per month, the better rewards you will receive.

Players receive $5 for every $25 in rake paid each week. At $150 rake paid, players receive $37.50. This goes to $180 for $600 in weekly rake paid and $480 for $1,200 in weekly rake paid.

Party Poker Promotions

Party Poker has a fairly large promotions budget to get players to join the Party Poker cash games and tournaments. Look for the most recently selection of monthly promotions on the Party Poker promotions page for the latest offerings. Expect one of a kind poker tournaments, special events, and occasional extra cash rewards.

Party Poker’s Cash Game Missions are introduced by Party Poker as a way to “spice” up your cash game experience. Accept a mission from the Party Poker client and be rewarded. If you accomplish the mission within a certain amount of time you will receive a cash reward or bonus. Since you are playing these games anyway, there is no reason not to accept the Mission and maybe have a bit of fun achieving the mission in the process.

There are also Missions available for Sit N Go players, which are occasionally posted for players to accomplish. Once you have accepted, you will be given a limited amount of time to complete, at which point you will receive a cash prize or bonus for finishing the mission. These promotions are great fun for new players looking to try new games and win some extra money while doing so.

Party Poker’s Game of the Month is announced on the promotion page each month. Although the promotion does not usually add any extra prizes, they do a great job of showcasing a new game on Party Poker or one that you may have forgot about. Game of the Month is a great way to find out what is new on Party Poker.

Party Poker Game Selection

Party Poker merged its player pool with bwin in 2012. It quickly moved into the number two spot in terms of cash game players at virtually any limit available 24 hours a day.

After the merger, the network made some moves that discouraged high volume players and the traffic suffered. It is now difficult to find games higher than $1/$2 at its No Limit Texas Hold’em. Fixed Limit Hold’em does have some smaller stake action as well, but has also become rare due to the same network rules. The poker room offers a fairly basic selection of the most popular games: No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and 7 Card Stud.

For No Limit Hold’em, games are offered starting at $0.01/$0.02 all the way up to $10/$20, although most of the higher limit action you will see is at the poker room’s heads-up tables. Fixed Limit Hold’em players can usually find tables up to $0.50/$1.00 or so. Party Poker makes some efforts to make the games easier for recreational players with its Anonymous tables along with some restrictions that limit the number of tables you can play at certain games.

Pot Limit Omaha is a popular game at Party Poker with recent action available up to $5/$10. In addition, it gets some pretty decent participation on its fastforward tables, a type of fast-fold game. No limit Hold’em tables run up to $0.50/$1.00 with each stake level getting a few dozen players at each.

Sit and gos are still consistently active up to the $22 level. Virtually all sit and gos running are No Limit Texas Hold’em, although Fixed Limit Hold’em and Stud contests can occasionally be found in the lobby. Party Poker sit and gos have buy-ins starting at $0.10 that move up to $1,000.

Party Poker still offers some great Sunday tournament action. There is over $500k in guaranteed tournaments each and every Sunday. The premier $150k guaranteed prize pool event offers a $200 buyin with multiple satellites if you want to qualify for less. They also offer a $100,000 guaranteed tournament with a $530 buy-in. Smaller guaranteed tournaments are offered through the week.

Party Poker also continues their tradition of excellence in qualifying players for live events. Whether it’s the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker, Party gives you a chance to qualify for some of the world’s biggest live tournaments for as little as $1.

Party Poker FAQ