Party Poker features the biggest game selection online today with over 70 000 players at peak hours (approx. 6 P.M EST (22.00 CET)) and onwards. These figures are impressive and you will have numerous tables to choose from at all limits for most games. When we played at party for the first time some years ago it was for instance hard to find a $1-$2 Limit Hold’em table up and running off peak hours, this is today no problem at all. Also their Tournament section is open 24 hours a day with a good chance to find a tourney starting within short.
Promotions
The deposit bonus featured by Party Poker is great. You’ll get up to $100 (20% extra) on your first deposit, just use the sign up code: GETUPTO100 alternatively you can get $25 extra when you deposit $50 or more by using the sign up code 50GET75. But that's not all,now and then redeposit bonuses are offered. Also other regular promotions are offered for existing players such as freeroll tournaments which you can join after you played a certain number of raked hands or prize money through random picks at the real money tables. Also they have a players club with special freerolls and promotions including bonus points that can be exchanged into real cash.
Software
The software and server are stable and the graphics is ok. You will be able to follow the game easy and take notes of players along with viewing your own statistics. The stats are kept up to a month so you can follow your play in detail. Each account at party poker has access to web pages with details about their accounts including number of played hands, bonus status and latest transactions, but party poker, please resample the alarm clock alerting players on their turn to act.
Players
All we can say is wow. Not only does this attract a lot of players, it also attracts players that suit your way of playing. If you are a new player you’ll find good competitors at the lower tables and when you are ready for the higher stakes you’ll find a lot of great players at the higher stakes. A lot of players are playing loose and wild, that is they will play with almost any starting hands which makes the pot sizes great. However there are also some very good players here so watch out and avoid the sharks and go for the fish!
Deposits/Withdrawals
Party Poker uses pay pro to process their transactions. The cash outs are very fast, the first may feature some delay but after that the cash out requests are processed within a day sometimes even within hours. This is a very impressive figure in the business. Our preferred method for deposit/withdrawals, Neteller works excellent. We have also made transactions with our credit card where depositing and withdrawals where made without any hassle. The cashier interface is nice and clean and you can choose for your withdrawal deposit option very easily. Our impression of the Pay Pro system is that it is secure and reliable.
Support
You can contact Party Poker by using their free phone number if you live in North America. International players may choose the other options including embedded live chat in the Party Poker client or regular e-mail conversations. Upon our contact with the support staff the service has been fast and to our satisfaction, but in some online poker forums complaints has been raised about the competences and speed of the Party Poker support. This may be due to their fast growth and hopefully these issues are already resolved.
Security/Collusion
All transactions are made through encrypted communication making it hard. Party Poker takes collusion seriously and has a special department conduction internal reviews in case of any suspected behaviour.
Conclusion
If you don’t have an account at party poker today you should definitely get one. With the number of active players, promotions and game selection available you simply cannot avoid this room. The only drawback compared to some rooms is that the rake may be somewhat higher on low limit tables especially if the pot size is $10 or lower but due to the player style and the mostly higher pots this will not be a big issue in the long run.
