Online Poker

Pacific Poker is powered by 888, an online gaming company that has been online since 1997. Their mission is to offer quality entertainment to people who enjoy playing poker, by providing a safe, fun, fair, regulated and secure environment.

888 is a very popular brand, especially in Europe and the UK, where they sponsor the Middlesbrough Football Club and many other sporting teams and events. And did you know that the number 888 is considered very lucky, especially by the Chinese?

Pacific Poker has great Bad Beat and Royal jackpots that run continuously. To win 50% of the badbeat jackpot, you have to lose a hand with four of a kind 8s or better and everyone else at the table gets a slice of the jackpot too! To win at the Royal Jackpot tables you need to hit any hand of four of a kind or better. A royal flush in spades gives you 100% of the jackpot amount, which at the time of writing this review was nearly $35,000!

In September 2008, 888 are running satellites into their Poker Open V, a live international tournament, to be held in London and televised world-wide.

Pacific Poker is one of very few online poker rooms to offer an instant bonus on any first deposit. They will add 25% to any first deposit amount up to $100. So if you deposit $400, you will receive an extra $100, taking your available balance to $500!

The bonus is automatic too, so you do not need to remember any bonus codes. As well as the instant 25%, all first time depositors are eligible for a further 75% in bonus money, awarded as you play. That means in total they will give you a 100% bonus on your first deposit.

All first time depositors are also eligible to play in the first depositor's freerolls.

Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Stud, 7 Stud Hi/Lo & Blackjack are available from within the 888 poker software.

The 888 software had a facelift recently and is now quite pleasing on the eye. The graphics are bright, friendly and modern which is important if you are going to be concentrating hard on the screen during a tournament. (see screen shots to the right)

The software offers most of the features that online poker players expect as well as a unique feature of their own - viewing ghost cards. You can opt to have your cards remain in view after you fold, allowing you to refine your decision making processes.

The software also has a feature I like where you are able to control whether or not the game window 'takes over' your screen when it is your turn. You can set it to simply flash in the task bar if you are working on something else whilst playing, which comes in handy when multi-tasking.

Being such an established room, there is always a good number of players online in the 888 network. You can find NL Holdem games from as little as 5c/10c all the way up to $10/$20 during peak times. The omaha and stud tables don't have a great deal of traffic, but you can usually find a game to play at these tables too. For the free players, there's always plenty of games to play just for fun as well.

888 also sponsors many players in live poker events. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, two 888 sponsored players made it to the final table from a field of over 8000 players - Paul Wasicka and Rhett Butler.

Pacific Poker does not accept players from Israel, Turkey or the United States.

Pacific holds a $75,000 guaranteed tournament every Sunday afternoon. They do a great job of offering free and low cost seats into this tournament via daily freerolls and satellite tournaments. There are regular scheduled tournaments that run approximately every 15 minutes throughout the day and there are 2 x $5000 and 2 x $10,000 guaranteed tournaments daily.

There's also an extensive array of satellites running into live poker events, such as the WSOP. In September 2008, 888 are running satellites into their Poker Open V, a live international tournament, to be held in London and televised world-wide.

The 888 Players Club provides a lot of useful information to players through extensive event and promotion information and a community forum. All players can earn 'comp points' when they play in cash games and tournaments. These comp points may then be redeemed for real cash at the rate of $1 for every comp point earned.

Being owned by a public company, you can count on your bankroll being safe at 888. And there's a multitude of easy deposit and cashout options available.

Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Deposit by Phone, Solo & Switch (Maestro), Click & Buy, Moneybookers, Neteller, Paypoint, Ukash, Firepay, ACTeCASH, PaySafeCard, Bank Transfer, Cheque, Wire Transfer and 888.com gift cards are all available. There are also many regional specific options for players from countries with unique financial offerings.

Cashouts are not the quickest around, which we think may be due to extra fraud and security checks in place. You will always get your funds, but it can take up to 3 days for your cashout to be processed.

Any room that has been around as 888 has learned how to provide good levels of support. There are toll free telephone numbers available for most countries. When I called they answered pretty much immediately and were very friendly.

There's also email and live chat available from within the software. Pacific also does a very good job of providing many different language options - English, Danish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese & Spanish.

Pacific Poker is licensed by the government of Gibraltar, which is also where their main headquarters are located. They have also been a member of the Interactive Gaming Council since 1997. Their various gaming companies are all subsidiaries of 888 Holdings PLC which is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Being owned by a public company, and having been in business for over 10 years means that 888 & Pacific Poker are most certainly brands that you can trust. Poker.com has a very good relationship with Pacific Poker and have met many of their marketing and management staff. We have no hesitation in giving them a full 10/10 when it comes to management and integrity.

I did have a couple of gripes about the old 888 software, but with their latest update they have addressed everything I mentioned! Really the only thing they need to improve is the number of players online, which is steadily growing.

This is definitely a recommended room to play, especially for players from Europe and the UK. If you haven't already, sign up and give Pacific Poker a try.

---