PartyPoker is one of the most popular poker rooms online. Its offering is mainly geared towards recreational players, but with a plethora of guaranteed tournaments both online and live, a healthy roster of sponsored players and the reputation of being the a safe online poker – the site continues to evolve and offer great value to new and existing players. The site has arguably one of the most generous rakeback/cashback programs in the online poker space, offering up to 40% rakeback to players.

History of PartyPoker

PartyPoker was one of the first poker rooms to emerge back in 2001. Prior to changes in US regulation, it was the most popular online poker site on the internet. The company left the US market in 2006 and took a long time to recover during which time it underwent a number of ownership changes. The brand is currently owned by GVC Holdings who also have the Ladbrokes, Coral and the Bwin brands under their control, which means plenty of sports betting customers arrive at PartyPoker. Sports betting customers are generally considered to be ‘fish’ or ‘recreational poker players’, which makes the site attractive for good players looking for easy wins.

Each year, PartyPoker hosts an annual online festival called the Millions. In 2019 the poker room guaranteed prizes of $20 million.

From 2020 they will host the WPT World Online Championships taking advantage of the lack of live events due to the Coronaviris crisis. The guarantees are expected to be the biggest the world of online poker has ever seen.

PartyPoker Industry Reputation

PartyPoker is one of the most popular poker rooms online. It’s offering is mainly geared to recreational players but with a plethora of guaranteed tournaments both online and live, a healthy roster of sponsored players and the reputation of being the safest online poker room in the world.

Software and network

PartyPoker uses its own proprietary software and is on its own network. It is currently #5 in the world on the Poker Scout player tracker. The software is generally considered solid in terms of game play and is regularly updated with added features. Downtime appears to be very low.

Are USA poker players able to play on PartyPoker?

Although not allowing players from the US to currently play, there are some exceptions most notably in the state of New Jersey. Given their willingness to pay a huge fine post 2006, it is expected they will be able to welcome players from the US in the future.

Does PartyPoker offer a welcome bonus?

The basic sign-up bonus at PartyPoker is in the form of free entries into their Spin poker offering.
SPINS are fast and exciting poker games that feature three players and a multiplier that awards random prizes of at least DOUBLE your buy-in.

More SPIN entries are awarded depending on the amount of your first deposit.

Deposit €10 and get €10 in tickets

• Day 1: 1x $5 SPINS ticket + 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets
• Day 2: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets
• Day 4: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets
• Day 6: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets + 1x $1 SPINS ticket

Or

Deposit €20 and get €40 in tickets and bonuses

• Day 1: 1x $5 SPINS ticket + 5x $1 SPINS tickets
• Day 2: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets + 1x $5 SPINS ticket
• Day 3: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets + 5x $1 SPINS tickets
• Day 4: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets + 5x $1 SPINS tickets
• Day 5: 5x $0.25 SPINS tickets + 1x $5 SPINS ticket
• Day 6: 5x $1 SPINS tickets + 1x $5 SPINS ticket

PartyPoker Rakeback / VIP Loyalty Program

As is common on almost all poker sites PartyPoker rewards players for playing more. Important:There is a one time opt-in step all players have to take. Once in, the cashback system sees players earning up to 40 per cent cashback once they reach a certain level of rake earned. Players do have to reach a minimum of 25 points per week to keep receiving cashback.

Payments are made into your account every Monday. It is considered one of the most generous rakeback/cashback loyalty payment in the industry.
You need to be aware the structure will see you getting a starting rate of 20 per cent which rises incrementally up to a maximum of 40 per cent cashback

Higher raking players can take advantage of the benefits of the Diamond Club into which you will be invited once you rake a certain amount. Benefits include higher cashback, 24/7 customer support and invitations to live events with VIP treatment.

Ongoing promotions at PartyPoker

Similar to many poker sites, PartyPoker offers regular leader-boards with huge prizes on offer depending on what stakes you play from micro-stakes right up to high rollers.
There are leaderboard prizes at the cash and SNG tables including some daily prizes as well as leader-boards for the SPIN offering.

Every level of staking is catered for in the leader-boards meaning anyone playing a decent volume has a chance to land some extra cash.

Deposits and Withdrawals at PartyPoker

As one would expect from a long established and popular poker site depositing and withdrawing is relatively swift and easy.

Many of the leading payment processors are available including Paypal Neteller, Skrill and x. Deposits can also be made through bank transfers and debit and some credit cards.

Note: Due to different local geographical laws in certain territories, it is worth checking if PartyPoker accepts your desired deposit and withdrawal method. For example in Germany players can only deposit money from Paypal into a sports betting account (though there are ways around this as explained on the help FAQs page on the main website.

PartyPoker is generally seen as a safe and well regulated site to deposit and hold player’s accounts. In all their long history, they have never been involved in any scandals that can hit the poker world from time to time.

Unlike some other online poker sites, there is usually no charge for depositing and withdrawing using most methods though some charges may be incurred if using a credit card in some countries. Some countries do not accept credit cards at all. For example, due to new regulations, from April 2020, UK customers won’t be able to fund their accounts with credit cards. This rule applies to all betting operators and all types of betting including PartyPoker.

In order to prevent problem gambling, PartyPoker encourage players to set up a monthly deposit limit.In practice this means it is not possible to suddenly increase your monthly limit and necessitates contacting the site to ask to increase your limit. Any requests to reduce your deposit limit will be processed instantly. Players need to be aware that in order to efficiently prevent compulsive gaming, they will process all limit increase/removal requests only after 24 hours from the initiation.

Also any deposit made during the last 24 hours (daily limits), last seven days prior to today (weekly limits) or last 30 days prior (monthly limits) will count toward your deposit limit for that period respectively. If you haven’t made a deposit during the periods mentioned earlier, your limit will be the full amount chosen.

For UK customers: when you log in after 24 hours, a pop-up will appear where you can confirm your new deposit limit in order to activate it, or else reject it. Once you have confirmed your new limit, it will become effective.

This may seem fairly strict but it is important to realize there are plenty of people out there who are susceptible to problem gambling and this feature suggests PartyPoker cares more about the long term viability of the game ahead of short term profits.

PartyPoker and Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the original and fastest growing virtual/crypto currency which many poker sites are starting to accept to deposit funds in a player’s account. You purchase Bitcoin by firstly downloading a Bitcoin wallet into which you can deposit from another financial institution. There are many arguments for and against the use of Bitcoin to fund poker accounts and PartyPoker currently err on the side of caution and do not accept Bitcoin asa means of deposit.

What is PartyPoker software like? Is it any good?

The software used by PartyPoker has been developed by themselves over the past 20+ years meaning it has evolved to be one of the leading stand-alone poker software client in the business.

The play interface and lobby has undergone numerous changes and upgrades over the years based onplayer behaviour and constant feedback from their loyal customers.

It is difficult to find any negative feedback about the aesthetic feel and the reliability of the software. It has a sleek feel to it on opening and though it takes a while to get accustomed to the lobby, once a player sets the right filters to find the games they want to play, it’s a first rate experience.

Can I download my PartyPoker hand history to analyse my game?

Through the client software it is possible to study previous hand histories to spot any leaks in your game. However, all your opponents nicknames are anonymised. This is because in November 2016 PartyPoker decided to ban most third party trackers on their site. Many players used HUDs to gain advantage over their opponents which put recreational players at a huge disadvantage because most never even knew they were being tracked.

Can you view Big Blinds stack option in tournaments?

This update has been available for a while now. By clicking on your stack in any tournament you can view how many ‘big blinds’ you have remaining. This is a nifty feature when short stacked and wanting to know the optimal time to shove your remaining chips.

Third Party software allowed at PartyPoker

As mentioned above HUDs are explicitly banned from PartyPoker but there are some third party software allowed. The software needs to be approved by PartyPoker and is constantly updated. Currently the following add-ons are allowed –

• PartyCaption
• StackAndTile
• PlaceMint
• Table tamer
• StarsHelper
• Mosaic 2
• Intuitive tables
• Universal replayer
• Hiroku Script

While The following tools are expressly banned while the poker client is open:

• PioSOLVER
• PokerSnowie
• Jesolver
• Flopzilla
• ICMIZER
• Vision GTO trainer
• InstaGTO

PartyPoker Avatars/player image

Aside from breaking any copyright rules you can upload your own personal avatar when you first join PartyPoker. And change it to your hearts content in the edit profile section in the client.

Ability to play private games/tournaments

On PartyPoker homes games,or private games are called Club Games.

The main features are firstly you are allowed to set up and manage your own private games; it is available on both desktop and mobile; rake is the same as in regular games and cashback is available to all players. On the downside, you are not yet able to set up your own tournaments which is a feature people will hope to see introduced soon.

The Club Games tab can be found in the client and it is very easy to set up a game. There are also additional features to make the game more fun including be able to throw animations at your opponents.

Multi-tabling at PartyPoker

At PartyPoker you have the option to play multiple tables at once similar to almost every other poker site.

One unique step the site has taken is the ability to play multiple tables on mobile as well as desktop. They also have extra features including you to play cash and tournaments at the same time as well as quick fold button options and a customisable bet slider. All in all, PartyPoker look after their multi-table players.

Added sportsbook and casino at PartyPoker?

PartyPoker has a sportsbook and casino available to players which sometimes suggests the overall standard of play can be lower with players crossing over mainly from sports betting. The poker site’s connection to Ladbrokes/Coral with cross promotions suggests the level of play on PartyPoker is lower than some sites who focus mainly on poker.

Is railing allowed?

If you know where any of your friends are playing then it is possible to rail in any tournament. A lack of a search function does hamper your ability to find the correct tournament, however. Within the client, there is a feature to connect with friends by using the add friend feature.

Can users change their screen name?

PartyPoker gives you the option to change your screen name/identity only once so use this option wisely. In the scheme of things this does not really affect game play but should you record a big tournament score this is the name in the tournament round-up online.

Customisation at the table.

As with most online poker sites, PartyPoker gives you the option to optimise and customise many aspects of your game play. Firstly, there is the option to change the appearance and colour of the decks of cards. This is vital to some players when multi-tabling. 

You can choose the view of where you sit. This is very much a personal preference but some players feel more comfortable either at the top or bottom of the screen. It’s an option and it is always good to have options (and out!). 

Big Blind view in tournaments

Especially in the closing stages of a tournament having the option to toggle to see how many BB each player has remaining is seen by some as vital. The software at PartyPoker allows you to do this very easily.

Bet Sizing

It is almost standard on all competent poker software to size your bets in relation to the pot size. At PartyPoker this is the default view when the action comes to you. Obviously you will have the chance to manually choose your bet sizewe with a slider.

9 or 10 Max tables

Might not make much difference to most players but the 9-max players with PartyPoker keeps the action flowing that slightly bit quicker and has implications for the odds of hitting certain hands.

Games and Flagship tournaments

There seems to be something for everyone on PartyPoker from play money tournaments right up to high roller events with stars like Victor Blomcashing in for huge pay days in the Super High Roller Bowl series.

Powerfest

Running since 2016, Powerfest is the flagship online poker tournament series on PartyPoker. With up to three editions scheduled in a year, prize money for a single POWERFEST series has reached as high as $50M.
Suitable for all bankrolls, each POWERFEST consists of hundreds of tournaments. There’s always a range of poker games and formats on offer, such as Progressive Knockout (PKO) and Pot Limit Omaha (PLO). Events are split into levels with buy-ins start at just $5.50.
The popular event provides the opportunity for players to land a huge payout.
Exclusive promotions, such as the fast-paced three-handed Powerfest Spins, run throughout the series and offer chances to win tournament tickets.
Players can also qualify through satellites to Powerfest, as well as during the main series.

Millions Online

In 2018 PartyPoker created a world record for an online pokerseries by guaranteeing an amazing $20M creating the biggest single online poker tournament in history!
The Millions Onlines series generally takes place in December each year with qualifiers running every week of the year.

WPT World Online Championships

WPT World Online Championships will be hosted on PartyPoker for the first time in history in 2020. Normally a live event, due to Coronavirus, the series will be held exclusively on PartyPoker this summer.
Satellites from a low buy-in have already started with the Main Event due to be played on Sunday August 2 2020.

Cash Games

The tables at PartyPoker cover all limits. Stakes begin at $0.01/$0.02 with games reaching as high as $200/$400
Traffic is generally good though there are certain times of game when you may struggle to find opponents at the higher stakes. 
Cash games are all anonymous to avoid any players having an advantage by using HUDs. The same is with the speed cash game fastforward where you can fold card and immediately be seated at a new table.
There are weekly and monthly leaderboards for cash game players at most stakes and all games count towards cashback/rakeback system.
The software offers No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Short Deck and Fixed Limit 7 Card Stud on a mixture of heads-up, six-handed and eight-handed tables.

SNG’s at PartyPoker

Sit & Go tournaments are akin to play the final table of a big tournament. There are countless variations of this format – heads-up, six-handed, nine-handed and ten-handed with, turbo and hyper turbo structures available. 
You can buy in for as little as $1.10, with games reaching as high as $5,200.
There are weekly and monthly leaderboard prizes throughout all stakes.

Spins

A variation of SNG tournaments is PartyPoker Spins tournaments which are three-handed Sit & Go tournaments where a multiplier between 2 and 240,000 randomly chooses the size of the prize-pool before the first card is dealt meaning you could turn a tiny buy-in into a massive top prize of $1M in the Spins $1M game.

Cashback/rakeback

PartyPoker rakeback is called Cashback and it is devilishly easy to understand. Receive 1 point for every $1 of rake generated. Earn a minimum of 25 points to start receiving cashback. The more points earned, the higher the rakeback percentage you will receive. Cash is paid directly into your PartyPoker account every Monday.