If you want to crush the softest competition on the internet, you've certainly come to the right place. If you've got a bad temper, you should stay out of here. People are known to play like maniacs on Pacific Poker, but watch out for lucky players. This particular poker network holds quite good Texas Hold'em tables, however, you can only play at one table at a time. The sign up bonus is incredibly hard to accumulate and the software is not what you would expect. In other words, come here only for the soft competition and not for the game experience.
Pacific Poker has been known for its utterly incomplete, unstable and ugly-looking software. Things improved in 2005 with a late update that added improvements to these setbacks. Nowadays, the settings are a lot more customizable and you can even choose the looks of the rug mat below the table. We find the lobby to be quite functional, in fact, very simple and logical. Hopefully stability will improve as well. All in all, most of the old issues are solved by now, but it's still an embarassment to a large poker room like Pacific Poker.
Pacific Poker is definitely one of the fastest growing poker rooms. During peak times, this room hosts 9,000 simultaneous connections, a very good number given the fact that it was founded in 2004. Like most other poker rooms, at least two thirds of the traffic is concentrated to tournaments.
Sit 'N' go tables and multi table tournaments are available in Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. The sit 'N' goes usually range from a buy-in of $2.5 to $100.
Pacific Poker offer Texas Hold'em in No Limit, Fixed Limit and Pot Limit, regular Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo in Pot Limit and Fixed Limit, and last but not least, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo in Pot Limit as well as Fixed Limit. Stakes in Hold'em Fixed Limit start at $0.05/$0.10 and go all the way up to $30/$60. No Limit and Pot Limit start at $0.05/$0.1 and climb up to $3/$6.
Pacific Poker probably has the juiciest games online. However, the good-old crazy 85% viewed-flop percentages at $15/$30 tables are down to maybe 65-70% at their best. Thanks to Casino-on-Net's operations, there are many less-experienced poker players, often with a sweet tooth for gambling. At peak hours, you typically find one or two full-ring games (10 players) with a viewed-flop percentage in the 50s or 60s. If you are looking to make a profit, the Omaha Hi-Lo tables are very good as well.
The rake at Pacific Poker is about average for the industry, with better offers at micro-levels and higher rake at the highest stakes. Pacific Poker has a "no flop - no drop" rake policy, like most sites. This means Pacific Poker only rakes the pot when the flop is seen. A maximum of $1.25 is taken out of pots up to $1/$2 games. At limits below $1/$2 the house takes less than $1, which gives good value for low-limit players. At higher limits, $2/$4 and above, Pacific Poker rake is a maximum of $4 and $5 on the $50/$100 tables. There is no difference in rake based on the number of players in the hand or at the table.
Pacific Poker offers not so generous sign up bonuses. An adequate amount of a 25 % bonus and up to $100 is all you can claim. All Bonuses may be Cashed Out only after an amount totaling no less than 20 times the bonus amount received has been wagered. A $100 Bonus must be wagered in a total amount equaling no less than $2,000. Additionally, this must be done within 14 days, which can be compared to the one or two months offered by many other websites.
A counter gathers information on your bets. Every time you bet $10, you will receive a Pacific Poker point. Once you've reached 100 points, these will convert to $1, added to your account. This loyalty bonus is of no value for micro players since generating such numbers takes a very long time.
Pacific Poker usually responds very fast whenever you have a basic inquiry. Unfortunately, if you're having problems with your Pacfic Poker account, you'll have to wait for quite some time as this support line is separated from the basic support line. There's also a telephone support, however, this support is usually very busy. There is no live chat support available.
Very secure, as the mother company is a well-established industry player. Top score.
Deposits: VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, MyCitadel, FirePay,
Wire Transfer, Bank Transfer, PaySafeCard.
Withdrawal Options: Credit Card, Neteller, FirePay, PrePaidATM,
Wire Transfer and Bank Transfer.