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Site
Rating (7.6/10):
Owned
by the largest online casino in the world -
Casino On Net/888.com - Pacific Poker is a
veritable powerhouse. It has grown at a
tremendous rate since its launch, and it is now
one of the top poker rooms on the net. Pacific
Poker is famous for its juicy action. In fact,
Pacific Poker is known as one of the loosest
online poker rooms going, with 50% - 60% of
players regularly hanging around to see a flop.
I have played extensively at the $5-$10 limit
tables, and it is absolutely insane to see some
of the junk that people turn over! Since Pacific
Poker is part of the Casino On Net network, the
tables are flooded with people who are looking
to gamble. Pacific Poker is definitely the site
for players looking for wild and crazy action.
Software
/ Graphics (7/10):
While
Pacific Poker does offer some serviceable
software features - hand histories, player
notes, live blind countdowns - and a fairly
efficient and decent lobby setup, on the whole
the software is not up to industry standards.
This is very surprising considering they have
such deep pockets. The main point of contention
is that you can only play one table at a time on
Pacific, while many top online players like to
play up to five tables at a time. It is for this
reason that many pros shun playing on Pacific.
The game speeds are also on the slow side, which
gets grating when you just want to play as many
hands as possible in a short span of time.
As
for the graphics, there really isn't much to
say. There are no avatars on Pacific, only oval
shapes on each seat that display player names
and chip counts. This setup is functional, but
not very exciting, and after a couple of hours
on this site I find myself longing for the
graphics of a site like Poker Room.
Bonuses
/ Promotions (7/10):
The
signup bonus on Pacific Poker is pretty much in
line with other online sites. There is a 25%
first deposit bonus, up to $100 maximum.
Unfortunately, this bonus is quite difficult to
earn, as you must wager 20 times the bonus
amount. In other word, you would have to wager a
whopping $2000 to get $100 in bonus money. Most
players will spend more money trying to earn the
bonus than the actual bonus is worth, making its
value somewhat questionable. Pacific also offers
the standard refer-a-friend bonus of $50 for the
referrer and $25 for the friend.
Pacific
Poker is always offering nice promotions. In
addition to a number of WSOP and WPT qualifiers,
there are frequent guaranteed 50K tournaments.
There is an excellent loyalty bonus program,
which awards 1 bonus point for every $10 wagered
on raked hands. 100 bonus points can then be
exchanged for $1, and this can be quite
profitable for middle hands to high limit
players. There is also a "Relay Race"
promotion, offering nice payouts to any player
that deposits $50 during the promo day and then
plays a pre-determined number of raked hands. I
always play on these days, and I usually end up
with enough bonus money to play a $20 buy in
tournament.
Player
Skill (9/10):
The
player skill on Pacific Poker is not among the
strongest on the web. In fact, Pacific Poker is
often described as a gamblers' paradise, with
tons of fish looking for the one card in the
deck that will help them. Pacific Poker does a
nice job of exploiting their parent company,
Casino On Net, to constantly bring in new
players and gamblers to their tables. The end
result is that most tables are populated with
people who have very little skill but tons of
gamble. It is not unusual to find 60% of players
seeing a flop, even up to the $15-$30 limits.
The skilled, patient player can definitely make
some nice scores on the tables at Pacific.
Number
Of Players (8/10):
During
peak hours, Pacific Poker boasts tournament
traffic of 4000-4500 real money players, and
2000-2500 real money players in the ring games.
Since Pacific Poker is one of the fastest
growing online sites, these numbers will only
increase. Most of the traffic - up to 90% - is
concentrated in the hold'em games. The stakes
offered range from micro limits to $30-$60 in
limit ring games, and $1 to $200 in NL sit and
gos. There is always a game going on Pacific
Poker, you just have to pick your poison.
Cashouts
/ Customer Support (7/10):
While
there is a solid support page in the lobby
(players fill out and submit support requests)
and a good FAQ page, there is no live support
offered (a staple of the big boys) and the
telephone support can be frustratingly slow at
times (especially from the support lines in
Gibraltar). While there have been some player
complaints about accounts being blocked, I have
never encountered ant problems with payouts from
Pacific Poker.
Deposit options: VISA, MasterCard, NETeller,
FirePay, Wire / Bank transfer, PaySafeCard,
PrePaidATM, BBL Home'Pay and more.
Cash out options: VISA, MasterCard, Debit,
PrePaid ATM, FirePay, NETeller, Wire transfer,
bank draft.
Pacific
Poker Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Great, loose action, some of the biggest
gamblers on the net
- Good promotions with the real money loyalty
bonus points
- 50K Guaranteed tourneys
- Unique sit & go's (5 players, top 3 places
pay)
- Easy and fast cash out process
- Good game selection, including Turbo and Heads
Up tourneys
- Detailed game history, even offering graphical
playback
- Excellent, ever-increasing traffic
- Available in downloadable and non-downloadable
java versions
- Small download at only 1.08MB
- Games start at $1 + 0.10
- Smaller entry fees on larger tourneys like the
$70 + $5 or the $200 + $10
Cons:
-
Software is only capable of playing one table at
a time
- Sign up bonus is difficult to clear with
profit
- No live or telephone support
- Software and graphics are slow and primitive
- Game sound effects could use some improvement
Pacific
Poker Site Review Conclusion:
A
top notch poker room, offering great traffic and
game variety. While there are some negative
factors, namely a tough sign up bonus and some
shoddy software, this is more than outweighed by
the great action on Pacific Poker. This site is
just plain fun to play on, with some incredibly
weak fish who love to gamble. I don't know if
playing on this site has made me a better
player, but I have been showing some nice
profits sticking to a solid game plan. Pacific
Poker is my site of choice when I have a couple
of beers in me and am looking for some fast
action. Yum-yum.
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