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Visit 888 Poker
Note:
888
Poker is not accepting US registrations. American players
should visit our
US
Poker Rooms.
NO-DEPOSIT $8 INSTANT BONUS:
Our new 888
Poker
players now receive an instant no-deposit bonus of $8 simply for
registering as a new player. In order to be eligible for the
no-deposit bonus new players must visit
888
Poker
through our links, create a new account, and confirm their e-mail
address. This is also eligible for depositing players and will be
added onto your deposit bonus.
INCREASED 100% BONUS UP TO $500:
888 Poker
is adding an extra $100 to their initial deposit bonus for players
visiting from our site. Players are given 90 days to earn the full
100% bonus, valid up to $500. This is in addition to the instant
no-deposit $8 bonus given to our players at registration. Please
note that you must visit
888
Poker
through our links in order to qualify as this offer is not available
to other players.
NO-DOWNLOAD INSTANT PLAY OPTION:
An extremely feature at
888 Poker is
the Flash-based no-download poker room client. This instant play
option can be accessed within any web browser that support Flash
making it 100% compatible with any Windows, Mac, or Linux machine.
Besides giving those with an alternative OS another option the
888 Poker
instant play client is handy for use on download-restricted public
computers or any guest computer where installing new software is
impractical.
After visiting our custom
888
Poker homepage you'll see a large "Instant Play" icon found
under the "Free Download" icon. Clicking on this will
immediately open the
888
Poker
in-browser client in a new window. As Flash is integrated
with virtually every browser the software loads within a few
seconds. Every real-money cash game and tournament available
on the standalone client is also available via instant play.
Overall:
4.5/5
888 Poker is the poker room of parent casino 888, an extremely popular
and successful gaming platform. The first major reason I recommend
this site is the collection of absolutely awful players you'll face
here. In terms of their Fish Rating, it's probably safe to
say that 888
Poker serves up the loosest poker games online.
If you're patient enough to wait for quality starting hands and play
them aggressively you can do extremely well here at both
fixed-limit and especially the no-limit cash games.
The second big
positive at
888 Poker is the
$8 instant cash no-deposit bonus, which is exclusive for our players
and is extremely
appreciated in an industry where players can rarely cash out a full
play-through deposit bonus. While the no-deposit part of the bonus may
seem modest at $8 it's currently the largest such offer online.
In addition,
888Poker
also gives our depositing players a 100% bonus with an increased
$500 cap for our players.
While
888 Poker has
always been excellent for finding loose tables, at its inception the
poker room seemed more like an afterthought to the 888 casino.
Fortunately, it has become a very solid international competitor in
recent months with massive improvements to the software, tournament
schedule, and promotional system. Due to the enormous amount of
loose action, an instant good-faith bonus, one of
the better software packages online, and
very efficient customer service,
888 Poker has always been of my top-rated poker
rooms.
Bonus (100%
up to $500 + $8 instantly) and Promotions:
5/5
In terms of their bonus offerings,
888 Poker
offers a special deal to players coming from our site. Firstly, all
players visiting from our site will receive an instant $8 no-deposit
bonus as soon as they register their account. In addition, our new
888 Poker
players receive a 100% bonus on the first deposit, increased to $500.
This is earned over the first 90 days of player and is released in
$10 increments. Please note that players must visit
888 Poker through a link from our site to be eligible for
the no-deposit cash and increased deposit bonus.
888 Poker is unique in the fact that they credit
our new players with $8 immediately to use for cash games or tournaments.
This is given prior to players even making their first deposit. This stands out to me as
extremely generous in the current online poker landscape. Most poker
rooms are designed to attract new players with large bonus numbers
that never release due to extremely complicated requirements. The
888 Poker bonus structure allows
players to try out the software and sample the real-money tables
without the need for a deposit. I give
888 Poker a top score for respecting their customers and giving them
cash upfront without bizarre and difficult to understand requirements.
Finally, our
888 Poker players making a first deposit gain entry into one $1,000
private Depositor Freeroll, which takes place every Saturday. Free
entries into 7 once-daily $500 tournaments and a $100,000 qualifier
have also been added to the new player package. Other notable
888 Poker promotions include regular promotions into European live
tourneys and a recently improved Frequent Player Point system. FPPs
are earned through tournament or ring game play and can be redeemed
for cash or special tournament entries. Overall,
888 Poker runs a
high number of
special promotions and I definitely appreciate one of the few
instant cash bonuses left in online poker.
Fish:
5/5
888 Poker
experiences a lot of crossover traffic from their casino curious
about poker. Thus, the
players seem to be extremely inexperienced and like to gamble at
seemingly every opportunity. What do you expect from a bunch of blackjack players?
An important factor is the large number of high-balance casino
regulars that jump right into the larger games.
When I get a good run of cards this site provides me with excellent
average hourly win rates.
The percentage of players seeing the flop at
888 Poker consistently runs into the
40-50% range even at the higher buy-in tables, which is insanely
high. What this equates to
is almost guaranteed action when you hit a monster flop or hold a
big pocket pair. If you have
a lock hand, consider slowplaying it to give your loose-aggressive
(i.e. maniacal)
opponents a chance to take control.
Try to extract maximum value from aggressive players by taking your time when you call
bets. Of course,
you're going to be outdrawn if you don't make your opponents pay for
their draws but I find that
tightening up and raising my premium hands even more than normal
allows me filter out some of the garbage hands that can cause me
trouble on the flop. Playing at
888 Poker means you'll run into big pots and ridiculously loose
games at your choice of limits. These ring games have to be the
double salmon burger of online poker. Sink your teeth in and enjoy.
Tournaments:
4.5/5
888 Poker
runs $10,000 guaranteed tournaments 5 times a day and I like that
the buy-in is quite low at $15. On Mondays, they also host a $25,000
guaranteed event. Finally, their largest offering takes place every Sunday
and is a deep stack event with a guaranteed
$100,000 prize pool. Adding value to this is the fact that every
participant also gets to enter a $10,000 freeroll the following
Sunday, which is really worth showing up for. The overall
888 Poker
tournament traffic is very good with little wait-time for Sit and Gos
up to the $20 level and most guaranteed tournaments drawing several
hundred players during peak European hours.
Besides freerolls,
888 Poker
offers a decent amount of low buy-in events for smaller players.
These tournaments usually attract only a few hundred players so you get a
high equity on a small buy-in. WSOP qualifiers run annually
with satellites starting at $2. I think that their $27 satellites
are the best value because 20% (or 1 in 5) gets a seat at the weekly
direct-entry tournament whereas most satellite tournaments only payout the top
10%.
888 Poker has also started offering speed Sit
and Go tournaments in
either heads-up or 5-seat formats. The blinds raise every hand and
action time is limited to only 10 seconds so these definitely aren't
for the patient-minded. In general, the awful players here spill
over into tournaments and you can often do well just by allowing
your opponents to make mistakes. Another great Sit and Go format
unique to 888
Poker is Double or Nothing in which half of the tables
doubles their money and the rest get nothing. It can be played with
either 8 or 10 players.
Software:
4.5/5
The software has recently been
overhauled
at 888 Poker
and both significantly improves on previous shortcomings and adds a
few unique design features. It's interesting to note that
888 Poker now
has, in my opinion, one of the most attractive software designs in
the industry after debuting a decade ago with one of the most
inefficient packages online. In terms of functionality, the lobby is better designed with a ring game filter and
a minimalistic Beginners' lobby for quickly finding low-stakes games.
The most noticeable improvement is in the
888 Poker table
graphics, which now has an attractive sleek design with each player
able to choose their own personal avatar. The table layout is also
now fully customizable with numerous themes ranging from aquariums
to classic casino carpeting with wood-grain tables. This is a
welcome feature that is common with some of the other top packages
online.
888 Poker
also features a new novelty feature that I would have never imagined
at an online poker room: a selection of actual 3D tables. Of course,
classic red-and-blue anaglyph glasses are required and the faux-3D
effect can only be tolerated in short sessions but it's still a fun
little feature to change things up once in a while and
888 Poker is
certainly the first online poker room to offer it.
Overall, the new features are welcome and help to bring
888 Poker up to speed graphically with newer sites.
Largely because of the reputation of the
previous archaic software, many players have overlooked
888 Poker,
which is a factor in keeping the games so loose.
888 Poker is
largely populated with mainly amateur players or casino
crossovers who are, on the whole, dreadful poker players.
Another
positive at
888 Poker is the
Flash-based instant-play option, which allows players to access
the poker room from any Flash-enabled browser. This option makes
888 Poker one of the few Mac
and Linux-compatible online poker rooms. Game speed is
pretty consistent and hovers around a comfortable 60 hands per hour.
Payouts:
4/5
I find customer service to be very strong at
888 Poker. They confirm your payouts via e-mail and I usually have
future payouts within 48-72 hours. The 888 organization (the parent
company of Pacific Poker) is very financially stable and
consistently handles all requests. In terms of deposits, they do
offer more than the average amount of methods.
Customer Service:
5/5
While I haven't needed to use support
all that often they have been very helpful when I needed them.
E-mails to their support team are actually personally replied to
within 15-30 minutes and sometimes I've received a response sooner.
I also respect online poker rooms that provide a telephone
number for support.
888 Poker does and they were very helpful the one
time I called them about retrieving my password.
Player Traffic
888 Poker is usually busy at all hours due to their large European player base so finding your desired game
shouldn't be a problem. You'll typically find several full and
shorthanded no-limit and fixed limit tables filled at all limits.
Tournament traffic is also high with a few hundred players entering
most multi-table events. This is one of the veteran online poker
rooms and they've had several years to build a solid player base.
Best Features
 Loosest tables with
some of the worst players
online. This means that you'll usually be paid off more with your
strong hands and can expect larger pots at lower limits.
Immediate
no-deposit $8 cash deposit bonus.888
Poker
is one of the few sites left to actually hand
you cash upfront without any requirements.
No-download Java software version. If
you're on the run at a friend's house, you can still get in a few
hands.
High traffic means that you'll usually find a game going on at all limits
regardless of the time of day.
Game Selection: Hold'em,
Omaha, Stud
Limits: Limit: 2c/4c up
to $75/$150 No-Limit: 1c/2c up to $10/$20
Deposit Methods:
NETeller,
checking accounts, Instadebit, ACTeCASH, Laser,
Solo, MoneyBookers, PaySafeCard, Ukash, major credit cards, cashier's checks, and wire
transfers. This is probably one of the largest cashiers in online
poker. If you don't have a NETeller account, the checking account option
is another easy option. You can deposit directly from your checking
account using your account details so it's fairly quick and
painless.
Minimum Deposit:
$20
Tips: Since the
action is so wild on
888 Poker you don't want to get involved in a
lot of pots with mediocre starting hands. Exceptions are when you're getting
great pot odds or think that you can outplay your opponents on the
flop. I play pretty tight here and play aggressive when I do choose
to play a hand.
Don't let these players in for a cheap flop when you have a strong
hand or they will often draw out on you. I will often bet even more
than my standard raise to thin the field. You might consider raising
5 to 6 times the big blind with a premium pocket pair from early
position.
Most of the time on
888 Poker you'll still get plenty of
action despite your larger-than-average raise. If the flop comes with 2
suited or connected cards I will routinely bet out, especially
with multiple opponents. Make these loose players
pay to draw out on you. You're going to get your premium hands
cracked once in a while as with any site so keep your cool and take
a break or quit altogether if you need to after an awful beat. It'll save you money in
the long run if you have a tendency to go on tilt.
Visit
888 Poker
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