Online Poker Reviews

PKR REVIEW

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• PKR Bonus Code for $50 bonus ($50 min. deposit): PKRSMALL

• PKR Bonus Code for 50% bonus ($100 min. deposit): PKRMEDIUM

• PKR Bonus Code for 100% bonus ($250 min. deposit): PKRLARGE

• PKR Bonus Code for $2,000 bonus ($1,000 min. deposit): PKRHUGE

Overall:  4/5

The goal of PKR is simple: advance the visual experience of online poker. This site does provide a significant improvement in terms of realistic 3-D software and the ability to actually create a personality at the table. Players can choose their facial structure, hair style, clothing, and other external visuals of their avatar. At the table, you can clap your hands, cry over a bad beat, or egg your opponents into a call. You can move the camera around the table at will and the graphics really are super.

PKR has drawn some criticism for not being friendly to hardcore multi-table taskmasters and my response to that is usually, “So what?” As I always stress to new players, you need to examine your priorities before choosing an online poker site. If you don’t need to tile 4 tables around your screen and play 300 hands per hour but do care about things like visual experience, realism, and creating a customizable character, you might want to give PKR a try. I’ve had a lot of fun at this site so far if only for the ability to give a thumbs-up to my opponents before I call their all-in reraise with quads.

Tournaments and ring games have really exploded in terms of traffic and the bonus offering and free perks are strong. Overall, PKR is a unique poker site that will please users looking for a more realistic, customizable visual experience. Unfortunately, I have decreased their score for their weak stance of not allowing US players.  

Bonus (100% up to $600 and $1,000 Freeroll) and Promotions:   4.5/5           

At the onset, new players can receive up to $600 free at a 100% bonus rate. For this month, you need to use the bonus code PKRLARGE to receive the full amount. For the 100% bonus, the minimum deposit is $250.

For a 50% deposit bonus with a $100 minimum deposit, use bonus code PKRMEDIUM. Finally, for a $50 flat bonus with a $50 minimum deposit, use PKR bonus code PKRSMALL.

Finally, higher stakes players who deposit $1,000 or more can receive a 100% match, good up to $2,000 by using bonus code PKRHUGE. This is truly a massive bonus and one of the largest available online. I appreciate PKR going beyond the typical bonus offerings of the larger sites and creating a special tier for high stakes players.

Bonuses are released by earning PKR Points through ring games and tournaments. Depending on how large the pot gets, you can earn up to 150 points per hand and you need 125 points for each $1 of bonus. If you play at the higher stakes offered right now, this can go fairly quickly.

In addition to the cash bonus, our new PKR players also receive a free entry into a weekly $1,000 new player freeroll, which is a worthwhile prize pool to show up for. Finally, I like their "Welcome Gift" of a free copy of their self-published online poker strategy book. After you earn 3,000 points, you're sent a free copy. Along with the cash bonus, the free book gives you something tangible for your business.   

Fish:   4/5

While I mostly reserve judgment on ranking the number of fish at a new site without lots of traffic, my initial impression is that PKR is a loose site. At the lower limits, tables can reach up to 50x the big blind in average pot sizes. I feel that software has a significant effect on the looseness of the tables. If it feels slow and stiff, that will probably correspond to tighter tables.

At PKR, there are so many things to do and look at besides wait for your next hand to come around. With so many fun distractions I think that players pay less attention to their cards and gamble more. It's more fun to play a hand for a big pot than fold and wait around patiently. This software is centered around trying to be fun rather than grinding out a profit. I don't expect this site to be one full of stuffy players. 

Tournaments:   4/5

While tournament were especially lacking at the initial launch of PKR, their player traffic has really been improving as of recent months. These days you'll find multiple tournaments going every hour with multiple daily guaranteed events.

Their largest tournaments include a $20,000 guaranteed event every Saturday and a $25,000 guaranteed event every Sunday. A $75,000 guarantee takes place at the end of every month. While PKR isn't a tournament powerhouse yet, they have been heading in the right direction with guaranteed events.

Sit and Go tournaments are also popular at most stakes with tables filling up within a few minutes. PKR also holds about 10 daily freerolls with the best events requiring player points to buy in with. By restricting entries, this helps to keep the field smaller and the prizes larger.

Software:   5/5

Recently, I was invited by PKR to review their software during their Beta testing phase. There have been several startup poker sites in the past 2 years who have failed the really add anything different to online poker. PKR does plan to be unique in at least one major feature: their software. They’re really the first online poker site to come to fruition that actually offers circa 21st century graphics.

I was very impressed by my first experience with the software as the graphics are truly light years beyond anything else available for Real Money right now. Instead of feeling the need to open another window to keep me entertained, I can have fun dabbling with the software instead. With that, let’s take you inside PKR and have a detailed look at the software:

POSITIVES:
-Advanced 3-D rendering, shadows, and detailed textures
-Customizable avatar facial structure, skin tone, hair color, eye color, etc.
-Customizable clothing, jewelry, and accessories
-Moveable camera, multiple camera modes
-Highly detailed background environments
-Avatars physically act out desired actions (i.e. cry, cheer, dance, boo)

NEGATIVES:
-Character voices (some might enjoy this, but I found it a bit annoying)
-Having to manually look at your cards (this is realistic but can be frustrating, so I recommend setting the software to “Auto Look” to automatically check your cards. They may remove the manual card-checking in the future.)

Instead of the utilitarian software that is industry-standard for online poker play, the PKR software is as advanced as popular poker video games with a few extra (and fun) features. The graphics are superb, and it really does make the game more realistic and more enjoyable at times.

When you first create your account and log on, I suggest that you visit the “ME” tab to create your avatar. You’ll first have the ability to choose your gender, facial structure, hair, and advanced options such as nose bridge, chin height, and eye width. The setup will look like the following screenshot:

1. PKR Character Screenshot 1

Next, you can click the “CLOTHING” tab and dress yourself up with shirts, jackets, suits, trousers, track suits, and plenty of other options. Then, of course, you can wear ties, hats, watches, various shoes, rings, and other accessories. Be sure to click “SAVE” to save your changes. Aren’t I stylin’ here?

2. PKR Character Screenshot 2

When you’re ready to hit the tables at PKR, you’ll first be seeing the default “Overview” mode. This is an overhead view that lets you see the entire table. The camera is fixed and you cannot move it in this mode. Here I am re-checking my hole cards on the flop. All cards appear both in scale on the table and zoomed in (similar to television poker coverage):

3. PKR Overview Screenshot

In the bottom left corner, you can click the arrow to change camera modes. The next choice (and my preferred view for PKR) is “Orbit” mode. This is a great feature that allows you to click and drag left or right to change the angle of the camera to whatever you desire. You can also click and drag up and down to tilt the camera. Next to the camera select option, you can change your overall demeanor at the table to things like “Sad/Aggressive” or “Happy/Passive”. Here is an example of Orbit mode:

4. PKR Orbit Screenshot 1

Another example of Orbit mode:

5. PKR Orbit Screenshot 2

One of the coolest features of the PKR software is the action choices, which you’ll see as 5 boxes in between the chat box and the demeanor choices. You can click the arrows to reveal 15 or 20 actions that you can perform at the table. Your last used ones will appear in the boxes. You can actually click things like “Boo”, “Clap Hands”, “Cheer”, “Dance”, “Thumbs Up”, “Cry”, and other actions that you avatar will physically act out at the table. This is a lot of fun, and you can even click a player’s name and then choose an action to direct it to them. Here is me giving a thumbs up on the PKR visuals:

6. PKR Orbit Screenshot 3

Finally, there is the “Dynamic” camera mode, which is the most up-close, personal, and detailed of all views. Much like televised coverage, the camera follows the action around the table and to the cards being dealt. This can be distracting if you’re involved in a hand, but fun to show off the graphics if you’re out of the action. Bravo, stillshadow, on the slick tie-less suit:

7. PKR Dynamic Screenshot

In summary, the software truly does take advantage of modern computer graphical abilities. Also, it’s very neat to be able to create your own character and act out at the table in your desired manner. If you’re a graphics junkie, or just looking for something different than the typical online poker look, you might want to try out PKR.

Payouts:   4/5

Regardless of withdrawal method, I've found PKR to be dependable in terms of accuracy, support, and cashout times. NETeller and Visa withdrawals are usually processed within a day or two. Players can also withdraw via check for any amount and free courier delivery is included for amounts over $1,000.

Customer Service:   4.5/5

PKR offers 2 of the 3 best methods of customer service: e-mail and, more importantly, a live chat option. Before you bother to send off an e-mail, I recommend that you try out the live chat option, which is available at all hours. The wait time is typically very short and the representatives have always been able to answer my questions successfully. Despite not offering telephone support, the live chat is a good option as you don't have to wait around for a reply for an unspecific amount of time.

Player Traffic

Of course, most online poker sites don't magically launch with hordes of active players crowding the tables. Surprisingly, PKR has built up a solid player base over the past year with heavy international marketing. It does take time to build traffic, but PKR has been a large draw for newer poker players as well seasoned players who are interested by a major graphics improvement. If they continue promoting and exposing themselves I don't see why PKR couldn't grow to a few thousand active players by next year.

Best Features

State of the art graphics. Simply put, this is the best software in terms of graphics available to online poker. I was very impressed by the details put into the visual presentation.

Customizable avatar. A very neat unique feature is the ability to customize your avatar's clothing, facial features, and various other accessories down to incredibly minute fine-tunings.

Physically act at the table. You can laugh, cry, cheer, compliment a nice hand, boo, practice chip tips, or perform various other physical actions by your avatar at the table. I found it a nice way to kill time and show off the software.

A pretty generous bonus. The 50% bonus is a decent amount and I like the added compliment of a free book. It's a little appreciation for a small amount of playing time. 

Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha H/L

Limits: Limit: 1c/2c up to $100/$200    No-Limit: 1c/2c up to $5/$10

Deposit Methods: NETeller, Moneybookers, Click2Pay, Visa, Visa Electron, Visa Delta, Mastercard, Maestro, Switch, and Solo.

Minimum Deposit: $25

Tips: As I mentioned in the Fish section, the PKR software makes for more distractions and greater entertainment at the table. You have plenty of things to entertain yourself other than thinking about the way that you're playing your cards. In my brief experiences with this site so far, I found more players willing to gamble with draws, second pair, and virtually nothing at all. I think that a large part of this is the overall loose feel of the software.

Try to maintain the patient attitude that you've learned is best at other online poker sites. Be entertained by the software at PKR, but don't forget that you still need to play a good poker game. Since the action isn't likely to dry up while you wait for a premium hand, why waste your stack on a marginal hand? 

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