Pacific Poker in a Nutshell

Pacific Poker is basically an online poker skin for 888 Poker that continues to attract a lot of players. It offers a large welcome package while providing access to one of the best card rooms online with a massive following.

Pacific Poker is one of the oldest online poker rooms in the world and this can be seen a bit in the website. Some of the parts of the site have not been updated in a while and quite a few links will direct to the 888 Poker website since the two share the same platform. Voted Best Poker Operator of 2012, Pacific definitely has a good reputation for providing players a variety of options that they can access securely from a desktop computer or a mobile device.

The poker client is definitely a big strength that Pacific Poker provides nowadays since New Zealanders can experience online poker at a whole new level thanks to state of the art gaming technology. This includes 3D animations, avatars, private tournaments and quick access to various types of games and poker variations. Although the traffic on the poker room is very good, we can argue that the best part about joining is that you will receive a generous welcome package made out of an $88 no deposit bonus, $400 on the first payment and multiple tournament entries for free.

What the Pacific Poker review offers you includes:

• Details about the different bonuses for new players
• A rundown of the main features found on the poker room
• An exclusive guide to the games and tournaments

Multiple awards and millions of registered users clearly show that Pacific Poker is one of the best when it comes to online poker. It continues to live up to the hype with its modern software and various promotional perks.

Pacific Poker goes back quite a bit as it has always been at the forefront of the online poker industry. It was available in the United States during the poker boom and as other big sites, took quite the hit when the large market closed its doors towards online gaming. The poker room merged with three other sites and established the Pacific Poker Network quickly after that.

It wasn’t until August 2010 that the company went through a big rebranding phase and Pacific Poker became 888 Poker. Along with the name came many other changes in software and promotional campaigns. Since then, the card room grew at an impressive rate to now be considered the very best by thousands of active players every day.

Pacific Poker in New Zealand has remained popular for a long time but the software is definitely now better than ever before. Constant updates to the client created exclusively by 888 Gaming make sure that players get the best experience possible on any device or platform. Available by download for free and in instant play, the software doesn’t just feature an entire set of nice animations and graphics but it also includes special functions. There are 3D details, unique tables for playing with a webcam turned on and much more.

Mobile poker is now one of the best parts about playing at Pacific Poker. Thanks to the innovative software, players can have real money tables at their fingertips in just a few seconds. Going mobile can be done with iOS and Android apps since these cover the big part of the devices on the market. Download the mobile client from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad or opt for the Android app from the website.

With just one account, Pacific Poker becomes available on all devices. The mobile lobby will present a good selection of cash games, scheduled tournaments and sit and go tournaments. Also, there is the option to select practice play for players who want to just get a few hands going for fun and not use real cash.

An additional option for connecting is to simply go to pacificpoker.com from the mobile device of choice and start the instant version in Flash. This is compatible with all mobile devices with internet browsing apps that support the program. As a result, in addition to iPhone and Android smartphones, you can also use a Windows device and BlackBerry phones to play on the move.

There are so many guaranteed tournaments available every week that it will be hard to keep track of all the action. Tournaments cover all stakes and the prize pools that Pacific Poker guarantees are definitely generous. There are also promotions running every month while real money poker players can earn additional benefits from the loyalty program. It is safe to say that there is never a dull moment at Pacific Poker.

Cash games are another area where the poker network really excels. No limit Texas Hold'em tables of six or nine players get a lot of action and the games have blinds that range from as little as $0.01 and $0.02 to $25 and $50. The card room used to have high stakes cash tables but it decided to remove most of these games in order to discourage sharks and make the overall competition softer. Fixed limit games go up much higher.

Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo games go up to $25/$50 as well, even if they are for pot limit and fixed limit, and still get plenty of active players so finding a table here will not be a problem. 7 Card Stud can be found in the lobby but the traffic is not as good as the other two variations.

In addition to the regular cash games, the Pacific Poker review found a few special gaming options for fans of online poker. One of them is called SNAP and it is a fast-fold game that is played at a much faster pace than your regular poker games. It is possible to get more than 200 hands dealt in an hour with this version.

Webcam Poker is also a fun way to enjoy the game online on the card room since all the players at the table must have an active webcam so that they are all visible to the opponents in real time.

To say that Pacific Poker has good traffic would be a big understatement. It is in fact one of the largest online poker rooms or networks available right now. For users from New Zealand, it ranks second in terms of traffic and gets more than 2,000 active cash game players during peak hours. The average over seven days is of about 1,700 real money players involved at ring game tables. With thousands more from tournaments, the poker room has a very impressive player pool.

The current promotions at Pacific Poker start with an $88 no deposit bonus. This sign up offer consists of $1 released immediately to the account, $7 worth of tournament tickets and a pending bonus of $80 that will be released in chunks of $8 when collecting 250 Bonus Points.

Following is the main welcome bonus that is made out of a 100% match on the first payment for up to $400 for free, seven tickets for the $500 tournaments for first depositors, two tickets for the $1,000 tournaments for depositors, and one ticket for the challenge tournament for new players. The $400 bonus will be remitted in $10 increments for every 100 Bonus Points collected. Bonus Points can be earned by playing ring games for real money, paying tournament entry fees and by betting on casino games.

Ongoing promotions include an offer for special tournaments on Monday where players can win extra rewards by getting good results in the two featured tournaments. Called the Monday Twins, this promotion runs every Monday and the highest prize is of $10,000 in cash for winning both events on the same day.

Pacific Poker players will benefit from the 888poker Club and the rewards that come with it. Real cash players are given points for every wager they make on the poker room and on the online casino. Points help climb up the levels and get Gold Tokens as rewards for completing various challenges. Customers can exchange Gold Tokens for prizes from the online store. You can view the progress within the loyalty program and the available challenges in the account menu.

The banking system is a crucial part of the Pacific Poker review since players must be able to easily make deposits and withdraw the winnings from the poker room. After testing things out, the results show that the operator doesn’t just have secure payment methods but that it provides an entire list of options. New Zealand players will find the cashier to be very convenient since it has cards, e-wallets, bank transfers and other ways to make payments.

Withdrawing isn’t difficult either but each request will start with a 24-hour pending period. Also, not all of the payment options available will be listed as ways to cash out. With that being said, Visa, MasterCard, NETELLER, wire transfer and QIWI can all receive withdrawals. It takes only a few days to receive the money in your account in most cases.

Help at Pacific Poker is provided through the 888 Poker website so players will be redirected to the extensive section with a lot of useful information. Reaching the support staff can be done by sending a message from the section. Email is the only option currently available given the large number of users on the network. It supports more than a dozen languages and it normally doesn’t take more than a couple of days to receive a response. Customer support is available in more than a dozen languages.

Security at Pacific Poker is flawless. The operating company, 888 Holdings, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is highly reliable around the world. It also holds licenses for the online poker room available in multiple jurisdictions, including New Zealand. The fair outcomes are thanks to random number generators certified by eCOGRA.

For online poker in New Zealand, not many websites are as good as Pacific Poker. This option has it all. From the huge amount of traffic to the generous bonuses and promotions, each player will feel welcomed here. You can find tables for the game and betting level you like at any hour of the day and the gaming software is just in a league of its own. The story is the same on mobile devices as well so it is definitely worth giving Pacific Poker a chance. You will not regret it.

Our Pacific Poker rating: 9.4/10