Review of Pacific Poker

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Deposit Options

 To access the ocean of fish that await you at Pacific Poker you're going to have to deposit some funds. You can deposit money and withdraw your winnings via credit and debit cards. You can also deposit money by phone, Solo and Switch (Maestro), Click and Buy, MoneyBookers, Neteller, Paypoint, Fireplay, UKash, ACTeCASH, PaySafeCard, checks and wire transfers.

The security at Pacific Poker is excellent and you shouldn't have any concerns that your finances will get a soaking from any unscrupulous predators lurking below the surface.

Software

 Finding a suitable table can often be a nightmare, even when you have the ability to narrow your searches by game type you still find yourself having to wade through endless tables to find the specific one you want. Pacific Poker has worked hard trying to overcome this and created a lobby that allows you to really burrow down into particulars of the tables. Two rows of tabs allow you to choose your poker variant i.e. Hold'em, Omaha etc. The second row then allows you to choose whether you want to play cash games, STTs, MTTs or the special jackpot tables. Once you've made your choices you can then filter each column to narrow down your table options. If you're too impatient to go through this process and the urge to jump straight into a game is too much, then the quick seat function will have you anteing up in three small steps.

Pacific Poker has recently made massive changes to their graphics package and rather than evolving they've totally revolutionized their aesthetics. The old software was basic and unattractive and Pacific's overhaul has brought their site inline with all the major modern sites. The interface is now much more modern and user-friendly, which is very important in terms of concentration, especially during a long session in front of the monitor. All the standard features are in place and to add a dash of zing to the proceeding the developers have incorporated a unique ghost hand setting. This allows you to leave your cards in view after you fold; thus, helping you to improve your decisions in future games.

Another useful feature available in the Pacific Poker software is an option to choose the way you are notified when the action is on you. The software window can pop over other applications running on your computer, or it can just flash in the task bar, which is really great if you're mass multi-tabling.

Type of Games

 Hold'em, Omaha and 7 Card Stud are the game choices at Pacific Poker. This list is far from extensive but for those who are just starting out in their poker careers the stakes to choose from is far more extensive. The lowest buy-in level is $0.01/$0.02 and rise to an eye watering $100/$200, so whatever your skill level, or pain threshold, you're well catered for.

STTs come in a variety of flavors including: 6, 10 and 2 man games. These range from 50 cent to 1k HU matches and vary between, fast, double or nothing games, frenzied all-in games and satellites.

In addition to poker, the site has a range of casino and betting options available through their sister site, 888 Gaming. Roulette, blackjack, racing bets and football pools are all available to play if you want to give luck a spin.

Promotions and Bonuses

Pacific Poker has recently implemented a new and improved rewards program for its players. The VIP program works on two levels: Status Points and Reward Points. As you play you earn Status Points and Reward Points, with the more Status Points you earn, contributes to a higher VIP level. As you progress up the levels you start to earn Reward Points faster. These Reward Points can then be exchanged for real cash, tournament entries, merchandise and much more.

Pacific's other promotions included numerous freerolls (e.g. the $50k guaranteed freeroll), bounty hunter tournaments with pro players and a variety of live events such as the 888 Poker Masters and the Poker Ashes.

Customer Support

 Every 888 satellite company, including Pacific Poker, provides excellent levels of customer support. Pacific Poker offers free phone numbers for most countries as well as e-mail and trouble ticket support. The customer care team is multi-lingual and operatives can provide help and advice in languages such as: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish and Portuguese.

Summary

Pacific Poker is one of the oldest surviving online poker rooms and, even though they've recently overhauled their game client, they still maintain the quality that's kept them in business for so many years. With age comes experience and Pacific's latest rejuvenation has used this knowledge to create a modern site that still manages to carry an air of seniority in the poker community. In my opinion, the only reason Pacific Poker isn't battling with the best in the business is because they have been forced to close their doors to the American market. This has caused a drop in numbers (although the traffic is still buzzing) and it is for this reason alone that they aren't at the top of the poker pile. Indeed, anytime you can find a mix of soft competition, slick graphics and great promotions you're onto a winner and there is no doubt the Pacific Poker provides all of this and more in bucket loads.