Pacific poker, part of the 888 casino is one of the biggest poker rooms out there. We are reviewing pacific poker to see if it is popular out of pure power play of the market and history or because it is actually an amazing room.

Pacific poker has been around for about 10 years and in that time it has taken control of the poker arena. I have been a member of this site for around 4 years. Since joining I have seen many changes and improvements of the software the way the room works and standard of play. As 888 is a casino as well it has one feature that I like the most out of any of the rooms I have reviewed...FISH and lots of them. I took my rod and bait of $30 minimum buy in and am glad to say for this test I was $150 in profit after 4 hours of play.

The download

The download, not that it is required was straight forward and allowed me to sign up first time without any hassle. Its an average size download but if your on a slower connection it is possible to play directly online, however if I don't reccommend this if you can help it. The main reason is that the software online is not as stable and tends to crash alot! 888 is big and so it has the main deposit methods and a low minimum amount of $30. This is good as it brings in new players and allows everyone to get in on the action.

The tables

The tables have just been updated to include avatars and a realistic feel. If you want the real experience then choose pkr as this is just the same as most other rooms. I like the lobby of 888 and there are a massive amount of tables and buyins which is always good. The triple up tournaments are ideal if you don't have much time plus there are hundreds of sit and gos. The MTT big amounts are not as good as Mansion $100k a day tournys but there are a variety of big tournaments attracting alot more players. There is quite alot of banter on pacific poker at times and there are literally players from everywhere. Some faults with the way the playing area are set out are that the buttons for me are to close together. I play on about 4 rooms and if I venture onto 888 I am normally allin or folded when I really don't want to just because the buttons are close and are above each other. Other faults are that when playing without the download the gliches tend to make it so you can't see your stack at times and crashes are frequent.

On the regular play you can play side games on blackjack and several top casino games with your balance. This for me is rubbish as I tend to blow my hard earned bankroll on the casino after a late night session. Pacific does have some good plus points about its software/tables, you can play 4 tables at a time with no trouble, Once downloaded the software rarely crashes, Pacific poker has alot of fish and bored casino players like betfred and a few other sites. This is always good as it means on sit and gos you can finish in the money without really doing much as the weak players knock each other out within a matter of hands.

The bonuses

Pacific poker offers a 25% addition up to £50. This is a good bonus but not the best around. However it is possible to clear it and if you sign up through one of our banners you get even more. Clearing bonuses is normally a fine art but I feel with the amount of weak players on 888 it is possible and can be worth while.

Customer service

I don't normally comment on customer service in its own section but Pacific poker really does shine when it comes to responding to queries and being polite and helpful. 888 seems to be the most helpful room I have come across other than Betfred poker but that could just be down to how much money I have spent with them over the years ;-).

My thoughts

The room is big, it has lots of fish, easy deposits and withdrawals, simple to download and use, those are the plus points..however that can be said of Party poker and a variety of other sites. 888 is reliable and does its job, however for some reason it just did not WOW me. This although is a critisism what is a poker room there for?.. to play poker have a good time doing it. It forefills that expectation and has some nifty features and additional plus points already mentioned. I think pacific poker is one for the masses, mainly because it does what it says on the tin. I play on it quite regularly as I know I am guranteed to have a good time, it will work and if I do have a problem there is backup avaliable.

Overall a thumbs up from me for the average/ heavy player but occasional to light users may prefer something like PKR or Bodog.

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