Online Poker > Online Poker Room Reviews > Paradise Poker Review
Paradise Poker is one of the longest serving poker sites, with a reliability and trust that can only come from years at the top. Where Paradise Poker really excels is in its game variety, in which area it is unrivalled on the internet, offering not just a wider choice of games, but a much higher volume of players in those traditionally less popular games. Paradise Poker also runs some terrific promotions, including the only million dollar free roll in the world. Read More...
Our Ratings
Promotions/Bonuses
| Sign-up Bonus |
$50 |
| Deposit Bonus |
25% |
| Referral Bonus |
$0 |
| Deposit free bonus |
$0 |
| Paid to play |
$0 per hour |
Graphics
For such a big site Paradise Poker's graphics are not as great as you might expect. The tables look ok. but there are no avatars. simply boxes with names in. That makes the tables rather tedious to look at - all the seats look the same. The lobby doesn't look great either - too much colour and pictorial information makes for a cluttered image.
Playability
Table
Paradise Poker's software is exceptionally reliable. so when in play you can rest easy that things will go smoothly. The poker room also provides players with some great features. such as player statistics. player notes and so forth. Still. there are a few niggles: like the pre-select buttons being a little small and seem lacking in options (there is no 'call' pre-select button).
Lobby
In terms of functionality Paradise Poker's lobby is well designed. Finding the right table for you is made easy by no-limit Texas Hold'em games appearing under a different tab from other (fixed-limit and pot-limit) Hold'em games. The view flop percentage is also clearly displayed next to each table.
Player Numbers
Ring
Exceptional. Paradise is in the top five sites for player numbers. with thousands of players on at all times. You will never be short of a game.
Tournament
Player numbers for tournaments are also very high. and growing all the time. Paradise can boast some of the best peak time traffic on the net.
Game Variety
Texas Hold'em. Omaha High. Omaha High/Low. Seven Card Stud. Five-Card Stud Heads-Up. Draw. Texas Hold?em Pineapple and Pineapple H/L8. As you can see. Paradise Poker has an almost unparalleled variety of games. and it is here that you will find some of the more unusual poker games such as Pineapple. Pineapple is identical to Texas Hold'em except that players are dealt three hole-cards. one of which is discarded after the flop.
Rake
Paradise Poker's rake is slightly higher than the average - with a maximum rake of $5 (the standard maximum rake is $3). For low limit tables the rake is reasonable. and in ring games no rake is charged unless a flop is seen.
Special Tournaments
Pick from the following: The Paradise Masters - a nine day championship with nine events and a guaranteed prize pool of over $3 million. The Million Dollar Freeroll - the largest in the world (you cannot pay to play in this tournament - you have to qualify by winning free satellite tournaments). WPT qualifiers. lots of Guaranteed Pot Tournaments (including a daily $60.000 guaranteed pot). and qualifiers to miscellaneous tournaments (such as the Aussie Millions - with a top prize of over $1 million).
Promotions / Bonuses
Sign-up
Paradise Poker's 25 percent cash-back up to a maximum of $50 is not especially generous. but it is quite easy to claim as you need only play 500 raked hands (it sounds a lot but is isn't) and there is no time limit.
Loyalty
Surprisingly there are no loyalty bonuses on Paradise Poker. and no player points scheme either. They do however have a random hand number bonus. but compared to other sites Paradise Poker is a let down in this department.
Payment Options
Deposit
VISA. MasterCard. NETeller. FirePay. wire transfer. bank draft.
Withdrawal
VISA. NETeller. FirePay and check.
About Paradise Poker
Paradise Poker was founded in 1999 and quickly became the dominant force in the online poker industry. where it remained until about 2003. That was when Party Poker launched its television advertising campaign and almost overnight became the dominating force in the industry.
Nevertheless Paradise Poker was still a big player in the online poker industry. and an advertising campaign featuring the model Caprice helped bolster the company's profile.
Evidently the campaign worked. and in October 2004 Paradise Poker was purchased by the UK betting giants Sportingbet for $347.5 million in October 2004 helping Sportingbet to become the world's largest online gaming company. and adding further security to Paradise Poker's already very secure operation.
The poker room currently has over two million customers. with over 7000 logged in at peak times. It is still regarded as one of the top online poker sites worldwide.