Pros

Party Poker is one of the longest running online poker operations in existence, so its name is well respected and its tables can be trusted. This should provide peace of mind to some users who are just getting into online poker for the first time. For those users, or others who consider themselves novice players, a major perk for Party Poker is that it offers anonymous cash game tables. An anonymous table prevents poker pros from being able to track a user that they’ve deemed an easy mark. This does a good job of keeping the competitive balance of a game. While the site can sometimes struggle to have tables available for cash games on non-peak hours, it has an amazing tournament schedule. There is almost always a large selection of tournaments to sign up for, and Party Poker offers a bonus of $22 in tournament tickets for first-time users which is definitely a nice perk. The site and app are incredibly simple to use and have a smooth and crisp feel to them. This makes playing Party Poker a fun and easy task. There are not a lot of frills on the site to distract the user from the game that they are playing.

Cons

One of the biggest cons affecting Party Poker right now is that they are not a part of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. This has not killed their traffic, but it has definitely diminished it since their users can not share tables with players in Nevada, Delaware, 888 Poker, or WSOP NJ. The site also struggles from some connection issues from time to time. This lag can be very frustrating, especially after being dealt a good hand but then being forced into folding due to a connection problem when a player can’t get their bet in on time. Party Poker does a great job of offering anonymous cash games, but it does not offer anonymous competitions. Due to this, it can be hard for beginner players to avoid being targeted by professionals. Finally, Party Poker does not really have a VIP rewards program. These types of programs have become a staple of most online poker sites, so it can be frustrating for players to not have this option on Party Poker.

How To Deposit

The first step for new users will be to sign up for an account. In order to sign up for an account, users have to provide some personal information, set a username and password, and run a geolocation search through the site to ensure that they are in New Jersey. After signing up, players are credited $20 in free play which can be used for cash games and tournaments. This is a great way to get some instant money into your account to play around with and offers incentive for the user to deposit and play in a tournament.

To deposit, players have a large variety of options. They can choose Visa/MasterCard, Diners Club cards, Neteller, Skrill, EntroPay, PayPal, bank transfer, Paysafecard, Instadebit, ecoPayz, or direct eBanking. All of these options are also available for withdrawal except bank transfer, Paysafecard, Instadebit, and direct eBanking. There is a $10 minimum on all deposits, and all withdrawal methods take two to five business days. First time depositors are also treated to rewards of $22 in free tournament tickets (four $5.50 tickets) and a 100% deposit bonus up to $500.

Conclusion

Party Poker definitely has some great positives features like anonymous cash games, great tournament schedule, and above average deposit bonuses. However, it also has some negatives like diminished site traffic, no VIP rewards program, and some connection issues. Despite its issues, this is, overall, a very serviceable option for both pros and new users.