Pacific Poker Review

Pacific Poker is definitely an online poker room that should be on your radar if you are looking for a new site to join in Canada. It was created way back in 1997 and although it went through some rough patches over the years, Pacific Poker continues to be synonymous to great poker. The network has changed its name to 888 Poker and is now the second largest poker site available for Canadian users. Players from the United States are not accepted at this time.

With millions of registered users and thousands of real money poker players online every day, Pacific Poker has some of the best action in the industry and its promotions keep it appealing for recreational bettors. High stakes pros are not really encouraged to play here given the lack of tables at the really big blinds but that shouldn�t be a problem.

Pacific Poker is owned by 888 Holdings, a company that can be found on the London Stock Exchange and is licensed in Gibraltar. This helps make it a financially secure gambling company and the awards for the poker room seem to be adding up year after year. A great thing that stands out in the Pacific Poker review from the very start is that new players can get $88 in free cash and tournament tickets simply for signing up, with another bonus offer waiting on the first deposit.

Software

Pacific Poker may not seem like the most modern online poker room by looking on the website but the software is a totally different story. Since it uses the awesome poker client from 888 Holdings, the lobby and the tables are guaranteed to look amazing. The 888 style can be seen with the darker shades of grey and blue touches everywhere. Not only is the result visually pleasant but it is also very easy to navigate the different tabs and categories.

There are some software manuals listed on the website, along with poker guides to help newbies get started. Players from Canada can download the free software or connect in instant play on the site. A lot of innovative features make the poker site unique and users can expect to find a lot of options to change the way things look and work at the tables. Pacific Poker supports the latest in 3D poker software, features customizable avatars, allows for private tournaments, offers special games and more.

Mobile Clients: Mobile poker players are well-served at 888poker. There are download apps for iOS and Android with a fully-secure Cashier embedded in the app. As with desktop, there's no need to download as the Webapp plays instantly via your device's browser.

Mobile Play

Keeping with the state of the art software for online poker is great compatibility with mobile devices. Pacific Poker, with the help of 888 Poker, offers native apps for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. The no download version for playing inside the browsing apps is also available on the go so each player can choose how to connect at any time. Basically nothing is lost when making the switch since the player pool is the same and the visuals keep the same level of charm. Pacific Poker mobile even offers tables for SNAP Poker to enjoy the game with no waiting time.

The controls have been optimized for the device so the tables will look great on iPhone, iPad, Samsung, OnePlus, BlackBerry and other brands. The starting window allows for a quick sign in with the existing account and for fast registration. After that, the screen presents cash games, scheduled tournaments and Sit & Go tournaments for real money or for demo credits. Quick seating on mobile makes it very fast and easy to find a table that fits the set preferences.

Security and Support

When it comes to security and fair play, Pacific Poker definitely gets a perfect score. The website is perfectly secured when opting for the instant version so that players can safely enter the account details, make banking transactions and enjoy the poker games. The story is the same when using the desktop client and the mobile apps. In fact, the operator uses one of the most advanced payment platforms in the poker industry and it covers many methods that are popular in Canada.

eCOGRA has evaluated the fairness of the games and how the cards are shuffled and issued an accreditation showing that everything is legit. The certificates are accessible to all users. The cards in a deck are shuffled by using RNG technology before every hand so the software guarantees a fair outcome. The services are licensed by the Government of Gibraltar and the UK site is regulated by the Great Britain Gambling Commission.

Cash Games and Tournaments

Pacific Poker has an excellent selection of cash games and tournaments. Not only does it cover multiple poker variations and stakes but the large traffic basically guarantees that you will always find what you are looking for. The lobby makes the entire process simple with quick seating and filters.

Cash Games

This is an area that Pacific Poker covers very well and it averages about 1,800 real money cash game players across seven days. The number goes up quite a bit during the weekend and for the peak hours every day so the tables are always buzzing with poker activity. The cash games available on the network cover:

• No Limit and Limit Texas Hold'em
• Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo
• Seven Card Stud
• SNAP: A unique name for a fast fold poker variation that is played for hold'em and Omaha where players can fold to be moved to another table and receive a new hand straight away.
• Webcam Poker: Online poker played at special tables where all users have active webcams and microphones so that one can see and hear the opponents live.

SNAP Poker does get a lot of players on the Pacific Poker platform since users can take part in a lot more hands per hour than they would in the regular versions of the cash games. Also, the competition seems to be softer here since it is difficult to keep track of opponents when they change every hand.

Freerolls

Online poker players who don�t want to spend any money and still take part in exciting tournaments will find a great selection of freerolls on the Pacific Poker lobby. Just sort the tournaments by buy-in and all events will be aligned for easy access.

The operator gives out about $100,000 in freeroll prize pools every month but some events can be exclusive to frequent players who reached a higher level in the reward program. However, $500 free tournaments are very frequent on the site and they normally attract large fields of participants eager to win real money.

Tournaments

Various types of tournaments are available on the online poker room and the variety makes sure to cover different budgets while coming with attractive guaranteed prize pools. Sit and Go, MTT, Heads Up, Satellites are other types of tourneys will be featured in the lobby. 888 also has some large live events and online users can win tickets and packages by playing on the site

The main tournaments have been given special names, inspired from sea creatures or weather effects. The biggest of the bunch is The Whale, which has a buy in of $600 and a guaranteed prize of $120,000. Big tournaments such as this one come with satellites for multiple steps to earn tickets far cheaper than the buy in. In addition to the set schedule, Pacific Poker gets entire series of online poker tournaments with millions of dollars in play on a regular basis.

Sit & Go Jackpot

A special type of Sit & Go tournaments available here is called BLAST. This is played with four participants at the table and the prize pool is randomly selected, going up to 10,000 times the paid buy in. The format is of super turbo and is only available for Texas Hold'em at $0.10, $1, $5, $15 and $30.

Tournaments Leaderboard

The site keeps track of the best online tournament players with the help of the leaderboard. Points are awarded based on position, buy in and field size for every tournament on the poker room and players can compete for the top spots every month.

Promotions and Customer Supporttions

Sign Up Bonus

Players from Canada are eligible for an $88 sign up bonus at Pacific Poker, no deposit needed. Once the account is done, an email will be sent with a link for triggering the offer. The bonus funds are distributed as $1 in real money sent immediately to the account, $7 in tournament tickets over a week and $80 as a pending bonus. The $80 pending amount is transferred in increments of $8, made out of $1 cash and $7 worth of tournament tickets, when 250 Bonus Points are collected.

Welcome Bonus

The Pacific Poker welcome bonus is of 100% on the first deposit up to $400 and it also contains a total of 10 tickets to special tournaments exclusive for depositors. The terms and conditions state that the $400 bonus will be released in the account $10 at a time, when 100 Bonus Points are earned. To get points, all you have to do is play real money ring games, pay tournament entries or bet on casino games from the account.

$1,000 Depositors Free Tournaments

Pacific Poker will offer two tickets for the $1,000 Depositors Free Tournaments to every player who makes a deposit during the week. There are two such events taking place every Saturday so a deposit is enough to play for shares of $2,000 for free.

888poker Club

Playing on the popular online poker room also means benefiting from the rewarding 888poker Club. From the moment you make your first real cash bet, the journey begins and it can go on for 500 levels, with various rewards unlocked along the way. A quick summary of the account can be seen from the lobby and it shows the current level, the missions available and the progress towards completing them.

Doing challenges is the fastest way to advance and they are pretty easy, especially on the lower levels. As these are finished, the level will increase and a pop up will appear to congratulate the user. Gold Tokens are granted as rewards and they can be redeemed in the 888poker Online Shop for all sorts of great prizes.

Other Special Promotions

Mondey Twins

The Monday Twins Challenge will offer Canadian players the chance to double the winnings for special events on the first day of the week. The goal here is to take part in the Royal and in the Flush tournaments of the challenge and finish well in both of them. Win the two tournaments on the same day and receive $10,000 cash.

Invite a Friend

Poker is a game that can be enjoyed with friends and inviting them to join the fun on the online poker room does come with some cash bonuses for both parties. The existing player will receive $10 plus a ticket to the iGoodies tournament for every friend that joins. The new user will also get a ticket for the tournament, on top of the regular welcome bonuses. Friends can be invited via email and Twitter.

Customer Support

Pacific Poker will redirect users to the 888 Poker help centre when clicking on the tab for support. There are eight major categories with guides and FAQs inside so it is easy to get answers to the common questions. For direct customer support, a highly qualified team is online 24/7 and can only be reached by email. A message can be sent from the mentioned section or directly from the poker client.

Conclusion

All in all, the Pacific Poker review highlights some awesome facts about the poker room online and it is definitely a great choice for just about any player. It has the traffic to sustain cash games at all hours, day or night, and the tournaments can get large fields with the prize pools to match. Being backed by 888poker means that Pacific Poker has a great client and that banking from Canada can be done securely through web wallets, credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers and other types of methods. The cherry on top is the welcome package with a lot of free money and tournament tickets waiting for new players.

Join Pacific Poker Now and Claim Your $88 + $400 Bonus!