PartyPoker has undergone a huge transformation in the past few years. It's changed hands, with GVC Holdings completing a deal worth over C$2 billion to buy out Party's parent, bwin.party. It's also announced that it's moving back into "grey" markets as it seeks to increase its share of the market.

In addition, its entire online poker room has been revamped, featuring a new look and new features making it one of online gambling's most attractive websites. For the first time since the early online poker boom, when the site was the market leader, PartyPoker is worth playing at again.

Software

PartyPoker underwent a huge revamp several years ago, and the site lobby now resembles a slick casino rather than a traditional poker room.

Old-school fans can still view the various tourneys and cash games in the old format, but why would you want to? Out goes the confusing tournament timetable, in comes the '1 Click Lobby' with clearly labelled game tabs which you can open with the click of a button. Just move over a tile, select how much you want to buy in for, and hit the 'Play Now' button. You can even filter the lobby and add 'Favourites' to your own customised page.

As well as an easier lobby, Party have added Missions and Achievements. The new fad among social gaming sites, 'Achievements' can be collected, shared and boasted about as you hit certain milestones: win 3 SNGs in a row, hit pocket aces, hit a one-outer, etc.

'Missions' are targets set by the site like achieving a certain number of hands or finishes. Players can win tournament tokens, player points or cash in return for hitting their mission targets.

Mobile Clients: The new redesign works well for all mobile phones. iOS, Android, and even Windows phone users have dedicated apps to download on their devices. There's even a dedicated FastForward app for mobile which lets Party customers play the site's fast-fold cash games separate to the tournament site.

Security and Support

Customer support has always been PartyPoker's downside, and the live chat is frustratingly slow. It si available 24/7, if you can get the window to load up. Canadians have the option to call via telephone (1-877-447-2183) and email 24/7.

Deposits can be made with a pretty unrivalled list of banking options. Canadians can use MasterCard, VISA or Diners Club without fees, while paysafecard, entropay and Canuck favourite INSTADebit are also available.

The best bit of news is that PartyPoker has finally got rid of its unpopular withdrawal fees for real-money customers. It was perhaps the worst feature of the site and it's certain to attract new customers.

PartyPoker enjoys licensing from Gibraltar, which means players can rely on amazing security and auditing to protect their details and games.

Cash Games and Tournaments

Available games: PartyPoker currently spreads Texas Hold'em, plus Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7-card Stud, and Stud Hi-Lo. It's a little light compared to other leading sites, so don't expect any Open-Face Chinese, Badugi or 2-7 Lowball for now.

Cash Games: No Limit Hold'em still rules at PartyPoker, with $0.25/0.50 games the best chance of finding lots of fish. Recreational players are most abundant at weekends, and generally you'll find lots of Europeans plying their fishy trade here.

PartyPoker provides 'Casual Cash Games' which are only open to players wanting to play one table at a time. This ensures a fun experience for newcomers and wards off multi-tabling grinders.

FastForward is PartyPoker's version of the popular fast-fold cash game variant. Available at lots of stakes, don't forget you can hit the app on mobile phones for some top action.

Top Tournaments

Recently, PartyPoker has been moving towards some big-money guarantees to cater for their more casual gamblers.

In the 2016 POWERFEST, PartyPoker spread 98 tournaments featuring a $5 million total guarantee over the festival. Buy-ins ranged from a very friendly $5.50 to a little more exclusive $5,200, everyone was involved.

On the more regular schedule, over 250 tournaments run on the site each week, with buy-ins ranging from $2.20 to $1,050. Satellites run from $0.01 upwards.

Elsewhere, players can win seats to the World Poker Tour via the site's long-running partnership with the world-famous series. Packages to both European and North American legs, the WPT Montreal, can be won on the site.

Promotions

As well as the POWERFEST, PartyPoker runs regular promotions throughout the month. New players can benefit from 'Get Started Missions' which award small cash prizes for achieving hand requirements or playing targets.

Get Started Missions examples:

• Play 5 Casual Cash Games and win one
• Play 10 FastForward poker hands and win one
• Play 5 Sit 'n Gos, finish in the money in one, and knock out one player

As for welcome offers, there's currently a $30 Welcome Bonus which includes bonus cash to play on cash games plus tournament tokens into the site's Power Series:

• 1 x $5.50 tourney ticket
• 4 x $2.20 tourney tickets
• 2 x $1.10 tourney tickets

VIP Programs at PartyPoker

PartyPoker's Loyalty Program runs across the poker, casino and sportsbook, with four levels of loyalty for players:

• Bronze: 0 points requirement
• Silver: 50 points per month requirement
• Gold: 750 points per month requirement
• Palladium: 2,000 points per month requirement

Two Players Points are earned for every $1 of rake or tourney fees paid on the site, but the scheme only really gets going past Gold stage.

Party Poker is known for great games and valuable promotions, join today!