Gambling has been around for century’s but historically always had barriers to market. For example, when the urge arose, it usually involved getting dressed, starting the car and driving to a bookie or casino (the latter invariably meant having a shower and shave too!).

But then came the Internet. Suddenly, at the flick of a switch (or twiddle of a mouse ear) you could enter into the most prestigious casino’s on the planet and play multi-national opponents in a virtual World where you could be anyone from James Bond to the Prime Minister! Sceptics claimed this would be doom & gloom. The end of civilisation. Bankruptcy for sure. In fact, online gaming has gone from strength-to-strength providing entertainment and prosperity for many.

Of course, to have winners there must be losers but isn’t that the biggest hook of all in gambling. After all, if you knew the outcome it wouldn’t be gambling. The fact is, sceptics and cynics forgot to take one important factor into consideration: Common sense. Yes, good old-fashioned human intelligence. Relaxing online in the comfort of your own home brings a completely new meaning to gambling – or home gaming as is now commonly termed and I tried it recently just to prove to myself that I had common sense and was, if fact, human.

I checked out PartyPoker.com:

Party Poker is run by PartyGaming. The company is run from Gibraltar and is listed on the London Stock Exchange and turns over upto £1 million in rake every day in tournaments and cash games. The site is certainly living proof of the popularity of online poker.

You must have an account at to play but that’s fairly easy to set up and falls in line with other sites. The site has always been in the top 3 poker rooms, in terms of numbers, and often rewards loyal players with lots of great incentives, including freerolls, cash-back, deposit bonuses etc.

Interestingly, Party Poker does not accept US Players due to legislation and respects local laws in its constant due diligence and controls.

Party Poker is one of the most generous and pro-active in regards to rewarding both new and loyal customers. For example, new customers can receive upto a 30% bonus on their first deposit up to £100. If you refer a friend, and if they make a cash deposit, you collect around £25.

There’s also the regular freeroll tournaments. Simply sign-up using a bonus code (available from the site) you will also gain access to lots of exclusive Online Poker Review Freerolls in addition to the ones that Party Poker alone offers as well as being able to participate in monthly freerolls that we have negotiated to run at Party Poker. At the time of writing I believe this is not available at any other site.

Party Poker is a monster among online poker sites and you won’t go wrong there whether a rookie or table master. They are one of the biggest rooms with more online players than most global sites with tremendous player action at any time of the day.

Popularity: Excellent. There’s no doubt about it; if you want action, you get it here! Party Poker got a popularity boost when they acquired broadcasting rights for the World Poker Tour, an advantage they have taken care not to lose by constantly coming up with promotions that appeal to players around the world.

Security: Excellent.   Even with such a massive volume of players, Party Poker has not faced any significant security or financial breaches. They are audited by ItechLabs and – since they are listed on the London Stock Exchange Market – all their financial information and security procedures are available for public inspection.

Player Competition: Excellent. The competition at Party Poker is soft. They have instituted a very friendly advertising campaign and brand balancing poker with a more light-hearted party approach rather than a hard core grinder mentality. You can find loose play thanks to the droves of new poker players brought in by the marketing programs.

Site Software: Excellent. Party Poker uses proprietary software, meaning that it is not part of a network, but rather it has been independently developed to have unique features and great functionality. Tables have a nice design. The sound effects are crisp and appropriate but can be turned off. There is a choice of cartoon avatars which goes with the light-hearted party theme of the poker room. The software is fast, easy to use, functional and useful, as is the note-taking feature. The lobby provides useful statistics such as average pot size and hands played by hour. The software also supports the automated import of tournament and ring-game data to Poker Tracker. You can multi-table up to twelve tables at the same time, confident that the software will run smoothly with a low risk of disconnection.

Customer Support: Excellent. Customer service support comes through either a 24 hour freephone number or e-mail. Agents are knowledgeable and friendly, and will often remind players of the latest promotions and perks. E-mail support can take slightly longer but replies are always accurate.

Company Ethics: Excellent. Party Poker is committed to ensuring responsible gaming. They comply with all legislation’s and regulations and also provides self-exclusion tools, customer deposit limits, as well as not allowing access to minors. As one of the biggest online poker sites, they are fully committed with GamCare, a foundation that develops policies and practices to target problem gambling in accordance with their Social Responsibility Code of Conduct.

Site Promotions: Excellent.   There’s always a good variety of promotions and bonuses and the provision of a large number of exclusive tournaments, both online – such as the Sunday 300K Guaranteed – and live events, such as the lavish Party Poker Million tourney played every year on a cruise ship.

Overall: You got it! Excellent! Check them out…