PokerRoom.com is one of the largest and oldest online poker sites and a place where players come to stay. Focusing on a full-scale online gaming experience created through immersive promotions, interactive forums and competitive events, the site offers unmatched thrill and excitement through a huge range of poker and casino games for all platforms. On the map of online gaming experiences, PokerRoom.com is undoubtedly one of the top destinations.
Accepting U.S players
Stakes range from nickel games all the way up to $100/$200 for both Fixed and No-Limit games.Most of the Fixed-Limit hold’em action is at the $0.50/$1 through $2/$4 tables, whereas No-Limit players primarily stick to $1/$2 and lower. There is almost no action at the Fixed-Limit Omaha tables – if you want to play Omaha at Poker Rewards, you will need to play Pot-Limit.
Poker Rewards also has plenty of tournaments from which to choose. Many Sit-and-Go options are available, from standard, 10-person contests, to short-handed, heads-up, and multi-table games. Additionally, Poker Rewards has “Rounders” tables, which are special Sit-and-Go’s which give players the chance to win big money for a small buy-in. The Rounders tournaments consist of five levels – the top finishers in one level advance to the next. Some players will be able to redo a level, depending on finish, while the rest will have to start over. Players can also buy-in directly to any of the levels. Level one is only a $5 + $0.50 buy-in, but make it to level five, a $550 + $55 buy-in, and first place wins $3,000.
Of course, Multi-Table tournaments are also in abundance at Poker Rewards. Guaranteed prize pools, re-buys, freezeouts, and freeroll can all be found amongst the choices. The structure at Poker Rewards is good, too – players start with 1,500 chips and blinds only go up every twelve minutes, so there is plenty of time to play solid poker.
Like most online poker rooms, Poker Rewards holds tournaments in which players can win seats to prestigious live poker events. Satellites, in the form of both Sit-and-Go’s and Multi-Table tournaments, are running around the clock. Poker Rewards stands out from the other rooms with its World Series of Poker (WSOP) satellites. In addition to awarding seats at the main event, in 2006 it is also giving players the choice to compete for seats into other events, such as stud and Omaha. Also in 2006, Poker Rewards will be awarding one astounding prize to a skilled player – entry into every single event at the WSOP, plus 60 days accommodations, travel, and $3,500 spending money. Wow.
Poker Rewards offers a very good first deposit bonus – 50% up to $200. The terms are typical for the industry: 10x raked hands to earn the bonus. This bonus is awarded in one lump sum upon completion of the raked hands. Overall, it is not too difficult to earn. One must be dealt cards in a hand that is raked at least 25 cents. It used to be really easy to earn raked hands because the Prima Poker rooms were very loose, but since the Expekt poker room left the network, things have tightened up a bit (people attribute this to the fact that much of Expekt’s customer base was Scandinavian and other European, and they have the reputation of being loose players, but this is only speculation). Poker Rewards displays a pop-up upon login displaying the player’s current promotion and progress towards completion, as well as a raked hand counter in the lobby. Unfortunately, the two are not frequently in sync.
Poker Rewards has its own form of rakeback, which is where it gets the name Poker Rewards. Customers earn points for play and when they accumulate enough of them, can redeem them for cash. It can amount to as much as 10% rakeback.
Poker Rewards Software and Features
Anyone who has played at any of the Prima Poker rooms will be immediately familiar with the Poker Rewards software. It is very simple, almost Spartan, with a red, blue, and white color scheme. The lobby is easy to navigate, with a tree on the left side to select the game type and drill-down folders for limit and stakes. Table listings show average pot size, percent of players to the flop, hands per hour, and waiting list size. The waitlist feature is easy to use, but it can be a bit of a task to remove yourself from multiple waiting lists, as this can only be done manually.
Poker Rewards takes the simple approach the table graphics – simple and unadorned. No avatars, no pictures to upload, no drinks, nothing. Just a plain blue table with placards displaying each player’s screen name and chips. Easy to read cards, as well, with the standard four-color deck option. If fancy colors and graphics greatly enhance your poker playing experience, Poker Rewards will disappoint you. If you could care less and just want smooth-running tables, give it a whirl.
Perhaps the best feature of the Poker Rewards software is the mini-table view. Mini view shrinks the table down to a small rectangle, with only the basic information and graphics displayed. This feature is fantastic for those who want to play more than one table at a time, as four tables will easily fit on most standard monitors.
Statistics and note-taking are available at the tables. Hand histories can also be requested, as well as stored on your hard drive, if you so desire. While Poker Rewards has a player search function, it does not have a buddy list feature. Poker Rewards also provides an odds calculator and strategy book as free downloads to its customers.
One downside to the Poker Rewards software is that it can be a bit resource-intensive when several tables are open. It’s not as bad as some rooms, but it could be better.
Behind the Scenes at Poker Rewards
Poker Rewards offers customer service via e-mail and a toll free telephone number. Customer service representatives are generally helpful and friendly. One problem that does sometimes occur with Poker Rewards is that some customer service issues need to be handled by the people at the Prima Poker network, rather than the poker room itself. Because of this, there can sometimes be communication issues between Poker Rewards and Prima, and some customers have, at times, found it frustrating trying to get an account problem resolved when Poker Rewards does not have the authority to create a resolution. In the end, most issues get fixed, especially when the poker room managers get involved – they have been known to personally take care of things for customers when necessary.
Poker Rewards uses 128-bit SSL technology and an independently reviewed Random Card Shuffler. The Shuffler is also reviewed by independent auditors, with the results published on the Poker Rewards website.
