At last-it's in the right place!!!!!! (pokerroom.com)

Member Name: angry chris

Product:	pokerroom.com
Date:	05/02/03 (411 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its free., It's easy to get into., The chat feature is an excellent idea

Disadvantages: The large stake tables are ridiculous., It's not that realistic, The real money games will rob you dry.

PLEASE NOTE-THIS IS PRACTICALLY THE SAME OP AS THE ONE I WROTE IN THE WRONG PLACE FOR POKERROOM-I HAVE JUST PASTED IT HERE WITH A COUPLE OF AMENDMENTS AND A BIT MORE DEPTH.

Before I start this op, let me thank everyone who has written to offer support to me over the last couple of days. It means a lot and this is the best way I could think off trying to return the favour, even if I really don't feel like writing at the moment...

As many of you will know, I recently wrote an op on the finest card game in the world, Poker, and offered a few little tips on how to play the game. Although the initial intention was to write to fellow randy students, I also seemed to have gotten through to some of the more "seasoned gamblers" amoung you. So much so that I was advised to check out an online poker site originally titled Pokerroom.com

If I haven't been on Dooyoo as much as I used to, now you all know why, and who to blame...

I am not planning to repeat what I wrote about the method of playing poker. Go read my op on it if you are a stranger to the format. Far be it from me to repeat myself...

To play on Pokerroom you have to be a member. This is easy enough and free. Click on the "sign up" link, fill in the easy registration form and wait for the validation e-mail to wing its way to you. This normally takes less than a minute or so, and cofirm your log-in by clicking on the validation link, and away you go.

There are three games available on Pokerroom. These are Texas Holdem poker, Baccarat and Blackjack. I haven't played the non poker games, to be honest, so I'm not really in a good position to offer an opinion. I'm sure they are good, though.(Hmmmmm)


There are two options of holdem to play, with to methods of stake play available. You can either play for real money or with play $$$.

You can use your credit card to top up your real account and play for
real cash. Howver, you need a visa or mastercard to do this, so if you are a Switch user, like yours truly, it's the play money game for you.

When you sign up you will
get a $1000 in free money credits to spend on any of the free games on the site. If you get hammered by some world series player and get wiped out, don't panic. Go to the refill page on the FAQ part of the homepage and ask for a top up and hey presto, you get another $1000. If only it were real, huh?
You can do this to a maximum of twice a day only.

The holdem games can be played two ways. You can either join in a 10 person tournament and play a "Late Night Poker" style match, or just jump on a table and play those already there and join in the action.

TOURNAMENTS.

Click on the 3D version link, enter your user details and wait for the load to take place. It is not a download, and it takes about a minute to load. Then choose from the scrolling list from either the real money tables or the play tables. Each table has a different entry fee for a rising rate of prize money, with the minimum being 10$ for a $125 first prize, all the way up to $500 for a $2500 prize. There are rakes on heach table-a small fee which goes to the site, like a casiono. These are known as the "Rakes", and apply to all games.

Pick a table, click on in and click on a free seat. Some of the characters on screen are great fun, from a cowboy to a smart business suit. There are three female seats, an old pensioner, a smart girl in a red-dress suit and a lass with the biggest chest outside of porn film land. Well worth a laugh.

Confirm you wish to join the table, then click on sit in and wait for the table to fill up. When everyone is in, the game begins, and will be played until 1 person has all the money on the table. The last three players in the game are placed, and so win a prize, with 3rd getting double the stake, second getting treb
le the stake and the winner gets 5 times their stake.

Be warned, if you have to leave in the middle of the game, you can be played only on auto for a small while, then y
ou will be booted out. If you are booted, you lose your entry fee.

NORMAL TABLES.

Log in as above, wait for the list of tables then select real or play tables. You can join in where there is a seat, and can play for anything from a $1 per bet all the way up to $100 bucks on the blind. You can play for as little or as long as you like, and can leave at anytime.

FEATURES.

There are a few things to note about the site.

1. There is now a downloadable version of the normal table game. Access is from the main site homepage, and takes about 10 minutes. It is well worth the wait, being quicker to play and with sharper graphics. It has other nice touches, like logging all your stats and telling you how much you have won or lost, when you have folded and the like.

2. Every once in a while, you will be offered $10 in real cash to play with. While it rarely lasts long, it adds to the excitment when you play for real cash.

3. During play, there is a chat option which allows you to natter to the other players. Common courtesies such as "good luck" or "nice hand" are the norm, but wily players can use it to bluff or intimidate the other players. To shut them up, click on their icon on screen and they will be muted from you...he he he.

TIPS AND IDEAS.

Below are some of things I have noticed...

1. DO NOT PLAY THE REAL TABLES UNLESS YOU ARE RICH OR EXTREMELY LUCKY. I played them once, feeling confident due to the large mass of play cash I had amassed, and my knowledge of the game. I got massacred in about five minutes and even less hands. A total rip-off.

2. It isn't very realsistic. Most games will be dominated by small hands such as pairs in real life. On Pokerroom, th
e whole thing is dominated by a variety of monster hands, with straights, flushes and full houses regularly coming out. Very annoying when you have a three of a kind to find a
player sitting with 4 aces. Ridiculous.

3. Be careful on AOL servers. The sytem is prone to crash for no reason at all, with no way of getting back to the game.

4. It may be just my computer, but if you click the x to close the site, my connection always crashes. I have to just minimise the screen.

5. Play on the bigger tables and play hard-remember, most of us will just play for play money. You can always get some more.

6. I played the biggest play money table the other night having turned my $1000 play cash into nearly 20 grand. I then went on possibly the biggest losing streak ever, losing 15 grand before I got a hand worth playing. I was losing with flushes and all sorts. This is very annoying, especially after taking so long to get my stash.

7. Due to connection speeds, some games can be slow. Use the chat box to prod players into action with a gentle persuation tactic(NOT "hurry the f*ck up!!!")

Despite all this, it's well worth a look. It's easy to get on, it's simple to use and in the main it is free. Thanks to those who told me of this site.

By the way, I'm Chrisb30 if anyone fancies a game. See you there!

Oh yeah, and I know this is in the worng place, but I asked Katie to put this site on along with Park Resorts, and I got a URL which doesn't work for this and a URL for Blue Dolphin Holiday Park. Great stuff, cheers!!!

Thank you for rating(or re-rating) this op

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