888poker

888poker Established: 2002
4.1 Full star Full star Full star Full star Empty star.
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Check out our 888Poker review for details on how to access the softest poker games online with loads of new player bonuses and free bonuses. Let’s start building your bankroll! 

What we love
  • Live Satellites, including WSOP qualifiers
  • New customers can a huge welcome package
  • Free tickets and freerolls available for new players
  • Blast SNGs with jackpots topping $300,000
  • Great cash games for novices
  • Newbies get free tickets + deposit bonus
  • Solid, robust software with great games for newbies
What we don't love
  • Not much action for high stakes players

Formerly known as Pacific Poker, 888Poker is a classic poker room that's been around since 1997 - long before the poker boom of 2003. Historically, this operator has built its reputation as one of the softest poker sites online. This means the competition is weak, loose, and passive. To put it another way, there are plenty of fish to take advantage of.

No longer just a standalone poker site, 888Poker is run by massive casino brand 888.com, which is one of the world's largest online gambling operators. This creates a stable and secure playerbase, safe payments, and a perpetual influx of fishy casino players.

Since the Poker8 software upgrade, the 888 Poker software also looks better than ever with over 100+ new features and great new multi-tabling options. 888Poker's fast-fold poker variant, SNAP Poker - where you're instantly dropped into a new hand whenever you fold - is also a blast.

Speaking of BLAST, 888Poker's version of the ultra-popular Jackpot SnGs - the 4-person hyper turbo BLAST events - are a nice new twist on lottery style poker. Buy-ins are from 10c to $30 and jackpot multipliers go up to 10,000x - making a $300,000 payout at the top.

The final thing to note is that 888Poker is making a mark in the US. Alongside the WSOP, this operator is available in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. It’s also available in an indirect way in other US states via WSOP.com. Therefore, this company has become a truly international operator and a rising star on the US poker scene.


PROMOTIONS & BONUS INFORMATION


All players who create a new global or European 888Poker account through the PokerJunkie review page are eligible for:

  • Exclusive $888 bonus at 100% deposit match
  • $88 FREE instant bonus with no deposit required

The $88 free bonus is paid out in two instalments:

  • $8 FREE: $2 in cash and $6 in tournament tickets immediately credited to your player account
  • $80 FREE: 10 x $8 ($2 cash & $6 tournament tickets) for every 250 points earned 

Countries eligible for bonus: Australia, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Ireland, Greece, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Japan, Kuwait, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Finland, Slovenia, Singapore, Hungary, India and Poland.


888Poker Bonus Code and Payout

No 888Poker promo code required for PokerJunkie players! Just click the "Free Download" or "Play Now" link found in this review page and your account will automatically be linked to the bonus offer.

888poker bonus code

PokerJunkie's $888 bonus is released in two different increments. The first $400 is moved from your pending bonus account into your real-money account in $10 increments each time you earn 100 888Poker points. The second $488 is added to your pending account once that bonus is cleared and paid out the same way. Players have 90 days from first deposit to collect the full $888 bonus.

888poker Loyalty Program

888Poker encourages and puts money back in the hands of its most important players - the recreational players. One of the centerpieces of the 888Poker loyalty program is the Daily Challenges. New, easy-to-complete challenges are found in your inbox everyday so you're not punished if you don't play for weeks at a time and lose your loyalty "status."

It's much more egalitarian and helpful to the recreational player. At the same time high-volume players can still earn Gold points and increase their loyalty levels and rewards accordingly. Gold tokens can then be redeemed for prizes including tournament tickets, merchandise and cash.

Freerolls and Reload Bonuses

888Poker gives you plenty of opportunities to get something extra. Reload bonuses and freerolls are often on the menu, as are free tournament tickets for things such as BLAST SNGs. What’s nice about the 888Poker bonus page is that it’s always changing. One week there will be something for MTT players, the next there will be something for cash game grinders. 

Keeping things fresh is important and a sign of a top-tier poker site. If the 888Poker promotions team is constantly active, it means they care about their products. That, in turn, means you’ll get more value from things such as 888Poker no deposit bonus offers, freerolls, MTT tickets and more.

POKER GAME VARIETY


888Poker has worked hard on its selection of games in recent years. Today, you can play a variety of traditional and non-traditional cash games and tournaments. The latest software also contains the 888Poker home game feature which allows you to play with friends in your own private games.

888poker games lobby

888Poker Tournaments

The 888Poker tournament lobby is filled with all manner of MTTs. From satellites and freerolls to weekly guaranteed events and specials, there really is something for everyone. We downloaded the 888Poker app to see exactly what was going on in New Jersey. From our research, we found that the weekly schedule contains a nice mix of low stakes options. 

MTTs such as the $1 Express are particularly impressive because they offer a deep-stack experience (10,000 starting chips) for a low entry fee. It’s rare to see US online poker sites offering deep-stack tournaments for anything less than $30. So, in this regard, 888Poker Delaware and its counterparts are ideal for novices. 

Another thing we liked about the MTT schedule was the inclusion of Freebuys. These are 888Poker freeroll events with a twist. As with all freerolls, you can enter for free. However, in a break from the norm, you can rebuy if you lose your stack. Rebuys cost anything from $0.01 to $1 and are a great way to keep the action flowing. Indeed, with some Freebuys offering guarantees of $500, it’s often worth investing in a rebuy or two. 

The one criticism we have when it comes to 888Poker’s tournaments is the fact they don’t really cater to high-level players. That doesn’t mean you won’t find any big-money MTTs. For example, through its links with WSOP.com, it offers nightly majors and Weekend Warriors events with total guarantees topping $100,000. You can also get access to WSOP satellites and championship events.

However, on a daily basis, most of the action is aimed at lower level players. Therefore, if we’re doing a 888Poker vs PokerStars comparison, it’s fair to say the latter is better if you want high stake tournaments. If, however, you’re a newbie or casual player, 888Poker is perfect.

888poker tournaments

Satellites

If there’s one reason to click PLAY HERE for our 888Poker download link (or the site relevant to your state), it’s satellites. Yes, there are qualifiers for many of 888’s best MTTs, including things like the XL Championships. However, the real reason the 888Poker satellite schedule stands out is its WSOP qualifiers. 

That’s right, as a member of this poker network, you’ll be able to win your way to the biggest tournament festival in the world. In fact, alongside WSOP.com, 888 is the only site that offers official WSOP satellites. This doesn't mean you can’t qualify in other ways at other sites (you can). However, 888Poker is the WSOP’s official partner and, as such, it has the privilege of offering direct satellites to all of its online and live events in Las Vegas. 

888Poker XL Championships

888Poker's XL tournament series may not be as impressive as events such as SCOOP, but it’s still impressive. Dubbed the XL Blizzard, the XL Inferno and the XL Eclipse they offer massive 2-week tournament schedules with over a hundred events across all buy-ins and, typically, $3-$5 million in guarantees.

888 SNAP Poker

888Poker's fast-fold poker variant is called SNAP poker and runs exactly how other fast-fold poker variants do. As soon as you fold your cards you are instantly moved to a new table and dealt into a new hand. As you can imagine the volume of hands you can see per minute/hour/day is astronomical and if you're a one-tabling mobile phone player it's a dream come true.

888poker snap

888Poker BLAST Jackpot SnGs

If lottery-style, jackpot SNGs are more your style, a la PokerStars' Spin & Gos, 888Poker has that too. They're called "BLAST" SnGs and they are 4-handed tourneys that play out in less than 12 minutes (most are just 6 minutes). Buy-ins range from $0.10 to $30 and the random jackpots can be worth up to 10,000X the entry fee. This means you could win as much as $300,000 in less than 10 minutes!

888Poker Beginners Games

One innovation that’s worth talking about is the “beginner” tab. If we’ve not made it clear already, 888Poker real money games are, by and large, best suited to novices and casuals. If you need any more clarification of this point, you only have to look at the beginner tab. This section of the app is reserved for $2NL cash games as well as SNGs and MTTs costing no more than $5. Anyone can join a beginners game. However, 888Poker has made it such that experienced players probably won’t want to ante up. Therefore, when you use 888Poker for Mac, PC or mobile, you can visit the beginners section and hone your skills in a safe environment.

888POKER TRAFFIC


888Poker cash games can be sporadic in terms of when they run. For example, during our 888Poker review, we looked at the site outside of peak hours and there were only four active tables (two at $10NL and two at $50NL). We also couldn’t find any Omaha or Stud cash games. However, if you go back to 888 at peak times, you’ll find action all the way up to $200NL. In fact, if you look at the stats, the WSOP/888 network attracts almost 400 cash game players at peak times. 

SOFTWARE & GRAPHICS


There are two ways to join the action. You can either use the 888Poker instant play software or you can use our 888Poker download link PLAY HERE to install the app on your computer or mobile. In our opinion, it doesn’t matter which method you choose. The native app is slightly easier to use but one thing we found is that the window in which it operates is small. And, to make things worse, you can’t change the size of it. 

However, this inconvenience aside, 888Poker is what we’d call a simple but stable platform. It won’t blow you away in terms of features and styling, but it will allow you to dive into the action without any fuss. In fact, one of the best features 888 introduced when it released its Poker8 software was the revamped table wizard. This option allows you to select a few key variables (like game type, stakes, and so on) before automatically seating you at the next available table. 

888poker mobile download

Another neat feature is the “My Favorites” tab. This contains all of the cash games, SNGs, and MTTs you’ve marked as favorites. To set your favorites, all you have to do is toggle the buy-in counter and adjust a few variables, including: variant, number of players per table, table speed, and format. Once you’ve done that, the software will automatically find games that match your preferences and save them to your My Favourites tab.

Over the last few years 888poker has soared up the ranks as far as poker traffic goes. It's not quite up to PokerStars volume but it's a solid second in the industry right now - a remarkable achievement in gaining poker players in a tight market.

Home Games

There is a 888Poker private game setting, but it’s not available in every country. If you’re in Europe and the UK, you’re in luck. If, however, you’re in the US, the 888Poker play with friends feature isn’t active. That, for us, is a negative. However, it may be a temporary issue because the option to create home games is there, it’s simply been greyed out. This tells us that it will be available in the US at some point in the future. If and when it is, you’ll be able to create private tournaments and cash games. Each 888Poker home game is password protected and you can run ad hoc showdowns or scheduled battles. 

Multi-tabling

Multi-tabling isn’t an issue at 888. You can play 4+ tables simultaneously and the software uses an “intelligent queuing” system. This feature puts each active table in an order according to when you last made a move vs. when you’re going to be called on to make a move. The benefit of this is that you can play multiple tables and never miss a hand because you’ll always be shown the table that’s most in need of your attention. 

888Poker Mobile App

As mentioned 888Poker has dramatically improved its overall software level and its mobile app has come along for the ride. You can now get the 888Poker mobile app for iOS mobile devices (iPhones, iPads) and for Android phones and tablets. You can download the 888Poker mobile app by clicking PLAY HERE and creating an account. Once you’ve got a 888Poker login, go to your native app store, and install the software. 

One thing to note is that you will have to enable location services. This is to comply with state gaming regulations. In other words, if the software detects that you’re in a state where 888Poker isn’t licensed, you won’t be able to log in and play. For those that are in a valid location, the app has all the same features as its desktop counterparts. This means you can use the automatic seating wizard, the favorite feature, find beginners tables, and play a full range of games.

888poker mobile app

Accepted HUDs and Tools

Does 888Poker allow HUDs? Yes, it does. Products such as Hold’em Manager 3 and PokerTracker will show you stats such as an opponent’s betting percentage in real time. You can also use poker tools such as Table Ninja, Pokersnowie, and ICMIZER. You can’t use bots or anything that makes decisions for you/plays hands for you in real time.

888POKER SUPPORT


There isn’t a 888Poker live chat support option. So, if you have any hiccups, you'll have to use the contact form on their website. The contact form is offered instead of a direct 888Poker email support address, but that doesn't mean the response times are slower. As a general rule, you’ll receive a reply within 12 hours. If you don’t want to use the aforementioned 888Poker contact point, you can check out the onsite FAQ. As you can see from the image below, the 888Poker FAQ covers almost every problem you might encounter.

888poker support FAQ

888POKER PAYMENTS

Internationally, this operator is fully licensed in Gibraltar and the UK. In the US, it’s licensed in multiple states, which means you’ll enjoy the same level of service and security as players in Europe. As a standard, you’ll be able to make deposits and withdrawals from as little as $10. The standard processing time for withdrawals is 24 hours. Therefore, you should receive your winnings within 1-8 days via the following 888Poker payment methods:

  • Visa and MasterCard Debit/Credit
  • Neteller
  • Bank Transfers (ACH)
  • Online Banking Transfers
  • PayNearMe
  • Cash at Caesars AC casino cage

OUR OVERALL 888POKER RATING


Is 888Poker safe? Yes. Is 888Poker legit? Yes. Is 888Poker one of the top operators both in the US and internationally? Again, yes. We can say it’s the best site we’ve seen for novices. As well as soft competition, features such as beginners tables are the best way to give you the best experience possible, regardless of how skilled you are.The software is robust and there are some neat features that make finding your perfect game a breeze. We also can’t ignore the fact this operator has official links with the WSOP, especially in the US.

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