Online Poker Reviews: Paradise Poker (8/10)

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Overview

How time flies! When we first started playing poker there was one main internet poker site, and that was Paradise Poker. Over the years, we have played there on-and-off.

While, their market share has been eaten away but they have grown in absolute number of players online at any one time, due to the poker explosion.

Paradise had a long delay in bringing on multi-table tournaments, bonuses, and other features which hurt their growth, but they now aggressively guard their position as’ the world’s biggest poker room’. This can only be good for online players!

Competition (8/10)

We’d play online with morse code over a telegraph line if there was a fish on the other end. Nothing makes poker more fun than winning, and the biggest key to winning is to play people worse than you are!

Paradise has plenty of low-limit "donkeys", that’s for sure. But like any large site, it can be inconsistent across as short a time as a few months. There have been months where we have left Paradise because the ratio of tight players to fish was getting too high.

Right now, with their aggressive marketing campaigns, things are pretty good, and that puts the paradise in Paradise.

Connection Speed and Reliability (9/10)

Paradise really shines in this category. We have seldom experienced lag or disconnections that couldn’t be attributed to our own connections while playing at this site. Their servers are well-oiled machines by this point.

In terms of bugs, a few times the entire site has gone down while we have been playing. But it has come right back up without any lingering problems

Overall, they have among the fastest and most reliable software and servers in the business.

Support (8/10)

We have had limited contact with support at Paradise Poker! That says a lot right there, as we know support at some other sites by first- name basis.

Signing up was easy. Cashing out has been painless.

Sign-Up Bonus (6/10)

You can receive a 25% sign-up bonus, up to $50 on your first deposit.

Use this link to lock-in your bonus.

Graphics and Functionality (7/10)

Oh don’t get us started! Paradise has changed their look a number of times since we’ve been playing, and it’s been a case of one ugly skin replacing another. Perhaps it is the “tropical theme” but we really dislike Paradise’s colors and images. Take a peek and judge it your own self though. (We do admit the latest skin is a large upgrade over the past ones).

In terms of functionality, the graphics are quite good. Menus and buttons are all where they should be and there is never any confusion navigating. You get a sense that the Paradise programmers and graphic artists are among the best in the business.

Paradise also allows you to play 3 games at one time, which is very nice for the experienced player.

Games and Rules (8/10)

Paradise has a great selection of games. Along with holdem, omaha and seven card stud, they have crazy pineapple, five card stud and draw poker. There are hi-lo and limit/no limit versions of many of these games.

You can usually login and get a seat at a table of whatever poker game you wish to play, no matter the time of day or the popularity of the game. And the players play some of the less-popular games pretty poorly!

Our biggest gripe with the games at Paradise are the structures used for multi-table tournaments. They don't reward good players nearly enough. It often feels like a crap shoot, and if you play tournaments with addons and rebuys it gets even funkier. Action-junkies will love them though.

Paradise has a large array of play money tables, as well.

Overall 8 (out of 10/ not an average)

Paradise is a huge site with mature software. While it isn’t much to look at (in our opinion), it plays like a dream. The games are numerous and pretty loose. You can’t go wrong with a visit to Paradise!