Online poker is one of the fastest growing gaming niches in recent years, and so it’s no surprise that there are plenty of platforms out there purporting to be the best of the best. Many claim to be the most secure, to have the highest number of players and the biggest payouts, but who can we really trust?
888poker is one of the most popular poker platforms in the world.
Recently we had a close look at one of the industry heavyweights, 888poker. We wanted to see just how they stack up against the competition. But before we get into that, let’s see how big an industry this really is.
The rise of poker
Did you know that prior to 2003 online poker wasn’t much of an industry? In fact, many “real” poker players considered online poker to be the domain of geeks and wannabes. However, Chris Moneymaker (a self-confessed online poker grinder) soon put paid to that notion as he won the World Series of Poker in Vegas. And sure enough, online poker exploded as a result.
Online poker grew at a ferocious rate after Moneymaker’s WSOP win | Credit: Statista.
As a result, a booming industry was born with platforms coming and going through the years. One of the few stalwarts that stood the test of time though was 888poker.
888poker and trust
Now it goes without saying that brand recognition is one of the most valuable assets in the gaming industry. When you’re taking care of people’s money and personal and financial information, trust is a major selling factor. And with 888poker that trust would seem to be well-placed.
The company started in 1997 and has been one of the most consistent major players in the industry ever since. It’s safe to say that you don’t last that long unless you’re doing something right. They hold a European gaming license and have a solid reputation for security and always paying out on time. And it’s these two factors that make them the most attractive option for the 10 million players who use the site and software on a regular basis.
Do we trust them? Yes, we do.
Games available
Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a site called 888poker offers players the chance to play poker. But if you don’t play poker already, then you’ll be surprised to learn that there are tons of variations of the game.
888poker have quite a few versions of poker available on their platform such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha High, Omaha Hi Lo, 7 Card Stud, SNAP, and BLAST. Those last two are 888poker’s own spins on poker. BLAST sets a timer, and when that runs down, all players go all-in until there’s a winner. SNAP is the platform’s solution to waiting times and sees players reseated at a new table and dealt new cards the moment they fold in their current game.
Waiting until the other players finish up after you have folded is one of many players’ pet peeves, and it’s great to see a simple solution like this.
How to play
888poker have made it pretty easy and secure to play from the device of your choice. Their poker software is available to download for mobile, desktop, iPhone, Android, and Mac. Or if you prefer you can play instantly in your web browser with no download required.
Once you decide on your platform, then it’s time to set up your account. It follows the standard route that any membership site or app does. Choose a username, password, set up a security question, and you should be ready to go.
Now you can find a table by clicking the radio button. This shows you a list of all the tables available, and you can sort through this by checking stats such as the number of players, average pot, and limits. It’s a nice feature that a lot of poker platforms provide but the 888poker feature is super simple to use.
If you have never played poker before then, of course, this will start to get very confusing very quickly. So we recommend that you study up on the basics before diving into an actual game. However, as far as the user interface is concerned, it’s very well laid out, so you’re unlikely to make any mistakes by clicking the wrong buttons.
The waitlist feature works quite well and prompts you immediately when a seat is available at a table you want to play at. You also get ten freeroll tickets to tournaments as soon as you sign up. This gives you an instant chance at playing in a tournament.
Deposits and withdrawals
One of the best things about 888poker is the no deposit bonus. If you sign up for an account, they’ll give you free cash to play with before you make a deposit of your own. Currently, they’re offering $88, and it’s the best you’ll get from any online poker platform.
Of course, at some point, you’ll want to pop a little cash into your account, and thankfully there are plenty of secure deposit methods available. However, not every deposit method also offers the ability to make a withdrawal so be careful here. VISA and Debit cards offer both deposit and withdrawal functions, but MasterCard only allows withdrawals via BACS for UK issued cards.
PayPal and NETELLER are probably the most popular deposit methods, and thankfully both can receive withdrawals. Just make sure to check that you have access to at least one of the withdrawal methods before playing. It would be a shame to win big and not be able to spend your winnings.
888 around the world
As an industry heavyweight, 888poker also hosts live events throughout the world. They hold a world tour each year, and the 2018 tour includes stops in London (three stops), Bucharest, Barcelona, Las Vegas, Sao Paulo, and Lisbon. So to say it’s a global brand with an international audience would be something of an understatement.
The world tour for 2018 takes place in three continents. | Credit: 888poker
Playing at most of the live events is only possible after making your way through qualifiers. We suppose this is to ensure that the standard of poker at the live events is pretty high. It’s not something we’re into ourselves, but for serious poker players, live events are everything.
Our verdict
You can’t base your opinion of a poker site on your results in the games because the truth is that you need to have some fairly good poker skills to play the game well. However, we can say that as far as security and ease of use is concerned, 888poker lives up to its reputation as one of the best online poker platforms out there. Deposits and withdrawals are fast and easy, the user interface is well designed, and there are tons of tables to choose from. If you’re looking for a change from your regular poker provider or you need a good place to start your poker journey, then 888poker is a safe bet. After all, 10 million active users can’t be wrong, can they?
