PartyPoker Review:

Launched in August 2001, the number of players attracted the PartyPoker.com has grown rapidly. This growth has coincided with the development of the site's flagship event, the PartyPoker.com Million tournament, which takes place aboard a luxury cruise provided free to all online qualifiers.

Television coverage of poker tournaments, has generated significant interest in poker and online poker sites.

Endorsed by Mike Sexton, a well-known industry player, PartyPoker.com continues to be a significant presence in online gaming and is the market leader in online multi-player poker.

The Group acts as a host or facilitator for people who want to play poker, but it does not act as the house so takes no principal gaming risk. This means that the customers of PartyPoker.com play against one another, rather than against PartyGaming. In return for facilitating these games, PartyGaming charges its customers a type of commission known as a "rake". Customers can either compete online against each other on individual tables ("ring games"), where up to 10 players play on each table, or participate in tournaments where individuals compete against each other on either a single-table or a multi-table knock-out basis.

Ring games

PartyPoker.com's ring game customers have a wide choice of poker games they can play (such as Texas Hold'em or Omaha High) and the stakes they can wager. Players participating in ring games play against one another for the aggregate amount wagered on each hand (the "pot"), less the rake charged by PartyGaming for hosting the table. The rake charged by the Group varies between $0.50 and $5.00 per hand of poker depending on the size of the pot, but is only chargeable if the pot is greater than $5.00.

Tournaments

Poker tournaments are an important component of an online poker offering not only because they provide additional revenue in the form of entry fees (which is also categorized as rake) but also because they attract more customers to the site. Tournaments are divided into two formats: single-table (up to 10 players) and multi-table. In both cases players pay an entry fee and 'buy-in' to a tournament that offers a prize, generally in the form of cash (but may also comprise free entry to higher value tournaments). Tournaments operate on a knock-out basis whereby players attempt to win each others' chips until there is only one chip-holder remaining. Prizes are typically awarded to the winner and the two runners-up. The prizes will be the aggregated entry fees of all the contestants in the tournament (less PartyGaming's rake for hosting the tournament). Single-table tournaments for up to 10 people playing on a table take about 30 to 60 minutes to play.

In multi-table tournaments, players winning the "first" table proceed to the next one for further rounds of knock-out. This process continues until only one table remains and one chip-holder is left. The greater the number of players in multi-table tournaments, the larger the prize money on offer. PartyPoker.com offers both "scheduled" tournaments (which start at designated times) and "sit and go" tournaments (which start as soon as there are sufficient players).