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Visit PDC Poker
PDC Poker Coupon Code for 200% bonus:
FISHBONUS600
PDC Poker
has recently made some improvements to their cashier by increasing
their credit card acceptance rate and adding several more payment
options. A major credit card should be
your first option as it's the most seamless and hassle-free deposit
method that doesn't require setting up an e-wallet account. A
secondary option would be the UseMyWallet or eWalletXpress third-party services,
which are tied to your personal checking account or credit card.
Another electronic deposit method,
PIC-Club
is available to US players and works like other popular e-wallets by
offering several deposit methods. Once you've loaded your PIC-Club account, you can then move the funds to the poker
room. PIC-Club seems to be gaining more widespread acceptance and the
numerous poker rooms offering the service makes it attractive to
players who often transfer funds between sites. As a last resort, you could contact customer service about
paper
deposit methods such as checks or money orders.
US CHECKING ACCOUNT DEPOSITS ACCEPTED: PDC Poker
has added direct eCheck deposits to their cashier, which supports
all US checking accounts without the need for a third-party e-wallet
or an external website. As credit card deposits can be unreliable
and experience declines, checking accounts are the next best deposit
option because of the 100% acceptance rate and the fact that
virtually every player has one. All existing and new US players are
eligible for eCheck deposits, which are available for gameplay
instantly after processing.
 
Overall:
4/5
PDC Poker
and the greater Merge network have undergone a makeover of sorts as
of late with the results improving across the board. What was once a
haven for freeroll junkies and confusing promotional programs is now
much more streamlined with significantly improved promotions, better
tournament offerings, higher player traffic, and the same excellent
software package. The greater Merge network, which hosts
PDC Poker,
is also drawing numerous high-profile skins away from other
networks, which means larger tournaments and more active cash games.
Two of the largest positives of
PDC Poker
are the large 200% special bonus for our players and the
overwhelming amount of loose players. With the larger remaining US
poker rooms only becoming tighter, playing at
PDC Poker
is like taking a trip back to 2005 when 40% flop percentages were
common. This is one of the few remaining US poker rooms that still
earns its maximum Fish Rating. While
PDC Poker
certainly won't rival the largest rooms in terms of traffic,
experienced players will appreciate the trade-off of profitable
loose tables.
I also give
PDC Poker
credit for increasing their US credit card acceptance rate, which is
something more poker sites should really learn from if they want to
cultivate their US player base. The software is a major plus with a unique interface and quirky features such as
rabbit-hunting, the ability to show only one card, and animated smilies.
Overall,
PDC Poker is
an above-average poker room whose strengths are the large bonus,
loose tables,
and a smaller community feel that you won't find at the larger sites.
Bonus (200%
up to $600) and Promotions:
4/5
The standard
PDC Poker signup bonus is
100%, but
players signing up through our site earn a 200% initial deposit bonus. That means that new
depositors will receive double their deposit as bonus money. Please note that new players need to use our links to
PDC Poker,
download the software, and enter coupon code FISHBONUS600 to
ensure that the 200% bonus is credited.
The maximum our new
PDC Poker players can earn on the bonus is sizeable at
$600. As the bonus payout is based on rake higher-stakes players
will obviously have a much easier time releasing it. Unlike the old
convoluted Comp Points system
PDC Poker
has implemented a VIP Points program. Players now earn VIP Points
with $1 of bonus being cleared for each 75 points earned. As 10
points are given per $1 of rake contributed, an average $1/2 NL
table will provide about $1-2 of bonus per hour. The bonus is
released to your cash account in $5 increments as soon as it is
earned. While the bonus rate isn't extremely generous, regular
players should earn a large percentage of their total bonus with 30
days of clearing time.
PDC Poker
also now has a tiered rewards program similar to the larger poker
rooms. As you earn more points per month you're upgraded to a higher
level with better corresponding benefits. Uses for points include
trading them in for real money, bonus money, freeroll entries, or
merchandise like electronics and poker chip sets. One positive is
that players are able to use the same points earned for clearing the
deposit bonus for other rewards.
Other promotions include a $10,000 Sit
and Go leaderboard that awards cash to the most active single table
tournament players, a royal flush bonus of 100 times the big blind,
and impossibly frustrating $50 no-strings-attached freerolls
throughout the day. Our new
PDC Poker
players are also eligible for 2 weeks of daily private $500 new
depositor freerolls in addition to the 200% bonus.
Fish:
5/5
In contrast to most of the remaining US
poker rooms the PDC
Poker competition is truly still a haven for loose tables. One
of the best benefits of forgoing the larger poker conglomerates is
in avoiding the masses of experienced players. Sharks tend to avoid
smaller networks with unfamiliar software and it's incredible to
still have a US poker room that averages 40+% flop numbers and pot
sizes of 15-20x the big blind. Those numbers equate to having 4
or 5 players seeing every flop with above-average bet sizes.
My own anecdotal evidence shows that PDC
Poker players tend to bluff more often and with larger bets, pay
heftily to draw, and are much easier to bet against for value
compared to the larger weak-tight sites. This is truly one of the
few US poker rooms that still plays like it did during the wild
fish-fueled heyday of yesteryear. One of the best strategies for
experienced players to employ at PDC
Poker is to simply play a straightforward set of premium
starting hands and betting patterns, allowing your opponents to
simply make mistakes for you.
Unfortunately, your premium hands
go down in value with more opponents so I recommend that players tend to limit the field preflop with
premium starting hands. Conversely, with several players likely to
see each flop at PDC
Poker less-powerful drawing hands gain value from late position. No-limit ring games at
PDC Poker were previously limited
to smaller stakes but as the traffic has grown several active tables
can be found up to about the $2/4 level. The ratio of 6-handed
tables to full 9-handed tables is about 5 or 6 to 1.
Tournaments:
4/5
At
PDC Poker,
tournament frequency and size are about average for a smaller
network but the substantial overlays make up for the lack of
variety. I'm pleased that
PDC Poker
offers mostly guaranteed events, despite the smaller prize pools
ranging from $1,000-4,000 for daily tournaments. For example, there
is a daily $1,250 guaranteed event with a $5 buy-in. However, only
175 players showed up, which falls short of the guarantee. That
means an extra $375 was added to the prize pool, which is
essentially like having 75 players get knocked out before the
tournament even begins. Larger daily tournaments typically draw
75-150 players, which is fairly low.
The largest weekly tournament at
PDC Poker is
a $50,000 Sunday guaranteed event with a $100 buy-in. While that may
pale in comparison to the offerings of the largest sites it also
requires a less time and money to complete. The satellites are also
easy to understand with $2 rebuys occurring around the clock. Other
popular daily guarantees at
PDC Poker
include a $3,000 tourney for $11 with rebuys and a $3,750 tourney
for $60 with rebuys. Sit and Go events, including Double-Up
variations where half of the fields wins double their buy-in, are
busy up to the $10 level.
Software:
4.5/5
PDC Poker
has a surprisingly strong software package for a smaller poker room
and I would venture to say that it is one of the best online.
Instead of settling for a stripped down copycat of every other major
poker room,
PDC Poker
has actually added a number of unique features that set it apart.
Beginning with navigation,
PDC Poker
is the only poker room that I can think of to add tabbed-style
browsing for ring games and lobbies. They also have a filter as many
rooms do now allowing you to only show the type of games you're
interested in.
The
PDC Poker
game window is where you'll find numerous additions to the standard
formula with many small features improving the experience. The
overhead table view is standard with sharp graphics and custom
avatar graphics. Next to your screen name, however, is space for
ribbons, trophies, or stars denoting tournament wins or experience
at the site. Players are also able to use animated smilies, which
will show up as speech bubbles next to your place at the table.
Other
PDC Poker
features for actual gameplay include rabbit-hunting, a Deal It Twice
option, winning percentages when players are all-in, and many
incremental-pot betting buttons. These unique
PDC Poker
really should become standard on every site.
US Payouts:
4/5
While initially slow to add more options
to their cashier,
PDC Poker
has recently upgraded to two better payout methods. As I prefer
electronic payments, my first recommendation for payouts would be
an electronic method such as UseMyWallet, eWalletXpress, or PIC-Club (provided you have also made a deposit using this
method). Once requested, you should receive the funds within about a
week. As these methods don't actually involve physical processing, I
really feel that
PDC Poker
should improve in their processing time. The second option is a "Fast Check" payout, which is a paper
check sent through the regular US postal mail. The checks are drawn
on a US bank and I received several within about 20 days of requesting
them.
Customer Service:
4/5
While I think that it's best to offer
telephone support as an option,
PDC Poker does respond
in a fair amount of time to
e-mails. I contacted them
once before I set up my account and I received a personal response
within 20 minutes. They've also started offering live chat support
with very little, if any, waiting period prior to connecting with an
agent. Fortunately, the support seems to be done my actual poker
room employees rather than a third-party company with little
knowledge of the actual site.
Player Traffic
Player traffic has been the biggest obstacle that
PDC Poker
has to overcome. Fortunately, I've been monitoring their progress and
they are truly improving ring game traffic as US players continue to join
the ranks. While this was previously a site
restricted to tables sub-$1 stakes, you can normally find 6-8 $1/2
no limit ring games going on with the occasional action up to the $5/10
level. Tournament traffic is very
good for their freerolls and is about average for events under a
$10 buy-in with 100-200 players being the norm.
Best Features
 The best freerolls. This is the main
promotion for the site right now, and the best ones with decent
prize pools are the events that actually require previous gameplay.
Original software. I wish that more
poker sites would add the all-in winning percentages to their
software.
Soft competition. The flop percentages
are extremely high with opponents regularly playing too many hands
for too much money. I recommend raising your strong hands more than
normal to thin the competition as you'll probably still get plenty
of action.
Game Selection: Hold'em,
Omaha, Stud, Draw
Limits: Limit: 2c/4c up to
$50/100 No-Limit: 2c/4c up to $50/100
Deposit Methods:
NETeller, EcoCard,
PIC-Club, UseMyWallet, eWalletXpress, Moneybookers, Citadel,
Click2Pay, major credit cards, and wire
transfers.
Minimum Deposit:
$25
Tips: Play a
well-rounded
game at PDC
Poker and raise your strong hands to make trash hands think twice
about calling before they catch a monster flop. With so many callers
preflop, you should also consider playing hands with lots of
possible draws, like low suited connectors. The beauty of playing
suited connectors in no limit hold'em is the fact that your hand
will be very well disguised when you hit a monster. You have great
drawing potential to both straights and flushes, and you should be
able to easily release a hand like 5-6 if you don't flop at least a
good draw, two pair, or better.
Remember, you should be getting the
proper pot odds to play draw-heavy hands so look for at least 4 or
5 callers ahead of you for the minimum bet. You'll also find a good
number of calling stations at
PDC Poker, so bet at least the size of the pot if
there is an obvious draw on the flop. This way, you're statistically
making your opponents go against to odds to draw out on you. Even if
you bet your opponents out of the pot in this situation, remember
that it's always better to win a small pot than lose a large
one when your opponents draw out on you.
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PDC Poker
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