The Honest 888 Poker Review

888 Poker Overall

Back in 2005 when I did one of my first online poker from reviews on 888 Poker, (then branded as Pacific Poker) I used hyperbole and the fish theme of the site to describe it as the “double salmon burger of online poker.”

Apparently, to my 2005-era wit, a double salmon burger meant 888Poker was really fishy.

The best part was looking at my site logs and seeing someone actually searched Google for “Pacific Poker double salmon burger”, which of course led them to my review.

I made an impression on someone.

How is 888 Poker doing today?

Updating my 888 Poker review here more than a decade later the density of the aquarium has changed a bit for this poker room, now branded as 888 Poker.

The outward appearance and overall brand has obviously evolved mightily.

Under the surface, however, the more things have changed the more they’ve stayed the same.

888 Poker is:

• Still one of the softer poker rooms online, drawing above-average flop percentages
• Still giving upfront bonuses that range from $8-88 (not difficult to see the marketing-friendly tie-in there)
• Still one of the most casual-feeling sites for players in the market

Appearances can be deceiving

All of that belies one of the most experienced outfits in online gaming, which has largely stuck to their guns, for better or worse, for almost two decades now.

Why some players stay away from 888 Poker

1. They don’t process withdrawals incredibly quickly
2. They have some questionable exchange rates
3. Their level of inexperienced players has fallen a bit along with the rest of the poker world as a whole

Why I still give 888 my poker business

At the same time:

1. They’ve avoided any major scandals (sad that this has to be a positive these days)
2. They still have one of the softer player bases
3. Their promotions are excellent
4. They’re still the only ones to offer a real Instant Play client

888 Poker isn’t PokerStars if that’s what you need

Players who are higher-stakes tournament junkies, expect to play with pros at the tables, or under-fund their accounts relative to the cash game stakes they’re comfortable with likely will get frustrated quickly with 888 Poker.

They aren’t PokerStars and I don’t think they really are targeting the same elitist grinders who populate that site.

I welcome every online poker snob who snubs 888 Poker to play where their 2+2 buddies can dissect their hands to continue doing so.

What type of player will be happy here

As I have preached like a poorly calibrated turntable, players should chose poker rooms that fit their priorities.

Despite what marketing departments would have you believe, there is no one-size-fits-all site.

Players who value cash games above all else and can handle poor players will likely be the most comfortable at 888 Poker.

888 Poker has some unique software features, very good promotions, and a decent tournament selection but, truly, the most compelling draw has always the quality of cash game play.

The 888 Poker Bonus

The Vegas Approach

In a lot of ways 888 Poker and, of course, the 888 Casino parent company overlord, reminds me of a flashy Vegas strip casino.

888 Poker aims to draw players in with an atmosphere that feels fun and casual while overwhelming them with offers to try to make each one feel like a lavished guest.

There is no mistaking 888 Poker for the no-nonsense professionalism of PokerStars.

With the level of bonuses and promotional offers numerous enough to the point of confusion, it can be difficult to grasp what exactly you’ll be handed for your hard-earned deposit at 888 Poker.

The $88 free is legit – with a caveat

Beginning with the bonus offer, every new 888 Poker player coming from our site that signs up for an account and verifies an e-mail address with 888 Poker will receive $88.

Sound too good to be true? It is and it isn’t at the same time.

How does the free $88 break down?

Of course, no poker room is masochistic enough to just drop $88 in your real-money gameplay account, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t earn all of it.

You do get $1 of immediate unrestricted cash to do with whatever you’d like at 888 Poker and 14 $.50 tournament credits to do with whatever you’d like.

The other $80 is given as a pending bonus, which does have to be unlocked through gameplay.

However, an actual deposit isn’t required if you can manage to build that initial free bankroll into enough to keep playing.

The larger 100% bonus

888 Poker also gives new depositors the standard drip-feed bonus in addition to the no-deposit offer.

It’s 100% for a maximum of $400, which feels just about average in the market.

How quickly it unlocks

Unlocking every $10 of that bonus from your 888 Poker bonus account to your real money account takes earning Bonus Points, which is based on what you pay in tournament fees and/or cash game rake.

You need 100 Bonus Points to unlock every $10 increment.

My tests show that you’ll receive about $1 per hour per $.50/1 NL table you play and that’s raised to about $1.50 per hour if you play $1/2 NL.

Again, that’s just about standard for the industry.

The rewards program

The same points earned to work off bonuses are kept for use in the 888 Poker rewards program.

The rewards program works just about the same as every other tiered rewards program at every other poker room.

Earn more points per month at 888 Poker, graduate to the next marketing-friendly status level moniker, and get better rewards.

Typical rewards include the usual freerolls, merchandise store, and tournament entries.

Convert points into cash

One privilege at 888 Poker that I have valued and has been offered since the beginning is converting player points directly into cash at any time.

That option is still scarce or under-publicized amongst their competitors.

New player and members-only freerolls

A few other promotions round out the offerings, including 8 private freeroll entries limited to depositors and totaling $3,500 in prize pools.

Another interesting 888Poker freeroll is based around their Twitter account, which gives entries to followers.

Teams tournament

Finally, the Teams Poker tournament promotion at 888 Poker is also quite unique.

888 Poker players choose their favorite their favorite football club from numerous leagues at the beginning of a poker tournament such as Manchester United or FC Barcelona.

Regardless of how you fare on the poker side, you collect something as long as your football team wins.

Why 888 Poker gets a perfect score here

The promotional aspect of 888 Poker is certainly one of the highlights and I believe it deserves a perfect score.

888 Poker is the only reputable poker room to still give away no-deposit real money and the plethora of other offers stands out in a sea of copycats.

The cynic in me wants to criticize the higher bonus clearing rate for the free money and the dubious “free $88” promotion that’s really more like $8, but then I realize again that we are talking about free money here.

Anything actually free without restriction is better than what 100% of other poker sites out there give new players.

888 Poker Promotion Codes

888Poker Instant Play

I think that instant play is one of the most underrated but incredibly useful features there is.

888 Poker criminally doesn’t promote it enough to players, but it’s always there if you need it.

What is no-download instant play?

The instant play option allows 888poker players to play every type of real-money game without downloading anything.

The graphics and gameplay are identical to the standalone desktop software. If you’re using instant play on a phone or tablet it will be identical to the app.

The difference is that all you need is a web browser. No download is required.

888 Poker is one of the only major poker sites currently offering a no-download option.

What games are available with instant play?

Everything for real-money that’s available on the software client:

• Cash games
• Snap fast-fold cash games
• Sit and Go tournaments
• Multi-table tournaments
• BLAST tournaments

What do you need to use instant play?

Any web browser that runs Javascript which is virtually all of them. Seriously, that’s it.

On PC or Mac

Once you’ve signed up for an 888 Poker account simply open up your favorite browser, sign in, and click the Instant Play link on the 888 website. Choose a game and start playing. It runs just like the installable software.

You’ll see the complete 888 Poker software immediately load within the browser. I can confirm that it works on Chrome (pre-54), Firefox, IE, and Edge.

On mobile or tablet

Instant play works just as well on any iPhone, iPad, Android phone, or Android tablet. You don’t need to install the app.

• Visit the 888 poker website
• Sign in to your account
• Tap the instant play link
• Turn your device sideways to landscape mode
• Choose any game to start playing

The graphics and performance will exactly mimic the app without installing anything.

Why use instant play?

While it may seem sort of redundant to offer a no-download version when it’s easy enough just to just download the Windows, Mac, or mobile apps, it can be very useful in certain scenarios.

Someone else’s phone or computer

Using a friend or family member’s device is perfectly acceptable etiquette-wise these days.

At a family gathering and you aren’t joining in the communal board game? Well, there’s the computer 5 steps away on begging you to get in a few dozen 888 Poker Snap hands.

Installing a poker room on someone else’s machine? Not so acceptable. Load up Instant Play and you won’t leave a footprint.

Play on a rarely used device

Kids using your phone? Did your laptop die but you still want to play?

If you had to break out your old 1st Geneartion iPad or your circa 2005 laptop, it might not cooperate with installing something new. Just load up Instant Play.

You just don’t feel like installing anything

I honestly think this is probably the most common use of Instant Play at 888 Poker.

We just don’t like to install things. We’re impatient and we dread sitting through those installation progress screens and finding a place for a new desktop icon. We don’t have space for another app on our phones.

If there’s a no-download option we’ll take it every time. Two words: Instant. Play.

How well does Instant Play work?

These days? Flawlessly. When I first tried 888 Poker Instant Play in the late 2000’s it was sluggish, buggy, and not every game was available.

Browsers have come so far since then that they can easily render a complete a poker site app.

Every animation works, sounds are supported, every game is available, and I never see a delay after I give my action. Snap is especially impressive since it’s constantly loading new tables.

Simply put, you’ll never know the difference between 888 Poker Instant Play and the standalone software or app.

The 888 Poker Mobile App

One aspect that 888 Poker has clearly made an effort to improve over the past couple of years is with the mobile client. What used to give players regular glitches and refuse to log legit players in is now quite reliable.

Any iOS device, meaning iPhones and iPads, in addition to Android phones and tablets can download the free 888 Poker app.

What’s games are available on mobile

Once 888 Poker mobile is installed, log in to your real-money account and everything is playable. Whereas some poker site apps don’t support tournaments or Sit and Go’s you’ll see buttons on the app home screen for:

• Snap Poker
• BLAST Poker
• Classic Poker

The best choices when you only have a short time

Snap and BLAST are featured prominently at 888 Poker mobile because they’re fast-paced variations that don’t take a lot of time to play.

With Snap you’ll average about 4-5 cash game hands every minute, meaning that even a drive in the passenger seat or a wait at a doctor’s office can turn into a profitable playing session.

BLAST tournaments are modified Spin and Go’s that put all players all-in after as little as 4 minutes. They’re heavy on luck, but ideal when you only have a few minutes to spare.

Under Classic Poker

Under the Classic Poker button you’ll then see:

• Cash games
• Sit and Go tournaments
• Scheduled tournaments

You can actually play complete multi-table tournaments on mobile, which may not be the most comfortable experience, but it’s there if you want to use it. Just make sure you’re near a charger.

In other words, that’s everything you can play on the standard Windows and Mac 888 Poker software.

Instant Play gives identical experience to the app

One key point is that you don’t technically need to install the app to play real-money on mobile.

Log in to your account and click the instant play link to load the gameplay client right in your mobile browser.

Turn your phone sideways and it’s literally the same exact experience as the app without downloading anything.

Depositing via mobile

If you’re set up with the app can you completely ditch the desktop and make deposits and withdrawals? You can, although the cashier options are more limited.

The 888 Poker app will open up an external browser window of the cashier with options limited to credit card, NETeller, Skrill, and PayPal if your country supports it. Those are the most common methods players use anyway.

App limitations

Even though you can play everything from mobile, the biggest limitation at 888 Poker is the lack of multi-table support as there just isn’t enough screen real estate.

You also can’t open use your phone for another app as you can on a desktop to check email or play on a second site.

Since you can only leave one table open I almost always stick with Snap cash games or tournaments. With fast-fold you’re constantly engaged making decisions so there is very little downtime to get bored or restless for lack of action.

Unless I was playing higher stakes (which I wouldn’t be doing on the go) I would easily lose patience having to solely concentrate on one table at 888 Poker, but if you can handle it you can go ahead and play entire tournaments on mobile.

How well does the app and mobile instant play work?

Personally, I’ve only had positive experiences with 888 Poker mobile, both on the app and using instant play. I haven’t seen any sluggishness with quick response times as soon as I’ve given an action. Deposits are registered immediately or within minutes.

If I had one nitpick it would be the inability to see entire lobbies for cash games. Players can only choose which stakes and table size they want and the app automatically places them in a table.

I would guess this is done to get players in games faster and to prevent savvy players from clustering on tables with looser metrics.

888 Poker and PayPal

Whoever negotiates payment processing with PayPal should get a raise from 888 Poker.

For years now they’ve been the only poker site to offer PayPal deposits and withdrawals from a large number of countries.

It’s a big draw as PayPal has become so ubiquitous that most players already have an account on file with their banking information.

888 Poker players from supported countries can make a deposit with PayPal just like they would any other purchase online.

The only competitors to offer PayPal, PokerStars and partypoker, support so few countries that it almost isn’t even worth mentioning.

Supported countries for PayPal

888 Poker supports PayPal from the following countries:

• United Kingdom
• Ireland
• Sweden
• Finland
• Denmark
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
• Austria
• Portugal

That’s 10 major European territories.

Like NETeller and Skrill, but no declined deposits

PayPal serves the same purpose as NETeller or Skrill, but without possible fees or gaming restrictions.

So long as you have enough funds available in your PayPal account or linked bank account/credit card, your deposits will never be declined. Unfortunately, that can’t always be said for NETeller, Skrill, or Visa.

How do PayPal deposits work?

In the 888 Poker deposit section of the cashier, click on the PayPal logo, log in to your account, enter your deposit amount, and it’s instantly available in your real-money account.

No fees involved

888 Poker doesn’t charge any fees for PayPal deposits, meaning you get exactly what you put in and don’t get charged anything extra.

Withdrawals also supported

One of the biggest reasons to use PayPal is that you can also make withdrawals with it.

Although 888 Poker does have a semi-obnoxious 72-hour wait time for all payouts you’ll then get your funds directly back to your PayPal account.

You can then use it to make purchases at other merchants that accept PayPal (i.e. almost everyone) or send it right back to your bank account.

888 Poker PayPal deposits

	Minimum deposit	Available for Deposits	Available for Withdrawals	Fees	Link
PayPal	$10/€10/£10	Yes	Yes	None	Deposit Now

The 888Poker Fish Rating

888 Poker players have always been extreme

It’s common for casino/poker/bingo/sports/tiddlywinks/marbles/everything all-in-one gaming sites to feature tables seemingly adorned with warm butter rather than felt.

Soft tables aren’t unexpected.

Historically, however, the level of poor gameplay that players at 888 Poker seemed to take it was startling.

Flop percentages often exceeded 50% percent here, meaning that, on average, half the table was seeing the flop!

Still much looser than the competition

Unfortunately, I’ve seen a trend of that type of unbridled wild play pull back over the past couple of years, just as it has across the poker industry as a whole.

888 Poker cash players still perform at a lower level than their main competitors at PokerStars, Party Poker, and the various iPoker skins.

The quality gap between 888 Poker and everyone else just isn’t the chasm it once was.

Cash game numbers

888 Poker cash game flop percentages range are still 5-10% higher than many competitors, settling in at the 25-30% level for 9-seated cash games.

As the fad-chasing commercial-influenced crowd has largely moved on, poker’s mainstream popularity has waned and fewer outright fish are entering the game.

Poker has become an aquarium with locked doors that make residents fight each other for food rather than let in fresh meals through revolving doors.

Average pot sizes are also slightly bloated to about 20-25 big blinds.

Trends of the competition

Many of these players are paying premium to see flops they shouldn’t, often falling for traps and chasing draws all the way to showdown.

It’s a wonder 888 Poker doesn’t promote the profitability of their games more, although I suppose the old poker adage of “don’t tap the aquarium glass” applies.

Adjusting to the games

Playing cash games at 888 Poker can be a wild experience with parts frustration and parts euphoria.

The latter usually makes up for the former, although there is certainly an adjustment period.

You’re going to run into bad beats more often at 888 Poker with more of those trash types of hands being played.

Dealing with variance

Variance is going to be much greater so you need a larger bankroll at 888 Poker compared to your playing level to accommodate.

Using your entire bankroll on one of these tables is asking to go bust. Aim for at least 5x the maximum buy-in of your preferred stakes.

You also might even be able to drop a level with the games so loose at 888 and still expect the same or greater average win rate.

Using isolation

Isolation is also key with your strongest starting hands. It’s just statistically smart to raise aggressively pre-flop with your premium pocket pairs.

The average win rate for those premium hands plummets when played against multiple opponents.

Conversely, you’re also getting excellent odds to play speculative hands from late position with so many party pots of pre-flop limpers.

The bottom line on Fish Rating

The bottom line is that I believe 888poker players are some of the worst online.

With that comes incredible potential profit at the risk of greater variance, bad beats, and frustration.

If you can adjust your style of play and keep your emotions in check, I highly recommend the 888 Poker cash games over the competition.

The level of play may not still be akin to burrowing into a featherbed with 8,000 thread count foreign sheets, but memory foam is sure soft enough once it molds to your body.

Was that analogy for softness convoluted enough?

888 Poker Tournaments

My general conclusion of the tournament offerings at 888 Poker is that they are adequate and draw a fair number of players but are largely unremarkable.

That being said, there are a few positives that definitely stand out to me, starting with the schedule itself.

888 Poker passes my test, but isn’t remarkable for tournaments

While it may not line up with everyone’s preferences my formula for ranking a poker room’s tournaments usually consists of:

• the number of events per hour
• the ratio of guarantees
• how many are rebuy/add-on style
• variety amongst buy-in levels and game variation.

888 Poker does pass all of those tests.

Tournament numbers

The number of 888 Poker events during peak hours (evening for Europeans) is usually 15-20 per hour with daily guarantees from $500-$15,000.

Typically, each tournament draws about 300-500 players, which is impressive without taking up a huge time commitment.

Lack of rebuy luck-fests

What I appreciate is that only about 30-40% of them are rebuy/add-on eligible, which is an obnoxious trend used by many poker rooms to boost their prize pool numbers.

Rebuys boost the luck-to-skill ratio incredibly for the early rounds as wild players simply go all-in and rebuy until they get bored of busting out or go on a tear and change the dynamic of the table.

The best guarantees

Some of the best values include a:

• $3,000 guarantee for 99c
• $5,000 guarantee for $4
• $15,000 guarantee with no rebuys for $55

I’ve been fairly disappointed with the 888 Poker Sunday highlight event, which offers a modest $100,000 guarantee for a sizable $200 buy-in.

Once a month that is boosted to $200,000, but so is the buy-in at a whopping $500.

Game variety

Game and buy-in variety is a strength at 888 Poker, with typical entry fees being $1-5, $22-30, and $55-160.

Omaha tournaments are offered every hour, deep stacks are plentiful, and turbo blind speed make up about 25% of the schedule.

There are even occasional Snap poker tournaments with quick folds and 200+ hands per hour.

Sit and Go waiting times

Sit and Go tournaments have little wait time with one of my favorites being the 40-seat $1 events that surprisingly fill up around the clock.

Double or Nothing and turbo variations make up most of the active Sit and Go tables and are popular up to the $10 level.

Heads-up players can occasionally find partners at the $50 and $100 levels.

I like the freeroll requirements

I prefer how 888 Poker handles freerolls, forcing participants to at least be at the lowest levels of the rewards program and restricting it from the masses of freeloaders.

Players on the lowest rewards tiers are able to enter regular $100 freerolls with small increases in levels opening up $200 and $300 freerolls.

Up to a $10,000 free prize pool

The more significant $1,000, $4,000, $7,000, and $10,000 monthly events are restricted to the silver, gold, and platinum levels.

If you’ve obtained those higher status levels be sure to remember those freerolls as the prize pool and low amount of entrants really make them worthwhile.

Thoughts on the tournament schedule

No one is going to mistake 888 Poker for PokerStars, a massive dominant force with absurdly high tournament numbers.

Every serious non-US tournament player is going to frequent PokerStars for their unmatched slate of high-prize-pool events.

At the same time, 888 Poker earns a good tournament score for working within their constrains.

Adequate as a second table

888 Poker is second in the world in total traffic, meaning tournaments still draw hundreds of players.

The schedule is still quite busy, there are scores of low buy-in tournaments for casual players, and the time commitment is much lower.

As a second table to your cash game, the tournaments at 888 Poker are perfectly adequate.

All can be played via mobile

It’s worth noting that every Sit and Go and multi-table tournament can also be played on mobile.

How is this useful?

• If you’re playing a long event at your desktop and you just want to get more comfortable you can switch over to mobile and finish it in bed or on the sofa.
• If a tourney runs longer than you expect and you have to leave the house you can still try to get it done on the go.
• If you’re simply out and about, maybe at a restaurant, and want to play a tournament you can do that.

BLAST tournaments

BLAST was a recent somewhat controversial addition that is exclusive to 888 Poker. It’s a 4-player modified Sit and Go that’s based on the Spin and Go format.

If you aren’t up on Spin and Go’s they’re hyper turbo single table tournaments where the prize pool is randomized.

This is how 888 does it for BLAST:

• 2x prize pool 55% of the time
• 5x prize pool 40% of the time
• 10x prize pool 4% of the time
• 100x prize pool .04% of the time
• 1,000x prize pool .004% of the time
• 10,000x prize pool .001% of the time

Insane blind levels

There are between 2 and 4 2-minute blind levels, which is incredibly short. What happens after that when players still remain? They’re set all-in on every hand until someone has all the chips.

It’s insane, exhilarating, but incredibly luck-based. The only skill portion comes from the initial time when you accumulate chips before the all-in blast.

I’m not a big fan of BLAST, but once in a while I will play them just for novelty. I do like the high percentage of 5x prize pools, which I prefer over how PokerStars does it.

Snap tournaments

One addition that I really like by 888 Poker, but hasn’t really caught on fire yet, is Snap tournaments. As great as fast-fold is, Sit and Go’s and tournaments have never really caught on. Pokerstars is the only other poker site that I know of to offer them.

With Snap tournaments you can go through an entire multi-table tournament in a fraction of the time commitment.

I’m hoping these will increase in popularity as they currently attract only about 80-100 players each.

888 Poker WSOP Satellites

888 Poker has made a big investment in the WSOP, becoming the only official online poker sponsor and going so far as to get a bracelet event named after them (the $888 Crazy Eights event in 2016).

You’ll see 888 Poker signs integrated every step of the way, from the table felt to the TV set scaffolding.

The only site that can buy you into the WSOP

As the only official WSOP affiliate, 888 Poker is also the only one allowed to offer direct-entry satellites as prizes. Pokerstars still “sends” a ton of players to the WSOP, but they can’t technically buy them in so they just dump cash into players’ accounts.

The WSOP Main Event package

888 Poker actually builds a package that every winner in the final step receives. With everything that’s covered it feels like the old packages offered by poker sites during online poker’s boom years.

• It includes:
• A $10,000 buy-in into the Main Event
• $1,500 for travel expenses
• 5 nights at a Las Vegas hotel
• Entry into the 888 welcome party
• A goody bag filled with 888 gear

The Step system

To get a chance at a WSOP package you have to play in a direct qualifier, which has a $1,050 buy-in. While you could buy in directly, very few 888 Poker players actually do that.

Instead, you’ll want to go through the Step system. You can buy into whichever step you’d like at any time.

You’ll find a chart with the exact Steps and buy-ins below this sections.

Step 1 starts at a penny

Step 1 starts at the ridiculously-low buy-in of .01. For every 10 players a Step 2 .10 buy-in is awarded. Continue advancing all the way through Step 6 for the $1,050 buy-in level that awards actual WSOP packages.

It’s worth noting that most players who aren’t on micro-bankrolls will probably want to start at Step 3, 4, or 5 so the mountain is a little less daunting.

Would you really have the patience to try to start at the penny Step and put up with an absurd grind all the way through? I wouldn’t and admittedly I’ve never even bothered with micro-satellites. Just start me at $5 or $30 and save me the time.

A Step 1 player ended up cashing at the 2015 WSOP

One almost-too-good-to-be-true story happened at the 2015 WSOP when Tommy Yates not only won a Main Even seat after starting at Step 1 at 888 Poker, but then cashed in it for almost $20,000.

Hey, if you’ve got the patience and the time, why not go for it? It’s almost free at that point.

888 Poker Software

I think that I am required by the Beat The Fish bylaws to endlessly praise quick speed-fold poker whenever a poker room offers it.

What is Snap?

The 888 Poker variation is called Snap, which works identically to every other poker room’s quick-fold iteration dating back to the original Rush Poker at Full Tilt.

In Snap, each cash game limit such as .50/$1 pools all its players to constantly form new tables and keep players in the action.

As soon as players fold a hand they are whisked off to a brand new table full of other players who have also just folded.

The blinds are given to players who have been the longest without paying them.

Why I love quick-fold poker

Snap is simple in concept and genius in execution, allowing players to benefit from incredible game speeds of more than 200 hands per hour while elimination boredom.

Players can stop playing hands they shouldn’t simply to break up a string of pre-flop folding.

Winning 888 Poker players can also win more per hour thanks to the sheer number of hands they can play.

A single Snap table allows you to play the equivalent hands of 4 traditional cash games.

It’s engaging, fun, and allows players on the go to see significant gameplay in short time period bursts.

Snap on the apps

Snap is also available on the 888 Poker app, creating an irresistible marriage of speed and convenience.

The PC/Mac software client

I also score the standard PC software highly with pleasant graphics, a large number of available customizations, and at least one trendy fad.

Starting with the 888 Poker lobby, everything is there that any online poker player of the past decade would expect – quick seat, sorting options, and table stats.

One annoying quirk is the inability to remove empty tables, making it an unnecessary hassle to look for active tables.

888Poker Graphics

888 Poker has really embraced the neon tech look, which feels a bit outdated these days.

The table graphics can be customized with 4 different styles that I particularly liked. Players can choose a cartoony avatar from a few dozen choices, helping to liven up the games a little.

A small touch I have always liked at the few poker rooms that offer it are automatic animated smilies for common chat phrases like “LOL”.

Customizations

The customization options are much higher than average here, allowing such options as:

• Whether to show folded cards
• Progress bars for your bonus progress built in to every table
• How tables should react when it is your turn to act
• Cheesy sounds like “ooooohh” when a player goes all-in or shows a monster hand

They chase tech fads

As goofy as it may be, I give 888 Poker credit for chasing extraneous fads for their software, hoping to add a little bit of extra draw or fun.

3D poker tables

Do you remember the 3D craze a few years ago?

888 Poker actually released a “3D Poker Table“, which rendered tables in old-fashioned red-and-blue anaglyph 3D.

You could wear a pair of glasses and let the table stick out a little bit from the screen.

How absurd is that? But it gave them a reason to use that 3D buzzword.

I remember pressing the select button to do the same thing to Rad Racer on my NES in the ’80s.

Webcam poker

Another presumed-dead fad that was, at one time, predicted to be the future of online poker is webcam poker

I thought that I had seen the last of failed webcam poker startups years ago but, lo and behold, 888 Poker actually offers real-money tables called PokerCam tables.

Amazingly, 6-handed PokerCam tables actually fill up in the microlimits, allowing you to see a small box next to each player that streams from their webcam.

Now you don’t have to be uncomfortable in private when you make that next big bluff!

Android and iOS real-money apps

888 Poker has a real-money app available both on the App Store and Google Play.

The same cash games, Sit and Go tournaments, Snap tables, and even BLAST tournaments are offered on the app as the full PC software.

Snap fast-fold can turn minutes into dozens of hands

Snap is by far my most-used option on the 888 Poker app as that format seems built for spontaneous mobile use.

Any sort of down time, whether at home or out and about, can turn into a significant playing session.

Even 15 minutes can provide 60 or more hands with Snap thanks to quick-fold.

I would venture to say that Snap + mobile app= the holy grail for online poker players.

888 Poker Payouts

The payout quirks

Withdrawals have always been dependable at 888 Poker in that payouts are always sent without massive delays, but players should be aware of a few quirks.

Firstly, 888 poker has a blanket processing time of 3 days.

There simply seems to be no way of avoiding it and this is a legacy issue dating back at least a decade.

Electronic withdrawals such as Skrill or PayPal are sent within a day or so after that wait but the arbitrary delay is obnoxious.

Beating the built-in exchanges

Secondly, 888 Poker seems to employ a strange currency exchange rate that isn’t clear to players before they withdraw.

Usually it ends up shortchanging the player a bit on the receiving end.

Use USD for e-wallets

To ensure you don’t have to abide by 888 poker’s imaginary exchange rates, withdraw in USD to an electronic service such as Moneybookers or Neteller before withdrawing to your bank account.

That will allow your bank to do the exchange at a fair rate.

These annoyances don’t make 888 Poker the worst at payouts, but they aren’t necessary for such a financially-sound company.

888 Poker Deposit Methods

	Minimum deposit $/€/£	Available for deposits	Available for withdrawals
Visa	$10	Yes	Yes
Mastercard	$10	Yes	Yes
PayPal	$10	Yes	Yes
NETELLER	$10	Yes	Yes
Skrill	$10	Yes	Yes
Bank draft	N/A	No	Yes
EntroPay	$10	Yes	Yes
iDebit	$20	Yes	Yes
WebMoney	$10	Yes	Yes
Bank transfer	$10	Yes	No
Paysafecard	$12	Yes	No
Citadel	$20	Yes	No
Instadebit	$40	Yes	No
Boleto	$10	Yes	No
EPS	$10	Yes	No
Giropay	$20	Yes	No
Trustly	$20	Yes	No
iDeal	$10	Yes	No
Nordea	$20	Yes	No
Multibanco	$10	Yes	No
AstroPay	$10	Yes	No
iCheque	$20	Yes	No
Yandex.Money	$20	Yes	No
Transfarencia Bancaria	$20	Yes	No
Sofortuberweisung	$10	Yes	No
Payr	$20	Yes	No
Przelewy 24	$10	Yes	No

888Poker Support

Rare telephone support offered

One of the things that struck me since the early days was that 888 Poker always published a phone number for support.

They also supported a number of languages and had separate phone numbers for each country. The same can’t be said for the PokerStars, the largest poker room in the world, who forces players to wait for an archaic standard email reply.

888 Poker phone numbers

Here are the current phone numbers for 888 Poker by country:

• Austria (toll number): +44 203 478 1875
• Brazil: 0800 892 0073
• Canada (toll number): +44 203 795 5029
• Germany (toll number): +44 203 478 1875
• Russia (toll number): +44 203 887 5550
• Sweden (toll number): +44 203 795 5029
• Switzerland (toll number): +44 203 478 1875
• United Kingdom (toll number): +44 203 795 5029
• Anywhere else (toll number): +44 203 795 5029

They try to avoid calls, but you still can do it

Since then 888 Poker has followed the trend of all business who try to avoid phone calls at all costs, but their numbers are still there if you know where to look.

Overall, I always grade any business that provides actual phone numbers highly, even if it takes a scavenger hunt to find them. The same can’t be said for many of their competitors.

Many country-specific phone numbers

Calling these country-specific numbers should connect you to someone who speaks your language.

Check out my list below for the most current phone support numbers.

I’ve found the 888 Poker reps to be fairly knowledgeable about issues from deposits (their favorite) to software glitches or checking the status of your payout.

Other than telephone support you can of course send them an email using a contact form. I’ve received replies ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, but I’ve never had to wait more than 8-12 hours.

Live chat is missing besides for deposits

The only ingredient that’s missing from a stellar support experience is live chat for anything other than deposit issues.

Naturally, if you’re idle in the 888 Poker cashier for more than a minute one of their live staff members is eagerly awaiting to answer any question you might have on accepting your money.

Multilingual support is very good

This is one of the best poker rooms in terms of multilingual support so help is offered in about a dozen different languages.

888 Poker Traffic

#2 in the world

The traffic at 888 Poker has been at one of the highest levels in the industry for several years now.

They are ranked #2  in the world for traffic, trailing only the behemoth that is PokerStars.

9-seated tables

One fact that I appreciate here is the fact that 6-seated tables aren’t quite as dominant over 9-seated tables as with other sites, making up about 60-70% of the total games.

High stakes

This is also one of the few destinations that regularly draw high-stakes players with $10/20 No-Limit Hold’em games active around the clock and even the occasion $100/200 game.

What it means for game numbers

There are usually about 10 full cash games at each lower limit up to the $1/2 level and 3-5 at limits above that.

Typical tournament guarantees draw 300-500 players and Sit and Go tournaments are popular up to the $10 level with minimal waiting time.

888 Poker History

1997

Two pairs of Israeli brothers Ron and Shay Ben-Yitzhak and Aaron and Avi Shaked founded Virtual Holdings Limited.

They launched an online casino site called Casino-on-Net.

2002

The poker wing of Casino-on-net is launched under the name Pacific Poker.

Thanks to players pouring over from their popular casino games the site started off strong.

2003

Pacific Poker receives heavy exposure after their sponsored player and previous Main Event winner Dan Harrington finishes his WSOP Main Event run in third place.

2005

The company is listed on the London Stock Exchage as 888 Holdings PLC.

Around this time marketing efforts shifted to the 888 Poker brand, although Pacific Poker continues to coexist.

2006

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is passed in the United States.

888 Poker decides to voluntarily withdraw from the US market, following the lead of other publicly-traded sites like Party Poker.

2006-2013

888 Poker continues to build its player base outside of the US, establishing a position among the top poker rooms.

2013

888 Poker returns to the US.

Having willingly exited the US market right after the passage of UIGEA they had no issues establishing their online operations in regulated states, primarily New Jersey.

2015

888 and Caesars announce a partnership that makes 888 Poker the official online poker sponsor of the World Series of Poker.

Present

888 Poker continues to strengthen its presence on the global and the US markets through improvements in their software, marketing, and sponsorships.

It is currently the #2 online poker room in the world in terms of player traffic.

Winning Strategy for Snap Poker at 888Poker

Beat Snap Poker

It’s no secret that I’m enamored with quick-fold poker, or Snap as 888 Poker calls their iteration.

Compress tons of hands of poker into one table with no slowdown? Build it into the mobile app?

It’s the perfect form of online poker.

Tweaking your tried-and-true strategy

While you can mostly stick to your existing strategy if you’re a successful player there are a few tweaks you can make to your game specifically to take advantage of this quick format.

Increasing blind steals

1. At a normal-paced table you can often get away with late-position blind steals, but on a Snap table you can take that to another level.

888 Poker players aren’t paying attention to your tendencies in this mode so if you’re folded to on the button or one or two off from it why not take a stab at it?

Odds are the blinds just want to get on to the next hand.

Most make straightforward plays

2. Don’t waste your creative energies on advanced plays here.

You aren’t going to know your opponents and they aren’t going to assume anything about you.

It’s tough to do much third-level thinking when you truly have no idea how an opponent has been playing.

Make plays to extract maximum profit with your strong hands and draw as cheaply as possibly in position.

There isn’t enough information to set up your opponents using psychology.

Anyone staying in a hand has extra meaning

3. Be wary of every caller behind you, especially those in early or middle position.

Due to the nature of Snap players will automatically and immediately fold their hands at their turn if they’ve used the quick fold.

Is someone acting behind you, thinks about his action, then just calls you?

That tells you that he had at least a good enough hand not to throw away outright.

Take note of what positions callers are in

Late positions non-folders could have been waiting for a blind stealing opportunity.

The same doesn’t usually apply to early and middle positions.

They held on to their cards for a reason.