Some fantastic news for Non-US readers! Zynga, the huge play money poker network will be offering real money poker games on the Party Poker Network starting in early 2013. This is huge news for a couple of different reasons.
First the additional players trying real money poker for the first time will be a boost to a poker economy which has become heavy with ‘grinders’.
Secondly, people used to the no-foldem-holdem of play money will have a hard time (at least initially) adjusting to real money play. This means the tables will be soft, attracting many more players – ranging from casual, through semi-pro and through to pros – into the game.
With Bwin poised to merge their large player pool of sports betting fans with Parties 2nd biggest pool online the games there can only keep getting better. The tables already benefit from the brand name… ask anyone who does not play online poker which brands they have heard of, and you will find that Party Poker is usually the top reply.
If you do not already enjoy the soft Party Poker games then I strongly advise you check them out – use bonus code PBKLUB to claim your initial 100% welcome bonus matched to your first deposit.
Will The Fish Get Eaten To Fast?
One concern I have over this news is that the Zynga players will get themselves massacred too fast. Someone may think they are a pretty damn good player, accumulating thousands of play chips and generally out playing opponents who actually do not care. Even if someone knows the basics like odds / outs and position and can exploit the play money with this, they are still likely to be value-bet to death, out played in terms of hand reading, and their bet sizing mistakes ruthlessly exploited.
It will take some nice promotions, generous reloads and the odd give-away or two… My hope is that a number of players will make the adjustment and prompt the expansion of the Zynga / Party tie-in from the initial UK only through the rest of the world (excluding the US and other regulated countries of course).
What Else Is Happening At Party Right Now?
On the 1st of November, Party will start a very cool promo called ‘The Accelerator’. This is a points collection offer than runs throughout the month and gives each player the opportunity to grab up to $5k in cash and entry to some big free tournaments with prize pools of $5k, $10k and $15k.
What I like about this one is that the prizes are cumulative. You need just 5 points to get entry to an iPad give-away freeroll, and things keep getting better from there with cash prizes starting at $5 and going all the way to $1750… If you collect them all then you will have $5,000 more in your account in bonus money and get to enter all the tournaments, which take place in early December.
Remember, this promo works at the same time as your welcome bonus and loyalty rewards… a serious combo! Check out Party Poker now, bonus code PBKLUB will get you a cool 100% welcome bonus matched to your first deposit!
Autumn Million
One last note, this Sunday, November 4th, sees the return of the big quarterly tournament at Party – the ‘Million’. These games benefit from a huge number of satellite qualifiers, or you can enter direct for $640 – like all the tournaments at Party, your average opponent is far more likely to be a recreational player than a grinder or pro.
It looks like Party will be a true ‘Network’ rather than just a big brand with a couple of minor satellites as we go into 2013, I had better start updating my list of online poker networks soon!