888 Poker Review

I was first introduced to 888pooker over 10 years ago. I played there for the better part of a night, had a major issue, and then rage quit after a very annoying customer support conversation. I took the Karen approach, though I stopped short of asking to speak to a manager.

10 years later, I returned to see just how much had changed. I was pleasantly surprised, as the following 888poker review shows.

Welcome Promotions

A £20 “free bonus” greets all new players at 888poker. It’s a no deposit bonus and you can collect it if you’re a new player signing up for the first time.

Just enter your details, download the software, and verify your account (this may happen automatically). You will then be given £20 worth of tournament tickets over the next 7 days.

All of these tickets expire after 24 hours, so make sure you sign in every day to use them.

Other Bonuses

888poker has stacks of freerolls for all players. As always, these tournaments are chaotic, with most players going all-in on every hand. It’s made worse by the fact that these tournaments are available throughout the day, so players know that there will be another along soon. Still, that’s the name of the game and if you survive the initial onslaught, you can earn some valuable experience and a little cash.

Refer-a-friend bonuses are available and there are other ways to play with friends, as well. Other bonuses include regular giveaways, leaderboard promotions, and something known as the Winner Spinner, where you can win prizes every day.

This is not an online casino, so you won’t find generous loyalty promotions or massive matched deposit offers, but there are still a lot of promotions to keep you interested.

888poker for Mac (and former issues)

The issue I had with 888 Poker all those years ago related to its Mac software. Not only was it poorly designed and very dated, but it had serious connectivity issues. I was kicked out in the middle of a tournament and couldn’t get back in. When I was eventually allowed back on the table, I had been folded out.

To make matters worse, customer support didn’t heed my complaints and seemed completely uninterested.

Today, if you type “888poker for Mac” into Google, the top two searches are “…not working” and “can’t download”, suggesting that the issues haven’t been completely resolved.

Personally, I didn’t have any issues this time around. The Mac client is much better than it was and actually looks like a clean and well-considered software program, as opposed to a cheap emulation thrown together in 5 minutes.

I didn’t try it for long, but the issues seem to have been fixed. Then again, it has been 10 years, so I’d be shocked if that wasn’t the case.

Games and Features

888poker has millions of players, so there is no shortage of opponents for those cash games and tournaments. The software is downloadable, with support for PC, Mac, and mobile. In addition to games of Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi, and Omaha Hi-Lo, 888poker offers the following:

• Snap: 888poker’s answer to Zoom/Turbo poker. The hands move quickly and as soon as you fold out of one hand, you will be moved on to another one.
• Progressive Knockouts: Earn a bounty bonus every time you knock out another player. The more players you knock out, the greater your own bounty will become.
• Blast: A Sit & Go variant with 4 players and prize pools of up to 10,000x. The game plays as usual, but when the BLAST timer ticks down, everyone goes all-in and one player remains standing at the end.

888poker is one of the few places you can play variations like Badugi and 5 Card Draw, two personal favourites of mine. They are not as big as the Hold’em variations, which is to be expected, but there are still a few decent tournaments to join throughout the day. 

Reviews and Customer Support

There are a lot of bad reviews out there for 888poker. This is not a huge concern though, as the same is true for most gambling sites. You only need to look at the reviews to see that, as the majority are complaining about rigged games (a common complaint levied against poker sites, even though they are P2P) and bonus issues.

There are some complaints about slow withdrawals and poor customer service, but what I like is that most bad reviews and complaints are dealt with quickly. There’s nothing worse than complaining and feeling like no one is listening and no one cares. The fact that 888poker actually tries is good to see.

Verdict: 888poker Review

888poker has clearly come a long way since I first played here all those years ago. It’s one of the few poker rooms that can compete with PokerStars for sheer size, popularity, and variety. It’s not quite there yet though.

I think that PokerStars is more user-friendly and reliable. There are also fewer negative reviews out there concerning connectivity and withdrawal issues. I would still rank 888poker as one of the best online poker rooms in the UK right now, but if I had to choose between 888poker and PokerStars, I would always opt for the latter.