Full review of Golden Palace Poker

Golden Palace Poker
www.goldenpalacepoker.com 
FREE DOWNLOAD!
Established 2001
Country Canada
Software size 0.14 MB

Special Features
Buddy list & community features
Private tables
Lots of free rolls
Soft competition at games

Total score (out of 10) 6.25

 

 

 Sign-up bonus in $ $250
Deposit bonus in % 50%
Referral bonus per friend $0
Deposit free bonus $0
Paid to play ($/hour) $0

Hits
Good live, telephone and email support
Frequent player points
Nice software look and feel
Good amount of pot- and no-limit
Lots of promotions and free rolls
Overview over the entire betting sequence (right-hand action table)

Misses
Only Holdem & Omaha games (7-card stud coming soon)
No note taking support
No exact detail in view flop percentage

Summary
Golden Palace Poker is one of the fastest growing poker rooms, with very wild games. The room is managed by the famous online casino Golden Palace. They are offering a good poker software, very "soft games", good tournament traffic, decent cash game traffic, and a good number of promotions. It is one of the few Tribeca Table software operators open to US citizens. As being part of this online network, Golden Palace Poker shares its player base and software with other poker rooms. This network has a focus on "community feeling" and low/mid level stakes. Currently, 95% of traffic is at the Texas Holdem games. There are both single- and multi-table tournaments, which have the highest traffic on the site. Real money player statistics - July 2005: 800-1100 ring game players at peak hours, 2700-3300 tournament players at peak hours.

Software and graphics
Golden Palace Poker software is developed by Tribeca Tables, with nice graphics and good functionality. On the positive side, there are features like; buddy list function, private tables, pot- and no-limit ring games, live floor managers, overall nice graphics and multi-table tournaments. However, there are some let downs; lobby information does not include view flop percentage, no notes taking service, only Holdem and Omaha games.

Ring game traffic
Golden Palace Poker currently has 800-1100 ring game players at peak hours.

Tournament traffic
The traffic at Golden Palace Poker tournaments is clearly better than at ring games, with 2700-3300 real money tournament players at peak hours at current time. However, a lot of the tournament "real money" traffic is in the big free rolls.

Game variety
The game variety at Golden Palace Poker is not so good, with only Holdem and Omaha Hi-Lo and High (available in both limit, pot-limit and the former in no-limit). Table stakes are from $0.05/$0.10 to $10/$20 and since recently also at $30/$60 and $50/$100 for approved players. There are both single- and multi-table tournaments. Within shortly seven-card stud High and Hi-Lo will be added.

Rake
The rake at Golden Palace Poker is at the average of the industry. On limit tables up to $1/$2 there is a $1 max rake, on all other tables there is a max $3 rake. There is a "no flop - no drop" policy for hands not reaching the flop.

Soft competition
The competition is quite soft, thanks to the clientele from Golden Palace Casino (and also VictorChandler and PokerDaddy which are also part of the network). Notably is also that software provider Tribeca Tables have chosen not to show view flop percentages and does not provide player notes in order to help the "weaker players" (they have quoted this a the reason!). There are not many high stakes games though, so for "hourly win rate hunters" the site is good, but not excellent.

Sign up bonus
Special bonus deal via PokersList, where you get up to $250 sign-up bonus at 50% deposit match. You have to come via our site and use bonus code ao50 (two letters and two digits). For each bonus dollar you need to earn 125 Action Points for cash out. (Standard bonus is up $100 at 25% deposit match). For the max $250 bonus you would need 31,250 Action Points. You have approximately 2 months to reach points. There is not partial bonus given out, so make sure to earn all the points in good time. See site for exact calculation of Action Points (where playing bigger games and being active earns you more points).

Loyalty bonus
Yes "action points", which are redeemable for various products. The available points from a raked pot will be distributed to all participating players on a pro-rate (percentage) basis.

Promotions
There are very frequent free rolls at Golden Palace Poker, typically 2 or 3 per day with prize pools of $200-$300 and sometimes up to $1000.

Support
The support is very good at Golden Palace Poker. There are live online and telephone support, as well as email support.

Financial security
Should be very secure, as the mother company Golden Palace is the worlds' most reputable online casino. Top score.

Deposit & withdrawal options
Deposit options:
Deposit options:VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, FirePay, Citadel and Telebuy/900Pay.
Cash out options:
NETeller, bank wire and bank draft.