Paradise will not be accepting players from the U.S.

Please consider the following review as being out of date.

ParadisePoker.com - A Venerable Elder

Paradise Poker was one of the earliest poker sites. I think Planet Poker was legitimately the 1st real money poker room online, but Paradise was apparently the first real money poker room with good software and consistent popularity among players. ParadisePoker.com launched in 1999, which makes it a virtual dinosaur in the industry, and their software is topnotch.

Paradise Poker has Lots of Action

Paradise Poker is certainly one of the larger poker sites online.  Only Party Poker, Pacific Poker, Pokerstars, and Pokerroom.com have more games and action available. And in terms of a big poker site with a lot of variety, no one can touch Paradise. They're the only poker site online that I'm aware of that offer five card draw, which is such a great game, but is really only played regularly at people's kitchen tables anymore. They're also one of the only poker rooms online offering 5 card stud and pineapple poker.

One thing about the players at ParadisePoker though - they tend to be pretty good. This is not like playing at Party Poker where the pond is stocked with fish. The players at Paradise tend to have good starting hand requirements and good reads on their opponents. I'm not one of those people who think that a poker room with tough games is useless though. In fact, I think there's no better way to improve your game than to get in there with some good players and start learning.

Paradise Poker's Bonus Program

Paradise Poker offers a relatively low 25% deposit bonus with a maximum bonus of $50. I'm not a bonus whore myself, and I've given myself fits trying to play enough hands at Full Tilt Poker to get my bonus earned, so this isn't a big drawback to me. Paradise also doesn't have a loyalty program, which is a little bit disappointing, but again, not that big a deal. I can only wear so many online poker rooms' ballcaps anyway. They also don't offer a refer a friend bonus, but again, no big deal to me.

I'm more interested in whether or not the poker site has good software, good support, and a fair game. I like a lot of fish too, normally, so I can't give Paradise Poker an unconditional recommendation. But overall, this is a quality poker site that you can trust to pay out in a timely manner. And if your goal is to improve your game by playing against some of the better players on the internet, this site and Pokerstars are both excellent options to consider.

Paradise Poker's Overall Grade: B

I've noticed that I've given a lot of B's to a lot of poker rooms, and Paradise Poker has now earned one too. I'd love to give more A's, but I've only seen a handful of poker sites that truly qualify as "excellent". And I haven't reviewed any sites that I've heard a lot of bad things about, so that explains why there aren't a lot of C's, D's and F's here.

This page was last updated on January 5, 2006.