Texas Holdem Press

Smart! Before I can think of what I like, or don’t like about the ‘opening screen’ of PacificPoker.com, a pop-up asks me if I want to download the software while I browse the site. That’s a great pre-emptive strike.. Of course, on many PCs (including mine) when you say yes to a download, you’re immediately taken down the rabbit hole and the questions start (so it’s not really something going on in the background, while you browse). But I’ll bet, regardless of how your PC handles it, Pacific Poker converts more first time visitors to actual players this way.

11:21 a.m., after asking to executive or install the files (and for some reason, these files total a miniscule 278KB?), the installation moved rapidly and I was taken to a screen similar to the one I first saw on Pacific Poker.

Of course smart marketing does not necessarily translate into cool design, and the home page is a bit noisy. But once you download and create an account (which was easy and fast) Pacific Poker seems to dispense almost entirely with the marketing and lets you get right to it.

Again, they offer and I suggest that beginners take advantage of their training for newbies: because otherwise you are thrust right into the thick of things.

And again, I am a case in point (an example not to be followed). Though I win my first hand at the table I join, the game is too fast paced and the betting routine unfamiliar to me: that is, I think I have stumbled into a no-limit game and before I know what is happening the second hand starts off with a call of over 500 chips, and a raise to 1000 and my only choice is all in or fold so, with an K-J not suited, I go all in and am quickly all out! WTF?

Maybe this is a good way to get started – kind of like throwing the kid into the deep end of the pool to teach him to swim, but geez! The lesson I guess, is that in a no-limit game you have to have a highly rated opening hand to stay in if the betting gets started early – or have a position (relative to the dealer or in terms of chips) at the table where its you making the other players jump.

The table design itself is clean. The sound effects a bit overbearing. Pacific Poker gives you a seat at the bottom of the tab, facing directly forward, so perhaps that’s a plus.

Let me play some more, and see what happens.

Okay, so I got into a slower game, with a fixed limit, medium size blinds – and I did okay.

While I played I noticed two other features I liked.

First, a little box called ‘Your Best Hand’, which is great for a beginner. Sometimes – can I admit this, I am not aware of what my best hand actually is.
And the other feature – that everyone offers but seems to be programmed a bit differently here – is the little chat box that tells you who won the last hand, and lets you chat with other players. On several of the other sites I have visited, this chat box is confusing: hard to tell where the beginning is. Here it is clear that the chat in the window is current.
Another feature I discovered a bit belatedly – near the end of play when I was started to fade a bit, was the claxon horn which sounds when it’s your turn but you are slow to react. I like that – both because it keeps your head in the game, but also because if pushes play along. Some players though, always seem to wait until the last second to act.
Well after about a half hour I realized that the speed of play was perhaps, a bit slow (or was it that I was picking up speed?). Clearly though, pace is one key element. Too slow and you lose interest. Too fast and you make mistakes. Just right and you feel you are in tune with the other players, and can sense the rhythm of the game. In the end at this fixed limit, 5/10 game, I got as low as 600 chips, as high as 1400, and ended up with 1055 (they start you off with 1000 chips).

My overall assessment of PacificPoker.com was positive. I liked the apparently small download size, the ability to get into action quickly, and the overall interface. I wasn’t overwhelmed by appeals to play at different tables, or to try and play for cash. It may be that when I am more experienced I will want the flash and variety of the big sites like Full Tilt and Poker Stars, but Pacific Poker seems like a good place to learn.