PKR Review
Pure entertainment
The key word to summarise the PKR experience is ‘entertainment’. You can’t talk about PKR without marvelling at the highly advanced 3D software designed to immerse the player in a real-time, highly customisable poker world. From the onset, you can create your avatar with intricate attention to detail; crafting personal features, jewellery, voice etc. Perhaps more tactically, you can also give them a personality and mood at the table. A vast variety of comments, gestures and retorts are available to goad or distract your opponents adding to the fun and social aspect of the game i.e. bluffing. You can change your camera view to suit you and the table back-drops add perfectly to the ambience.
Making poker mainstream
This innovative software could be seen as a catalyst that is making poker more mainstream. The site is attracting a lot of new players; including those who have only dabbled or never played before. This is perhaps due to the more visually explanatory aspect of the PKR game along with an excellent Poker School. From novice to advanced play, expert advice is on hand for every level of your game. Furthermore, the lure of popular games such as Deal or No Deal? act as a feed for conversion of novices to PKR poker in what comes across as a ‘beginner-friendly’ site.
A large proportion of casual players and the countless distractions that the graphics, perhaps realistically, provide do mean that PKR occasionally comes into criticism from more hardened poker players. If you want a quicker, neater win or wish to play a number of tables in split screen at the same time, PKR would be frustrating – there’s too much to do, and too much being done outside of the game.
Keep your eye on your game
For those partaking who are more seasoned players or those blessed with higher levels of concentration, there is money to be made here. While the ‘emote control technology’ allows you to pick up tells or misdirect opponents, it is so tempting to spend more time trying to drive the guy who slow clapped your last dismal hand into making a mistake on his next turn that you don’t pay attention to your own game. The high level of interaction possible does appear to generate a higher level of risk-taking resulting in a looser game than perhaps found on other, less experiential sites. Something that can be turned to your advantage if you can resist temptation – or multi-task effectively.
Added value - PKR Bonus
The ‘PKR experience’ extends to their customer acquisition and retention strategy too. Existing real money customers earn PKR Points with every game, exchangeable for a range of exclusive promotions – online and land-based, Premium freerolls and more tailored offers depending on spend. Newcomers get points plus a 100% bonus matched up to $800. Recommending a friend earns you, and your friend, a neat $50 each – great if you have a large number of friends.
A small but important detail is that the customer service is great. The live chat option means that you get an instant response at any hour day or night. Again, leaving you feeling positive about PKR where so many others can fall down.
Tournaments
With a significant tournament offering, there’s something for everyone and for every limit with PKR. The 24/7 Sit&Go’s are very popular, offering smaller tables for those not wanting to commit hours to their game. Tables fill up quickly and run constantly. At the other end of the spectrum, single and multi-table Satellites offer the prize of entry into major big money tournaments e.g WSOP, while Terminator tournaments lend themselves well to PKR’s software – every player has a bounty so it’s dog-eat-dog to knock each other out to win that player’s bounty – good banter with no remorse! Exclusive to PKR are the Double and Triple Chance tournaments that let you divide your stack into two or three respectively, to be played in one hand or multiple chances if you’re feeling unlucky early on. Tournaments run from daily to the once a month $100,000 PKR Masters event with a buy-in of $270 – a clear schedule on the site helps you plan your play effectively.
PKR in summary
With enough to play with for most, PKR feels accessible to all. It is welcoming to beginners and challenging to experts alike, though perhaps as a secondary site for the most hardened players. But without doubt, its key selling point is the visual experience that adds fun and banter to the game. Whether this proves beneficial or detrimental to your individual game is down to you!
