Differences Between Empire Poker and Party Poker

Empire Poker often gets confused with Party Poker.  They are two different sites.  Empire Poker is considered a Party Poker “skin.”  They utilize the same software but the colors of the tables,  avatars,  and main lobby are different.  Empire Poker is owned by a completely different company and their support staff is separate from Party Poker’s.  The majority of Empire Poker players are from Europe,  although you play against the same pool of players you would face on Party Poker and their other skins.

Another difference is that Empire Poker offers separate multitable tournaments.  This is the biggest attraction to Empire Poker,  since the tournament pools are smaller with an overlay on their guaranteed prize money tournaments.

Empire Poker also has a different rewards system from Party Poker,  called their VIP Club.  Unfortunately, you are not allowed to have accounts at both Empire and Party Poker.  If you already belong to Party,  in order to join Empire you need to download the software and set up the account on a different computer using a different IP address.  As a safety precaution,  neither site will allow you sit down at the same table with both your Empire Poker and Party Poker accounts.

Getting Started

Empire Poker’s software takes a few minutes to download.  They offer a variety of play money games,  which is good if you want to learn how to play a different game like Seven Card Stud.  Setting up a real money account is very easy.  My preferred method to fund online poker accounts is Neteller.  Your transfer is approved within a few minutes and you can begin playing immediately.  Empire Poker also accepts all major credit cards,  e-Passport,  FirePay, IGM-Pay,  and Western Union transfers.  As a part of their attempt to provide extra security for their customers,  a customer service rep calls you at home to verify that you funded your account.

Interface & Software

The software is above average and the main lobby is easy to navigate.  You have the option to play on regular tables or tournament tables.  The actual tables include male and female avatars with your screen name and chip amount clearly visible.  You are able to check your own session stats and take notes on players.  You can choose four-color decks if you have a tough time reading different suits.  Another feature is an  “Auto-Post Blind”  button so you will never miss posting a blind.  You have the option to show or muck your losing or uncalled hands.  This function is perfect if you want to display your bluffs.  You can also speed up the action by clicking on the  “Fold to Any Bet”  button.  You can elect to get hand histories sent to your email account,  or downloaded into a special folder on your hard drive.  The best feature is the  “Average Pot”  function,  which helps you select a loose or tight table depending on your preference.

Games

Empire Poker offers a wide selection of Limit,  No Limit,  and Pot limit Texas Holdem;  Seven Card Stud Poker,  Seven-card Stud Hi/Lo,  Pot Limit Omaha,  and Omaha Hi/Lo.  The highest limit for Holdem is  $30/$60.  The lowest limit they have is  $0.50/$1.  They also offer $1000 No-Limit tables along with $600,  $400,  $200,  $100,  $50,  and $25 NL tables.  Unfortunately, there is not a large selection of high limit Seven-card Stud tables.  Only two $20/$40 tables are available.

Tournaments

Empire Poker hosts a variety of multi-table  (MTTs)  and single-table tournaments  (SNGs).  They are both broken down into two subcategories:  regular and special.  The regular MTTs are mostly NL Holdem,  with a couple of Limit events and seven card Stud tournaments.  The buy-ins start as low as $1 and reach as high as $1000,  while running 24 hours a day.  There are also two $500 freeroll tournaments every day.  Empire Poker runs special tournaments for new players and members of their VIP club.  They host satellites for tournaments held all over the world including in England,  Australia,  and Ireland.  They are also giving away seats to the World Series of Poker.

Empire Poker hosts SNGs for all of their table games.  They offer $5,  $10,  $20,  $30,  $50,  $100,  and $200 tournaments.  The SNGs are comprised of 10 players with the top three places winning the prize money in a 50%-30%-20% split.  You can also play special SNGs to win seats into various multi-table satellites.

Deposit Bonus

Empire Poker initially offers players a 20% signup bonus up to $1000.  You have to play 7X the amount of your bonus in raked hands in order to clear your bonus.  All new money players are eligible to play in a $5,000 New Player Freeroll.

VIP Club

Empire Poker runs a different comp system than Party Poker's.  They award players 1 VIP point per 10 ranked hands in ring games.  For tournaments,  they award 1 point per $2 in SNGs fees and 1 point per $1 in MTTs fees.

Empire Poker is offering up freerolls into a World Series of Poker satellite for VIP club members.  You need 2,000 points to qualify.  They are also running a Masters Tournament promotion every month.  If you are in the Top 50 players for either MTTs or SNGs,  then you qualify for a WSOP freeroll.  You can also exchange VIP points for merchandise.

The Players

The players on Empire Poker are the same pool of players from Party Poker,  who are infamous for being some of the worst players on the internet.  The lowest limits are some of the toughest to crack on Empire Poker.  The middle levels are soft and smart,  and solid play is rewarded. Empire Poker allows you to play more than one table at a time, and a lot of smart players take advantage of this feature.

Customer Service

Aside from the initial security check,  Empire Poker’s support staff has a reputation of being below industry standards.  The 24 Hour Live Help Chat feature never seems to work. You have to e-mail support several times before you get a straight answer to your question.  Unfortunately,  you might have to call them to get a real live person on the line so they can help you out.  Empire’s support staff is supposed to be available 24 hours a day.  They are friendly and courteous but obviously swamped.

Summary