Pala Poker NJ – Review and Fact Sheet

Pala Poker is the newest site to enter the mix of NJ online poker sites.

Operating on a proprietary platform as a standalone site, Pala does not share traffic with any other room in New Jersey. This is in contrast to relationships such as the shared network between partypoker NJ and Borgata, or the shared network of 888 and WSOP NJ. The site does exist under a partnership with Borgata, but the two do not share liquidity.

Pala also operates an online casino in NJ — PalaCasino.com — where players are eligible for a $25 no deposit bonus and a 100 percent up to $500 deposit bonus.

Pala is licensed and regulated by the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Grade vs. competition

Player review of Pala Poker NJ

Traffic

It’s too early in the game to properly evaluate the traffic at Pala Poker, but we do know that there’s only a limited amount of traffic to go around in New Jersey. That’s going to make for an uphill climb for Pala Poker, which will be battling against established competition in a very tight market for NJ online poker.

Cash games

Pala is launching with a focus on no-limit hold’em games (NLHE). Fixed limit hold’em is also available (LHE). The room may eventually expand to offer other variants, but a focus on those popular games is the right approach for a room just getting off the ground, as supporting other variants could prove challenging.

Sit & Go

Pala Poker offers a variety of SNG tournaments. The focus at launch appears to be on supporting NLHE and lower-stakes play, which makes sense for a room that will be working to generate traffic in the early days.

Multi-table tournaments

There’s a full suite of multi-table tournaments available in the lobby. Again, the focus of the MTT lobby is on low-stakes, fast-resolving tournaments, primarily with no limit hold’em – a smart play for a room that is still building up a traffic base.

Value

No deposit bonus

$25 free for new players (plus additional casino bonuses)

Deposit bonus

New players qualify for a 100% deposit bonus up to $500.

Rewards program

Pala offers a tiered rewards program. There are two components: Status Points and Rewards Points.

• Status Points are earned at a fixed rate and used to determine your status tier. You can also earn Status Points via play in the casino. For poker, ever $1 in rake or tournament fee earns you 50 status points.
• Rewards Points are earned based on your status level. More on that below.

There are five levels to the rewards program. Each level requires a baseline amount of SP per month to hit. Each also comes with its own RP multiplier.

• Privileges – Starting level. 4x RP multiplier.
• Pearl – 1,500 SP ($30 in rake). 4x RP multiplier.
• Gold – 7,500 SP ($150 in rake). 6x RP multiplier.
• Platinum – 50,000 SP ($1,000 in rake). 8x RP multiplier.
• Elite – 250,000 SP ($5,000 in rake). 10x RP multiplier

Players have the option to trade in RP for either cash or tournament dollars. The rate is slightly better for tournament dollars:

• 5000 RP = $1
• 4900 RP = $1 tournament dollar

What does this translate to in terms of cash back? Obviously, it depends on your loyalty level. But let’s take the middle level (Gold) as an example. You would need to earn 5000 RP to get $1 back. To get 5000 RP, you would need to earn 833 SP. You earn 50 SP for every dollar in rake, so you would need to pay $16.60 in rake. That means you’d be getting about 6% rake back from your RP.

Software

The Pala online poker software is available in three formats:

• Desktop client: The traditional client for online poker players. To get the full suite of features available from Pala Poker online, players can download and install a desktop version of Pala Poker.
• Web-based: Players who prefer to play online poker without making a download can try Pala Poker’s web-based client. The client has all available games and most features available on the desktop client.
• Mobile: Pala Poker is also available in a mobile version. Most games are available in the mobile app for Pala Poker, but some of the features available in the desktop and web versions of the client are absent.

Banking

Pala Poker offers a full complement of standard deposit methods for NJ online poker players, including:

• Bank transfer
• PayPal
• Credit cards
• Neteller
• Cash at 7-11 (via PayNearMe)
• Prepaid cards
• Deposit with cash at the Borgata cage

Players can cash out their funds via:

• Bank transfer
• PayPal
• Prepaid cards
• Neteller
• By receiving cash at the Borgata cage

Customer Service

Pala offers five channels for customer support:

• Support forum
• FAQ knowledge base
• 24-hour phone support
• Email support
• Live chat

Overall

The site has a tough hill to climb, but with the right focus and strong promotions, there’s no reason why Pala can’t find a place in the market for NJ online poker.