1. no. the party system is better in this regard that if you start from 0 and reach palladium you will get palladium rakeback for the whole time and not just after you get to palladium

2. yes. 6months. details are in the store for each bonus

3. no you don't drop down. statuses work the same way as on stars. rake $4.5k per quarter and you will be palladium right away (and for the next quarter)

no

yes/yes(lol)

no

Excellent.

Ive read a few places that getting to Palladium and Palladium Elite both offer "exclusive bonuses" among other things. What does this mean exactly?

related question - How often are deposit bonuses or extra rewards offered? I've only been playing on party for a month but so far ive been please with their offers. I just wish Palladium Elite wasn't so hard to get, 40%+ RB would be nice.

^ ppl get given no-deposit bonuses as an incentive to play more. there's no way to predict the frequency exactly, but they usually come as a reward for raking a lot in a short time period, climbing VIP levels quickly, when you're inactive for a while, or just randomly

they range from $100-$1000, you'll tend to get them more often as palladium+, and it's possible to just ask support nicely for one. min palladium pace + monthly promos + VIP subpromos + free bonuses + reload bonuses = ~40% RB imo, elite would be higher

PartyRep and other Party regulars:

Please see the copy and pasted email conversation with Party VIP support regarding the use of auto seat taking software. I strongly believe that allowing this software will be detrimental to the games and to the experience of recreational players, who tend to get scared off when once they sit down the table fills within milliseconds.

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Hello,

Recently some players have started to use software or scripts that automatically let them join tables or waitlists when certain players sit down. Is this allowed? If not, do you guys have plans to take steps to prevent people from doing this?

Thanks.

Tim Matthews

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Dear Timothy,

Thank you for contacting us.

With reference to your e-mail, please note that our teams of game experts, in consultation with the Technical team are constantly evaluating software, in order to determine the suitability of such third party programs and their compatibility with our Poker Client software and Terms and Conditions.

At present, we have no immediate plans to block this software, but such applications and their subsequent versions and upgrades are under constant review, to ensure their continued suitability.

Please note that our policy and the terms that apply to the use of third party software while playing on PartyPoker.com is set out in the Terms and Conditions of Use. For the list of Blocked Softwares please visit the below given Link:

http://www.partypoker.com/about_us/g...advantage.html

In addition to and notwithstanding this policy, we would caution the players against using any software offered to you by any third party in any case, for reasons of their own security and we would remind them that they accept and/or use such software solely and entirely at their own ris

If you have any further questions, comments or concerns, please contact us at alerts@partyaccount.com and we will be more than glad to assist you.

Contact us anytime, we are available around the clock to assist you with your account related questions and suggestions.

Sincerely,
Paul
Game Fairness & Security Team

PartyRep: Please investigate and report to us on how this type of software will be treated after the Ongame merger. I have included in my email I sent to Party VIP support below a quote from an Ongame rep describing an opposite policy on the Ongame network towards this particular type of third party software.

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Hello Paul,

Thank you for your response. However, I am quite surprised at Party's decision at this point in time. It is evident to the regulars at mid to high stakes cash games that this type of software scares away recreational players and discourages games from starting.

This has been a major issue over the past weeks at Ongame, which is owned by the same parent company as Party Poker (Bwin PartyGaming) and will be merging player pools with Party Poker.

Here is a recent statement from an Ongame rep that takes a very different position:

"We have received repeated player and partner complaints regarding the seat scripting softwares (t.ex. Ongbetter). After careful analysis and investigation, decision has made to ban the program with immediate effect. We treat auto seat features as a breach of our Third Party Program Policy, players using automated programs to make decisions or take actions on their behalf in games are considered cheating.

To be clear, players are prohibited from operating this program or allowing this programs to operate while logged into their accounts. We reserve the right to close accounts, seize funds and ban players from playing at Ongame network for using prohibited programs or cheating."

I wish for your team to consider this prior to the merger as it will lead to obvious conflicts.

Best regards,
Tim Matthews

any word on when ongame will merge with party? any possible downsides to this?

livechat just told me there is going to be a new software release on the 28th of Feb

they are, among other things, going to remove the bad beat jackpot

wtf, why would they do that? I don't even...

no more BBJ would be awesome news, hope it's true

its bad. BBJ attract a lot of fish.

true, but it also makes already over-raked games even more impossible for fish to beat, they go broke faster, can't move up in stakes (e.g. 25nl 6max BBJ), and end up thinking the games are rigged

arguably fish will play anyway with party's flashy promos, bonuses, marketing and colorful design. The jackpot it isn't usually the initial reason they find out about a site, choose to play, or decide to stay. there are crappy sites out there with huge BBJs and near-zero traffic

I was also told this. How much is taken out of every pot, and is there any rake taken from the BBJ or is 100.0% eventually returned to players?

While I personally hate BBJ and any extra rake, I thought there are too many degenerates and fish that like it. These fish will play more at sites with a big jackpot. I don't see why Party would think it's beneficial for their market share or revenue.

i think party takes a 25% processing fee, but my memory is shaky at best

its 10% unless it changed ''recently''

BBJ going is great. JP tables steal more fish than they bring in.

Some new MTTs added btw. 2 I've noticed so far are both super turbo 1k chips. 1 is 1$ bi and other is 6$.

(It's a 10% admin fee but) In the long run, you get back 87.5% of every $1 you spend on BBJ rake.

i guess i will never see the long run

Does anybody remember the Pacific BBJ tables that let you choose if you wanted to opt-in or not before each hand? Made spotting who was a nit/reg pretty easy!

Juk

I'm surprised Party would give up the 10% fee and the BBJ hunters.
I'm also surprised so many dumb players will pay a virtually unbeatable 10% rake when you are down to less than ten big blinds after only six minutes. Can the MTT sharks in this thread beat the 10% rake in a hyper-turbo crapshoot? A few Supernova Elites may like 24-tabling hyper-turbo SNGs at PokerStars, but I think it's impossible to get to Palladium Elite playing PartyPoker MTTs.

Timing of getting rid of the BBJ tables surprise me. Gladiator and no BBJ means recreational 2 tabling 25 NL player has 0% chance of getting a big score. Party might lose some players there.

why does it surprise you? i think with the merge ahead it makes sense

Absolutely great news!

Maybe you will though, they will have to do something with the current jackpot monies, and I was told it *will* be awarded out somehow instead of simply getting that rake back.