Party Poker for Mac
Party Poker is one of the most well-known and popular online poker sites in existence today. Despite pulling out of the US market several years ago, they’ve managed to maintain a solid player base and reputation as a premiere online poker provider. As with many Internet card rooms, Party Poker allows players to choose a “no-download” version of their software that will allow users to play competitive online poker regardless of their operating system. Although Party Poker does not currently offer downloadable software designed for the Mac, players can still enjoy most of the sites features by playing the Instant Player version of Party Poker for Mac.
Downloading and Installing Party Poker for Mac
When playing Party Poker for Mac, there’s no need to install a single thing on your computer. Instead, you’ll be using the Instant Play function. This can be accessed by going to PartyPoker.com and clicking the “Download” button in the menu. You’ll automatically be redirected to the Instant Play area of the site so long as you’re using a Mac or Linux computer. From here, you can click the “Instant Play” button to get a taste of Party Poker’s offerings.
It’s important to note that there are few differences between playing Party Poker on a Mac through Instant Play and playing Party Poker on a PC through downloadable software. First, the graphics in the Instant Play area aren’t quite as rich, and animation isn’t as fluid. However, some users actually prefer the Instant Play option because of the ability to play Party Poker from any computer, rather than only the one with Party Poker software installed. However, the Instant Play area is missing a few of the features you’ll find in the download version, such as table filters, private tables, network status, dealer options, and table resizing, cascading, and tiling. The lack of table cascading and tiling will be a deal-breaker for individuals who insist on multi-tabling.
System Requirements for Party Poker for Mac
The minimum system requirements for playing Party Poker for Mac are extremely forgiving. From a hardware standpoint, you’ll need little more than a monitor with a minimum resolution of 800×600 and 256 or more colors, and 128 MB of RAM. If you’d like to hear in-game sounds, you’ll also need a sound card. For software, you’ll need Mac OS X, as well as either Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or higher, or Safari 1.3 or higher. To play Party Poker for Mac, your browser will have to equipped with the MRJ 2.2.5 version of Java. All of this software (excluding, of course, the operating system itself) is available free of charge.
Overview of Party Poker for Mac
Excluding the aforementioned differences between the Instant Play version of the Party Poker software and the downloadable version, there are no noticeable differences between playing Party Poker for Mac or PC. You’ll have access to all of Party Poker’s game types, including Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, and 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo. As a Mac user, you’ll also have access to Party Poker’s 100% welcome bonus of up to $100, as well as numerous freerolls, Bad Beat Jackpots, $300,000 guaranteed prize pool Sunday tournaments, and more. The first Sunday of every month plays host to a $1,000,000 tournament. You can play in the qualifying rounds leading up to this tournament for only $1.
Players using Party Poker for Mac are also advised to take advantage of the Tell-a-Friend bonus. When you tell a friend about Party Poker and they sign up with a real money account and make a deposit, both you and your friend will receive $50 in free cash. Party Poker for Mac offers PartyPoints reward plan with which regular customers can earn points simply by playing poker for money. These points, can be spent on a wide range of products.
Although Party Poker does not yet offer a downloadable version of their software that works on a Mac, the Instant Play version still represents a great way for players to experience competitive, real money poker without migrating to the Windows operating system.