3D poker sites attempt to bring the feel of a live card room to the online poker experience. As well as having advanced 3D graphics and multiple camera angles to view the action, players can use highly customizable avatars to make their on screen persona unique to them, rather than the standard option at most poker sites of a small static picture avatar.
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3D poker feels more like a video game than most 2D online poker sites and has a much more social feel to it. In game the players' avatars can perform chip tricks and use gestures, taunt their opponents and give off fake ‘tells' at the table. All of these novel features put a lot of the fun back into online poker and are the main reason why 3D poker is very popular with recreational players.
Where to Play 3D Poker?
Most online poker sites stick with the traditional 2 dimensional overhead view of the table, and there are only a few players in the 3D poker market. The biggest and best of these is PKR, which typically has about 600 cash game players online on average. The other main 3D poker room is True Poker, which is open to US players, but has quite low levels of traffic and less sophisticated software than you'll find at PKR.
PKR were the first 3D sites, beginning operations in 2006 and experiencing rapid growth. After the UIGEA legislation was passed in the USA, they immediately withdrew from the US market and concentrated on Europe. Today they are sponsors of World Poker Tour events and show the final tables of some of their big online multi-table tournaments on satellite television complete with commentary.
888 Poker is the only site that offers real 3D graphics. There are two different versions you can access. The first is the standard poker room, where the tables and avatars are built in 3D. The second version is the web-cam version where you can play against real players streamlined through a web cam. PKR Poker is an online poker room which offers some of the most amazing 3D graphics and a revolutionizing, ultra-realistic looking poker play. It is lunched in 2006 by Jez San, a passionate fan and poker player who managed to take online poker to a new level.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Playing at 3D Poker Sites
One of the best things about playing at 3D poker sites is the number of recreational players with very poor fundamental poker skills that you'll find at the sites. The way these sites are marketed and the software gimmicks are both very effective at bringing in casual players who typically play live poker and want a similar experience online.
Furthermore, the software is quite busy and the action is slower than you'll find at other sites, as players spend more time ‘hollywooding' and performing chip tricks during hands. The result of this is that multi-tabling professional poker players tend to stay away from the 3D sites because they don't like the low hands-per-hour rate, meaning the tables are mostly filled with fish.
Of course this works both ways and even though you might have a huge edge on the fish, your hourly rate might be a little lower than it would be at a more traditional online poker site due to the slower pace of the game.
Another downside to the 3D poker sites is that they are very resource intensive and will require a relatively modern PC to play on without the software lagging, particularly if you want to play multiple tables. You can play up to 9 tables at the biggest 3D poker site ‘PKR', but the screen will be very crowded and the display options require some heavy customisation to minimise lag on even the best computers.
System Requirements for Playing on 3D Poker Sites
Traditional poker sites, with their top down view and basic animation, don't use a lot of processing power and even a basic PC can run most poker software packages without too much trouble. 3D poker sites are a little more demanding. The slick animations and detailed graphics will put a little more strain on your hardware and to enjoy the 3D experience to its fullest, you'll need a PC capable of dealing with the increased load.
To ensure things run smoothly, you'll want a processor with a speed of at least 2GHz, and with a minimum of 2 GB of RAM. On top of this you'll need a good 128 MB Nvidia or ATI graphics card, with DirectX 9 compatible drivers.
The last important thing to note is that you'll also need a better internet connection for 3D poker. As well as sending and receiving data about your cards and bet sizes, 3D sites will also be transferring other input like chip tricks and player movements, which take up much more bandwidth than standard online poker. We recommend a broadband connection with a bandwidth of at least 1 Mbps for playing 3D poker.
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Editor's note: This article was updated on February 5th, 2020
PKR, which billed itself as the first true 3D online poker site, closed its doors in May 2017 but it could soon be resurrected.
Founded by Jez San, PKR launched in 2006 and rapidly grew to boast of five million customers and claims of 15,000 players being online simultaneously. Everything looked positive for PKR, even when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) meant they no longer offered their services to American customers.
In its pomp, PKR held live events, signed a number of sponsored pros, including Jake Cody, James Sudworth, Dan O'Callaghan, Sofia Lovgren, Andrew Teng, Eleanor Gudger, and Vladimir Geshkenbein. PKR also hosted television shows highlighting its major tournaments, and even launched its own Playtech-powered casino. Atlantic city casino revenue december 2018 2019.
The PKR Wheels Fall Off
It's difficult to pinpoint where it all went wrong for PKR but the wheel began falling off. Its team of sponsored pros didn't have their contracts renewed, and they left their own stand-alone network in February 2016 to join Microgaming (MPN).
May 2017 saw Microgaming suspend PKR from its network due to the site suffering from financial difficulties. The PKR management removed PKR's social media presence, while attempts to access the PKR website resulted in a holding message being displayed.
'Further to earlier announcements, PKR limited and PKR Technologies Ltd have filed applications to Court for Administration orders, which will be heard in the week commencing 8th May 2017.
Further information will be placed on this website following the hearings.
This information will include contact details for players and creditors to address queries and details of the process.'
Two months later, no PKR customer had received any of their funds, which prompted PokerStars to ride in on its white horse to save the day, just as it had done with the ill-fated Full Tilt Poker. PokerStars contacted the 60,000 affected customers and made it possible to claim their PKR balances into a PokerStars account.
Videoslots Get Involved
In November 2017, Maltese online casino Videoslots purchased the technology assets from the PKR portfolio. This gave them PKR's Mac, PC, Android and iOS clients. Videoslots planned to relaunch PKR the following year, but there was radio silence.
A Facebook member called Coralie Watson has been active in posting on various Facebook groups and communities.
All links she has posted so far lead to a website PKR3D.com which has been confirmed to UK & Ireland PokerNews to be an affiliate site. The quality of the copy has vastly improved since our original article, although there is still work to do. Players can sign up for a Videoslots account (no surprise there) or accounts at both Betsson and Betsafe, both of which are on Microgaming.
Players are prompted to crate their Battle / Alias by signing up for a Videoslots account and making a deposit of at least £10, which does seem a little underhand and most people who land on the page will consider that practice being a smash and grab from Videoslots.
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UK & Ireland PokerNews has seen correspondence between the owner of the PKR3D affiliate site and the management team behind Videoslots Poker and are confident we will see the PKR software gracing our screens again during the coming year. We have reached out to the said management team for comment.
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