Summary
Everest Poker was established in 2005, running on its own privately developed software and network. The online poker room attracts players from all regions of the world, with a multi-lingual software and player base, as well as regionally specific online poker tournament. The only games offered are Texas Hold’em and Omaha, but even so, Everest Poker has managed to draw an impressive player base through valuable promotions, lucrative tournaments and a long-standing reputation for juicy competition at the tables.
Software
Everest Poker is powered by its own privately developed software platform, complete with 16 languages, lots of customizable features. Generally speaking, the software is pretty basic compared to some other online poker rooms, but its clean, crisp approach is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. The graphics are pretty straight forward, with a small selection of avatars for players to use at the tables. Note taking is available during play. The hand histories are pretty easy to use, but may take some getting used to and aren’t equipped for long-term analyzing, having an expiration of 30 days.
The Everest Poker Lobby shows essential statistics, including seated player stack size, average pot, viewed-flop % and hands per hour. Current table stats are available by clicking “your statistics” during a game. Multi-tabling allows up to 8 simultaneous games, but there is no mini-view function. All multi-tables are set to a fixed size.
Bonuses / Promotions
New players who sign up an account with Everest Poker are currently granted a limited time offer of $100 free. In order to receive the bonus, a player must make their first deposit of any amount using the Bonus Code “WELCOME”. The player must then collect Summit Point by playing in raked ring games and/or paying tournament fees. Each Summit Point is equal to $.07 of the bonus. Every time a player collects a point, $.07 of the bonus is added to their real money account, with 30 days to collect as much as possible before any remaining bonus expires.
After making a first deposit, new players are also given one Freeroll Token to enter a New Depositor $1,000 Freeroll at Everest Poker.
Refer your friends to Everest Poker to receive a $50 bonus, awarded in the same Summit-Point-collecting manner as the welcome bonus.
Game Variety
One of Everest Poker’s low points is the game variety, only offering Texas Hold’em and Omaha. There isn’t even an Omaha Hi/Lo version available. With an average of 7,000 real-money players in ring games at peak hours (as of June 2008), it’s surprising that the traffic is heavily concentrated in NL Hold’em and Limit Hold’em, with very few players joining the Omaha tables anyway. On the plus side, the competition is generally very loose, revealing viewed-flop percentages frequently in the 50% to 60% range.
Tournaments
Loose-aggressive is the name of the game at Everest Poker. Tournament buy-ins range from $1 up into the hundreds, but regardless of the level or high population, Everest Poker tournaments always seem to play out fast and furious, with little care for tight strategy play. A skilled poker player can easily clean house with a little luck and patience. Guaranteed tournaments include the daily $5,000 and $7,000 variety, weekly $20,000 and the sporadic $100k guaranteeds.
Support
Another set-back for Everest Poker is the customer support department. Assistance can only be obtained via email by submitting a help ticket, and the speed of response isn’t always what it should be.
Payment Methods
Everest Poker has a decent selection of payment methods to choose from, convenient for most regions of the world. There are no viable US withdrawal methods, but that’s no longer an issue since the UIGEA was passed in 2006 – US player deposits are no longer accepted at Everest Poker.
Deposit Methods: Visa, MasterCard, NETeller, Moneybookers, Click2Pay, EcoCard, Paysafecard, 1Pay and Bank Draft.
Withdrawal Methods: NETeller, Moneybookers, Click2Pay and Bank Transfer.