A Unique Group From a Unique Online Poker Room

By Barry Carter

When the poker community first cast its eyes on PKR.com, there was a lot of scepticism and many believed it wouldn’t last. A 3D virtual-reality poker room that resembled an Xbox game where players could spend more time designing their avatar than they could making decisions at the table was determined to be ‘novelty’ by the online poker community.
I have to admit, I was one of them.
But three years on and not only is PKR still here, it’s positively booming – and I’m a convert. PKR has been one of the fastest growing online poker rooms for the last three years. In September 2007 PKR owners celebrated their 1 millionth customer and just under a year later they were popping champagne corks in honour of the 2 millionth player.

Reinvent Yourself

To play at PKR is always something of a novelty whether you are an online player, a live player or have never played poker before. You create a fully interactive character before you play at the tables and I defy anyone not to lose a good hour of his or her life before actually sitting down with a suited and booted avatar (that looks nothing like them in real life). Your character plays in a number of different surroundings including final tables, home games, bar games, private games and more and you can view the action from an array of different angles.
The action is notably different from other online sites because in many ways it mirrors live poker. You have to put your cursor over your cards to see what you are holding and when you move it, you can’t see your cards again unless you press it again. Not only does this mirror live play (in that you have to remember your cards), but everyone at your table sees how often you look at your cards, which means you potentially give away a genuine ‘tell’ – as do your opponents – when you check your cards again on a particularly action flop.
As well as moving your chips around in the same way as you do in any other form of poker, you can also interact in a totally different way with your opponents. Emotes are a number of different actions aimed to amuse, bemuse, entertain and tilt your opponents as you can make your avatar perform actions such as chip riffles, dances, exclamations of disgust, chicken impressions and even offensive gestures. Generally speaking, these are just a bit of fun, but I find a well-timed chicken noise after scooping a big pot can put the best of them on tilt.

Why Players Love It

I’ve used the word novelty a few times now and a lot of the features at first glance do seem a little throwaway – but there are definitely lots of things keeping the players at PKR. First of all, the software does run very quickly and smoothly, as does the customer service with the speed of response/cashouts being very good. PKR, based in the UK, is also very financially secure and a much safer option to keep one’s bankroll with than some other poker rooms out there.
There is also a tremendous sense of community and lifestyle at PKR, and the forum is buzzing – as are their regular live events that always sell out. Many who play there have only played poker at PKR, and that really adds to the community spirit.
PKR is very visible outside of the usual poker circles, with TV and magazine advertising (poker magazines and others) as well as its own custom TV channel and a magazine exclusive to its players. The site also has its own regular live event (PKR Live) and has recently received the rights to broadcast all the bracelet events at the WSOP this year live on its micro site.
Perhaps the biggest reason players are loyal, however, is that the games are about as soft as anywhere on the net. Unlike a lot of poker rooms, PKR heavily markets to non-poker players, which means that the games are very juicy. You can’t use software like HUDs with PKR, which is a very good thing because it means the amount of tough regs at the tables is minimal.

Keeping the Fun in It

Finally, no matter how much of a purist you are, there is no denying that PKR is just a hell of a lot more fun than other Internet poker rooms.
Their most recent innovation was finally launching a team of sponsored players onto the live circuit. Team PKR Pro was unveiled the night before PKR Live II at the Loose Cannon Club in London in April. Rather than going for the obvious jugular of snapping up a household name with a heaving trophy cabinet, they elected to promote a number of outstanding players from their own ranks who may not be recognised names yet, but who certainly will be ones to watch in the near future.
“We decided against going the typical route of signing the latest EPT or WPT winner, or an already well known person,” said Erika Schwartz, marketing manager of PKR “We wanted to give the next generation of players a chance to get out on the circuit and play more live events and try and make a name for themselves.”
With three players from the UK, one from Ireland, one from Sweden and one from Norway, Team PKR Pro is a mixed bunch that is very representative of the site’s customer base. The team contains tournament specialists, high-stakes cash players and TV personalities. One thing they have in common is that they were all grinding away on PKR long before the team was ever created.

The Line-up

Andrew ‘Golfpro699’ Teng is a 23-year-old high-stakes pro from London who is well known on the 2+2 forums for his highly strategic thinking. He is perhaps best known, however, for winning the Thanet leg of the 2008 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (his first big live tournament) and going on to cash three times that year at the World Series of Poker.
James ‘James666’ Sudworth has a very similar story to Teng. The 22-year-old from Kent has been grinding the biggest cash games on PKR for a while now and at the start of this year came runner-up to Bernard Litman at the Brighton GUKPT main event for £43,480. Sudworth also recently warmed the hearts of the UK poker community when he used the winnings from a major online tournament to put his mother through university.
Henrik ‘Pokey85’ Eklund has been playing poker in Stockholm for four years and is another regular at the high-stakes cash tables. The 24-year-old first came to PKR’s attention when he came a very impressive second in the inaugural PKR Live tournament in London in 2008, which he followed up very quickly by winning the HeadHunter tournament at the APT Philippines.
Fellow Scandinavian Kai ‘KingKai84’ Paulsen from Norway is perhaps the best-known player on the team, with a very impressive tournament record. The 25-year-old has multiple deep cashes in the WSOP and his biggest result to date is fifth in the Irish Open for €175,000. With more than $300,000 in tournament winnings already, he wants to go one further this year by taking down a major with the help of PKR.
Ashley ‘ashleyhames1’ Hames from London may not have the same poker resume as his teammates but he is no doubt the most infamous. The TV presenter and writer is a commentator on PKR TV as well as being the host of the cult TV show Sin Cities. He has been playing poker for nearly ten years and is a regular at the Vic in London. He modestly refers to his goals in the game as “to become known and respected for having a good poker game rather than for having had my scrotum nailed to a plank of wood.”
Finishing off the team is Raymond ‘callmebabe’ O’Mahoney of Dublin. Another one of the regulars in the big cash games on PKR, he also came to the attention of his sponsors when he cashed twice in the first PKR Live last year.

Sending a Message

The appointment of these in-house pros not only demonstrates a sound understanding of the current poker sponsorship industry, it also sends out a clear and encouraging message to PKR players – show loyalty and promise to the online room you frequent and you too can be rewarded with a sponsorship contract. PKR is giving something back to its community, rather than giving it all to whichever pro with an armful of bracelets is looking for a new sponsor.
“It’s a lot more aspirational,” Schwartz says. “Our players know that if they get out there and impress us with their character, ambition, determination and ability, they will have a real chance of getting sponsored.”
PKR is on the verge of announcing its 3 millionth customer, which when you consider it is less than 3 years old and not open to the U.S. market is nothing short of amazing. The site has many big new innovations in the pipeline, such as exclusive European live coverage of the World Series of Poker, a partnership with Phil Galfond’s Bluefire Poker and a new-look interactive website that will include a Facebook style interface and interactive strategy content – so it probably won’t be long before PKR player number 4 million is designing an avatar and unleashing his chicken emoticon on his table.