One of the true forefathers of online poker, Paradise Poker launched in 1999 and lead the way in the industry for several years. More and more competition in the industry, however, lead to Paradise being acquired by Sportingbet, Plc. in 2005. The Paradise Poker player base diminished again in the wake of the UIGEA, which led to a decision for the site to join forces with a larger poker network in early 2007.



The site now resides with Boss Media and the International Poker Network. The games are loose and juicy, and the room boasts some really nice bonuses and guaranteed tournaments. Since the merger with Sportingbet, Paradise Poker has further spiced up their offerings, adding live tournament satellites and special tournaments.

The software provided by Paradise Poker was developed by Boss Media and offers the standard functions familiar to players. The functionality is good, with player notes, multi-currency play and deposit options. The games played at Paradise Poker are mainly Texas Hold'em. There are also plenty of tournaments, guaranteed tournaments and freerolls with good value.

Overall, the traffic volume at Paradise is in the middle segment of the industry. Real-money player statistics as of December 2007 show 2,900 ring-game players at peak hours and 12,000 tournament players at peak hours.

In general, Paradise Poker runs loose and juicy games and good software that plays well despite being on the slow side when it comes to opening new tables. The software is updated frequently to ensure safety and stability, with little downtime as a result.