Golden Riviera Poker.com Overview
is a part of the Prima Poker Network (a.k.a. Microgaming Poker Network). This is one of the biggest online networks (hosting other rooms such as Poker Time and Captain Cook’s Poker) so players should have no problem finding something to suit their tastes. Unfortunately, no US players are allowed.
The most popular time for Golden Riviera is evenings in GMT when you will find an average of 20,000 players connected. They offer the following games: Texas Hold’em (Limit, Pot-limit, and No-limit), 5 Card Draw (Fixed-limit), Omaha (Fixed, No-limit, and Pot), Omaha Hi-Lo (Pot and Fixed-limit), 5 Card Stud (Fixed, No-limit, and Pot), and 7 Card Stud (Fixed-limit). The stakes in these games range from $.02 - $.04 up to €50 - €100.
Ring games at Golden Riviera are dominated by No-limit Hold’em. You will find players at nearly every limit, basically any time of the day. Thanks to their large player base, there always seem to be 5-6 tables of mid-stakes games running for Omaha, Stud, and 5 Card Draw. When playing cash you will notice several bad beat tables along with the normal ones. If you play at bad beat tables you have a chance to change a bad beat story into a good one and earn a nice payday. If you lose with four of a kind, eights or better, you and the table will win a certain percentage of the pool. (Some other rules are needed to qualify, see below in the Promotions section for details.)
Sit & Go tournaments at Golden Riviera Poker are quite popular. For as little as $0.11, or as high as $1090, you can find a game suitable for your bankroll. You can find up to 400+ tournaments running at a time. Most players are at $22 and lower but you’ll notice many $55, some $109, and even a few $1090 games running as well. For every buy-in they offer single table, multi-table, heads-up, and other various types of play (including normal and turbo blinds). Some unique types of SnG games are on offer here, including ‘extreme stack’ and freerolls. Extreme stack tournaments start with more chips than normal, offering more play. Their freeroll games are very unique and not often seen at other rooms. For a $0 buy-in you can compete for actual money! Even though the total prize pool is only $.20, it’s better than playing for play money. If you don’t have any money to deposit you can start grinding these out to build a bankroll.
Multi-Table Tournaments are also quite popular at Golden Riviera. On different days of every week they offer various guaranteed tournaments. All of the prize pools usually shatter the guaranteed amount. Guarantees range from $1200 ($3 buy-in) up to $45,000 ($27 buy-in). Their weekly tournament is every Sunday with a $200,000 guaranteed pool and a $55 buy-in. They offer satellites for all of their larger tournaments, which start as low as $5.50. Golden Riviera is not shy about giving away money in freerolls. Everyday they offer many $200 and $500 tournaments with no buy-in. These usually get a very large turnout, with around 5000 players present.
While playing at Golden Riviera, you will collect ‘Golden Points’. However, these points are for nothing more than collecting bonuses. However, they do maintain a ‘Cash Leaderboard’ that keeps track of the rake paid by all players and is used in a monthly rake race. The top 50 players each month share $6000, with 1st place being $1000.
Golden Riviera Poker.com Software Interface/Usability
’s lobby may seem crammed but it is, in fact, very well organized. It can be hard to adjust to initially and if you read this description first it will help you a lot. On the left you will find your game selection between cash and tournaments. You can also use a ‘quick start’ or ‘quick search’ to find games based on certain criteria, which is very useful for Sit & Go tournaments. Also, in the lobby under ‘Menu’, you can configure many options including languages, table options, sounds, and your profile. Live chat is also built right into the software and within minutes you can be talking to their support.
While playing you will notice their tables are in 10 max full ring, 6 max shorthanded, and 2 player heads-up for almost every limit they offer. A majority of the traffic is playing shorthanded rather than full ring at most limits. On the tables there are many different options to customize. Some options include: borders (borders around players, either red or green to help track action); markers (show how much money was in the pot at every street); four color deck; preferred seating (places you in the same seat at every table); and table size (large, normal, and mini view). All of these options really help when multi-tabling, for which the max is 5. Players do not have a time bank to make decisions, although play seems much faster at Golden Riviera than other poker rooms.
Hand histories are instantly available, but there is not a built-in viewer. In order to view them, you select “game history” from the table options. This opens the game history exporter where you can select the number of hands to save as a text file. This is a hassle and it would be better if you could automatically save them to your computer and review them later. One thing of note is that you cannot see other players’ mucked hands, as you can on some other poker rooms.
GoldenRiviera Poker Room Action
With such a large number of players connected at any time, you can expect a lot of action at . One great thing about this poker room is the spread of players at different limits and games. You can always find a game, even if your bankroll is only $1. Also, this is a great site to expand your play beyond Hold’em, as there are always tables of other games available.
If you are a tournament player you can bring your game to Golden Riviera. As explained in the overview, they have a very large tournament turnout for almost every limit and large weekly guarantees.
Golden Riviera's Ease of Game, Ease of Making Money, Fish Rating
In our experience, seemed to have an average number of fish compared to most poker rooms. At the mid-stake level, there were always a few whales that were very easy to spot, but there were also a few solid multi-tablers to stay away from. At the low and micro limits, you can expect a juicy table with players that have no comprehension of the game at all.
Golden Riviera Poker Promotional Code & Bonus
offers a 100% Deposit Match Bonus up to $1000 for new players! This is quite large in comparison to what most other poker rooms offer today. Even better is that you have 21 days to accumulate your deposits. For example, if on the 1st of the month you deposit $500 and 5 days later another $400, you don't just get a bonus on the first time deposit of $500 but instead receive a $900 bonus. This is great for those who can't make one large deposit. In order to earn this bonus, you must earn 10 ‘Golden Points’ for every bonus dollar. You must play $.25 - $.50 or higher, and tournament fees will not qualify to clear this bonus. Golden Points are awarded in one flat rate, for everyone $1 you contribute to rake you will receive 10 Golden Points. So basically, you're paying $1 in rake and earning 10 points, and every 10 points are generating $1 in bonus money. Essentially, you’re playing rake-free while you're earning this bonus! So it's like a 100% rakeback. The bonus is released in increments of $10 or 100 points while earning it. However, it expires in 60 days so make sure you have the time during the next 2 months if you go for the complete $1000.
Golden Riviera also has $175K tournaments every Sunday at 14:00 EST. It has an entry fee of $60 + $5, with a guaranteed 1st place prize of $52,500!
Lastly, Golden Riviera has a Bad Beat Jackpot. This means if 4 of a kind (or better) are beaten the loser receives 50% of the Jackpot, the winner get 25%, and the remaining 25% gets split up between the other players. It does have some catches, though. It must be done at a real money non-tournament table, 4 or more players must have received cards in only Hold’em games, the winner and loser must use both hole cards, and no special rakes are taken. But wait! There’s more! You can also check out their other promotions like Friend Referral, Magic Hand, Cash Leader Board, and special tournament offers.
The promotions and bonuses do not require a Promotional Code. By signing up through any of the links here at FTR, you receive these promotions automatically. So do not worry about leaving the Promotional Code field blank, you will not miss out on anything!
Click here to join !
Golden Riviera Poker.com Customer and Technical Support
Support at was superb when we dealt with them. An e-mail full of questions received a response in under an hour with detailed information. Also, when we tested the live chat client built into their software a representative was connected to help within minutes. You can contact their support via e-mail, phone, or live chat:
E-mail: support@goldenrivierapoker.com
Phone: 1-888-652-3987 (They also have toll free numbers for over 10 different countries.)
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The $10 Promotion not for U.S. players on 19 Jul 2007
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