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888 Mobile App Review
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Introduction
888 have been at the forefront of the online gambling for a number of years now. The latest delve is with mobile gambling, and with this comes the addition to their poker series of their iPad poker app. The additional screen sizes that tablet devices such as the iPad offer poker rooms is of a massive benefit to their users and in turn, becomes a much better user-experience compared to that of smartphone apps.
It probably comes as little surprise to most within the industry to hear of the development of 888’s mobile poker app. They were one of the first companies to offer a –successful -3D poker experience and also managed to integrate web-cam poker pretty well on their site. This shows that 888 are keen to adapt to the times, in terms of technology at least, and have again managed to appease their customer base with the introduction of the 888 iPad poker app.
Download information and Welcome bonus
To access the 888 poker app, you first need to have an active account with 888. This can be done by following any of the links on this page. Once your account is active then you download the app to your iPad and start playing pretty much straight away. It’s worth noting that any banking you want to do to either fund or withdraw from your poker account can’t be done via the app and you will need to do this from the dedicated 888 poker site.
There are two welcome bonuses on offer to new players at 888. The first is a completely risk free $8 that you automatically get when starting out with the poker app. This can be used at any real money table to use as you wish but is actually non – withdrawable.
The second comes in the form of a more traditional bonus. You can claim up to $400 with this bonus which is a 100% match on your first deposit. You can clear you bonus by earning points at any real money cash table, tournament or sit and go with the bonus expiring within 90 days.
888 Interface and Features
The first thing that really catches your eye with the 888 app is simply how good it looks on the iPad. You may of already have read our iPhone review, and whilst we were very impressed with how it performed on the smartphone device, the iPad just seems to offer it a little something extra. It’s likely down to the added screen size and the fact that glossy colours really do shine when using the retina display model that we have tested on. Whether or not it’s designed specifically for retina models we aren’t sure, but either way a massive positive is within the aesthetics of the app.
The layout offers you three options after you have logged in successfully. These are beginners, cash games and sit & go’s. The beginners section allows you to jump straight into the action with a series of different quick-click tables to choose from. Click the table of your choice and you will be automatically sat and automatically bought in. We think the title beginners is a little misleading as it’s more beginners in terms of app users, rather than beginner poker tables.
The cash games sections allows you to hone in your choices of table somewhat. Not only can you choose from game type (No Limit, Fixed Limit, Pot Limit), but also from the amount of players at the table (heads up, 6 max, 9 max) and even stakes. The stakes have a relatively good range compared to most poker apps to be honest. Starting from 3c/6c, they work themselves up to $1/$2, which don’t sound the biggest games in the world, but they are actually quite high when it comes to mobile poker apps.
The sit and go tab is very similar to that of the cash tables tab in terms of functions. You can choose from game type, tournament type and buy in. Once you click the play now button you will then be sat at the table waiting for it to fill up with other players before making a start. It’s worth pointing out that the sit and go games get considerably less traffic than the cash tables and will take longer to fill up, especially at peak times.
One thing we noticed you can’t do on the app is select your table before sitting. It randomly assigns you depending on the information you have entered, which we feel is a little frustrating, especially for those of you who like to table select somewhat – although table selecting is something that is tricky to say the least on any mobile poker app.
A few other niggles include the lack of cashier from the app. It states at the tables that you can simply select the cashier from the lobby, but we are yet to fathom where this mystery cahier section seems to be. On top of that, at the minute at least, the only game you can play is Texas Holdem, which will likely suit most to be honest, but players looking for mixed games will have to keep looking we’re afraid.
The first thing that really catches your eye with the 888 app is simply how good it looks on the iPad. You may of already have read our iPhone review, and whilst we were very impressed with how it performed on the smartphone device, the iPad just seems to offer it a little something extra. It’s likely down to the added screen size and the fact that glossy colours really do shine when using the retina display model that we have tested on. Whether or not it’s designed specifically for retina models we aren’t sure, but either way a massive positive is within the aesthetics of the app.
The layout offers you three options after you have logged in successfully. These are beginners, cash games and sit & go’s. The beginners section allows you to jump straight into the action with a series of different quick-click tables to choose from. Click the table of your choice and you will be automatically sat and automatically bought in. We think the title beginners is a little misleading as it’s more beginners in terms of app users, rather than beginner poker tables.
The cash games sections allows you to hone in your choices of table somewhat. Not only can you choose from game type (No Limit, Fixed Limit, Pot Limit), but also from the amount of players at the table (heads up, 6 max, 9 max) and even stakes. The stakes have a relatively good range compared to most poker apps to be honest. Starting from 3c/6c, they work themselves up to $1/$2, which don’t sound the biggest games in the world, but they are actually quite high when it comes to mobile poker apps.
The sit and go tab is very similar to that of the cash tables tab in terms of functions. You can choose from game type, tournament type and buy in. Once you click the play now button you will then be sat at the table waiting for it to fill up with other players before making a start. It’s worth pointing out that the sit and go games get considerably less traffic than the cash tables and will take longer to fill up, especially at peak times.
One thing we noticed you can’t do on the app is select your table before sitting. It randomly assigns you depending on the information you have entered, which we feel is a little frustrating, especially for those of you who like to table select somewhat – although table selecting is something that is tricky to say the least on any mobile poker app.
A few other niggles include the lack of cashier from the app. It states at the tables that you can simply select the cashier from the lobby, but we are yet to fathom where this mystery cahier section seems to be. On top of that, at the minute at least, the only game you can play is Texas Holdem, which will likely suit most to be honest, but players looking for mixed games will have to keep looking we’re afraid.
Table mode
Sat at the table is really where this app comes alive. The colours, layout, design and just everything about the app make it look superb at the table. The additional screen size on the iPad means that you can see everything that’s going on and is definitely one of the least ‘novelty feeling’ apps we have tested. The retina display which we mentioned earlier in the article really brings it to life and really adds that ‘wow’ factor.
The games run really well, and the additional features of things like four coloured deck and the option to auto muck, sit out, check hand histories and even tag players adds the professional outlook of it all. Even the sounds aren’t annoying which, if you have read other reviews we have made on the site, is definitely something that many poker apps fail to achieve.
The 888iPad app also scores highly in the standard of play on offer. And by this we mean that the overall standard is relatively weak compared to industry standard. This allows for games to be extra juicy and definitely some of the more lucrative on offer.
Verdict
Well if you haven’t cottoned on about how much we love the 888 iPad poker app by now after all our gushing, then you never will. But we want to just hammer home the fact that the 888 iPad app is simply brilliant. In terms of looks there are very few that rival it and even compared to the equivalent 888 iPhone app beats it hands down.
The app does come with its flaws however, and the limitations on games and –seemingly – lack of cashier does give the app a limited feel to it questioning the longevity of it over a prolonged period of time.
Even taking all that into consideration the 888 iPad app scores very highly with us. You probably wouldn’t expect anything less from a company doing as well as 888 is at the minute, but nevertheless, it’s always tough to execute such a polished product in what’s going to be the upcoming market for online poker.
Sat at the table is really where this app comes alive. The colours, layout, design and just everything about the app make it look superb at the table. The additional screen size on the iPad means that you can see everything that’s going on and is definitely one of the least ‘novelty feeling’ apps we have tested. The retina display which we mentioned earlier in the article really brings it to life and really adds that ‘wow’ factor.
The games run really well, and the additional features of things like four coloured deck and the option to auto muck, sit out, check hand histories and even tag players adds the professional outlook of it all. Even the sounds aren’t annoying which, if you have read other reviews we have made on the site, is definitely something that many poker apps fail to achieve.
The 888iPad app also scores highly in the standard of play on offer. And by this we mean that the overall standard is relatively weak compared to industry standard. This allows for games to be extra juicy and definitely some of the more lucrative on offer.
Verdict
Well if you haven’t cottoned on about how much we love the 888 iPad poker app by now after all our gushing, then you never will. But we want to just hammer home the fact that the 888 iPad app is simply brilliant. In terms of looks there are very few that rival it and even compared to the equivalent 888 iPhone app beats it hands down.
The app does come with its flaws however, and the limitations on games and –seemingly – lack of cashier does give the app a limited feel to it questioning the longevity of it over a prolonged period of time.
Even taking all that into consideration the 888 iPad app scores very highly with us. You probably wouldn’t expect anything less from a company doing as well as 888 is at the minute, but nevertheless, it’s always tough to execute such a polished product in what’s going to be the upcoming market for online poker.
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