Golden Riviera Poker

As part of the Prima network, Golden Riviera gains some instant credibility in the online world. While it isn’t heavily advertised or promoted, Golden Riviera has a solid player base and the strength of the Prima empire behind it, so I meandered over to see what Golden Riviera has to offer.

Golden Riviera’s mainpage is one of the nicest I’ve seen. It’s devoid of clutter, and has a clean, classy look. The auxiliary pages are also quick and easy to access from the upper drop-down menus, so my first impressions of this site were very positive. The pages are comprehensive and thorough, so almost any questions a new player might have are addressed. My only real complaint, and this is a common one, is that there is no Poker News. Poker enthusiasts like to keep apprised of the latest tournaments, and all online sites would do well to make a section to address this need.

Downloading Golden Riviera’s software is, as expected, quick and easy. It downloads and installs flawlessly. Registration is fairly easy, and as with all Prima sites, a universal Prima ID is needed to complete player registration. Once this step is complete, you’re ready to start playing.

Entering the lobby at Golden Riviera gives a feeling of déjà vu; that’s because Golden Riviera shares its player software with some of its sister sites, such as Lucky Nugget. This is a bit disappointing, as I was less than overwhelmed by the game play on this format. The graphics are very basic and a bit dull, but to its credit, the multiple table feature is nice. As a whole, the gameplay experience isn’t bad, but a little bit uninspiring.

Despite the average game play, Golden Riviera scores some points with their promotions and tournaments. With a large volume and frequency of tournaments, there’s always something accessible in any game. They also offer true freerolls, with no requirements for players on a daily basis. As for promotions, Golden Riviera offers satellites into both the World and European Poker Tour; while this is becoming standard fare, it’s nice to see the European Tour getting more satellite accessibility, especially for North American players.

Golden Riviera also offers a few small touches to push it ahead of its sister sites; they offer 3 24/hr toll free support lines; this is good because it allows players in any location quick access to live help. They also have the Rounders tournaments like Lucky Nugget, which is a nice format to play.

Overall, this has the makings of a very good site; only the average game play and mediocre graphics hold it back. Everything else is nice, and it certainly has built a very good site around some dated software.