Richard Branson's mighty Virgin empire has a hand in everything from record stores and mobile phones right through to train and airline companies. And now it's assimilated the world of online poker into its Borg-like collective. Don't get us wrong, we like Sir Richard (that's Branson, not Cliff). We just weren't sure that Virgin Poker would be able to offer us anything that we couldn't already enjoy elsewhere. Fortunately, our doubts were groundless. Virgin Poker is a genuinely unique site that has now become one of our favourite haunts. And here's why…

The home page is a nicely designed area of burgundy, maroon and the familiar red Virgin logo. Just one look at the menu on the left should give you a great idea of why we like this site so much, but we'll discuss the main features later. First we need to download the software itself by clicking on the "Download Client Now" box in the top centre of the screen. The Virgin Poker software is just over 3.4 MB in size and takes less than a minute to download on a fairly standard broadband connection. It installs just as quickly, and when the installation is complete you are invited to enter your registration details to open an account. This involves entering your name, address, e-mail address, unique username and password. If you want to play for real money (as opposed to at practice tables only) you will also need to enter details of your credit card, and so on. The whole account opening process takes just a couple of minutes.

Whatever your tastes in online poker you'll find them catered for very well at Virgin Poker. You can play Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw and both single and multi tournaments. Stakes start at 0.05/0.10 US$ and go right up to 500/1000 US$, and there are plenty of tables in between that use Euros and Sterling as play currency.

The play environment itself is simple, clean and effective, adopting a fairly minimalist design in the expected red colour scheme with the Virgin logo emblazoned on the middle of the table. The graphics are crisp and smoothly animated, and although the sound effects a not exactly atmospheric (think in terms of simple beeps and a shuffle sound), this in no way detracts from what is an enjoyable gaming experience. Option buttons are clear and intuitive and the whole environment really helps the player to focus on the game to an extent not seen at many other sites.

One thing that really sets the Virgin Poker site apart from all the others are the tremendous "Learn The Game" and "Master The Game" sections. These sections of the site contain some of the most detailed how-to-play tutorials we've ever seen on a non-subscription site, and as well as covering the basics (such as hand rankings, order of play, etc.) they teach more advanced skills, such as knowing when to bluff safely, how to play your position effectively and how to use the aggressive "all-in" call wisely. Many of these topics are taught via high quality video tutorials featuring professional players who demonstrate the concepts in a real play environment. No matter how long you've been playing online poker for, these tutorials are sure to add a little extra skill to your game, and are therefore well worth studying when you get the chance.

As if all of that wasn't enough to put Virgin Poker at the top of out favourites list, a reward scheme gives V-points to players who use the site regularly. These V-points can be used to pay for other Virgin products, such as Virgin vouchers, top-up cards for Virgin mobiles and even Virgin air miles. Or you can just cash them in and use them to play more poker. The choice is yours!

The bottom line is that this is a great site and we love it. Kudos to Sir Richard and his team for bringing the magical Virgin touch to the world of online poker!

Money & Security:

There are various ways to deposit money into your Virgin Poker account. Choose from credit cards, Switch debit cards, NETeller, Click2Pay and Bank Transfer, to name just a few. Payments are made via WebDollar, which employs 128-bit encryption and its own proprietary security algorithm. In short, this site is as safe as they come.

Contact:

24 hour customer service is available 7 days a week by e-mailing support@poker.virgingames.com. Virgin Poker respond to all emails individually and usually do so within 2 hours.

Telephone support is also available on the following numbers:

• From within the UK : 0800 2790 681 (free phone)
• From outside the UK : 0035 040 680 (toll number)

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