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Entraction Poker Network

With 112 different poker rooms under the umbrella of the Entraction poker network, this is one of the largest networks in the world. In terms of player traffic, Entraction ranks in the top ten–number nine as of the time of this review. Entraction sometimes goes by the name B2B, though Entraction is the official name. Entraction made a name for itself recently by growing in player volume by 108% in the year 2008, earning it the title of “fastest growing poker network.” Unlike other popular poker networks, Entraction runs on its own software which gets its license out of Malta. The company itself is based in Stockholm. Thanks to the sticky legal ground that has evolved out of the UIGEA laws, Entraction poker network no longer accepts wagers from American poker players.

Entraction Poker Traffic and Competition

The poker ability of the members of the Entraction network is a mixed bag–for the most part, Entraction players are into tight and passive play. Poker players looking to exploit weak competition won’t find a home on Entraction, but if you have an aggressive play style, you could clean up pretty easily. The most likely place to find poor play is at the no limit Texas holdem tables, where any amount of bluffing pretty well befuddles the competition.

Like any poker network, the most traffic comes at holdem games, with slightly less action at limit tables. Most levels of Omaha see good traffic, with games like 7 card stud representing the least popular tables overall. One big plus to the Entraction network is their game variety, with games like 5 card draw, soko, and telesina on offer–all of which have decent traffic at all levels. Since the Entraction network is about 80% European, peak playing time is in the evening.

The Entraction poker network is growing–in the last six months of 2010, Entraction has doubled its real-money traffic for an average day during an average week.

Entraction Poker Software and Features

The software is unique to Entraction, and most reviewers find it easy to use if not a little simplistic. Reports of bugs here and there didn’t affect the game for me, which runs smoothly. One detail that stands out is the amount of time you’ll spend waiting for the flop, turn, and river to be dealt. This is much slower than other poker networks. Graphically, the display and interface is much different from one poker room to another, mostly variations in color and style. Almost every table on the Entraction network is set up for eight players, except for fixed limit holdem games that are built for ten. The only really interesting features are the ability to get a little “extra thinking time” for large pots, a standard lineup of poker statistics, the ability to keep player notes, and a search feature.

One thing worth noting about the Entraction poker network is the fact that the software is very light in terms of RAM, so it won’t affect your ability to open multiple tables at once. It is also one of the only poker networks I can think of that offers a no-download version that is essentially identical to the downloadable software. People who like Java-style no-download poker rooms should check out Entraction’s software.

During peak evening hours, cash games tend to bring in about 1,500 players, with tournaments drawing in an average of 6,500 players during evening hours.

Entraction Poker Tournaments

Traffic for tournament play on the Entraction network is good, if not as good as other top ten poker networks. Because there’s so many rooms that are part of the network, traffic is growing. There are a large number of tourneys with big guaranteed prizes, for instance the weekly $50,000 guaranteed, the daily $10,000 guaranteed, and a big monthly guaranteed prize tourney that offers a cool $100,000. There are tourneys that offer seats at big real-world tournaments like the WSOP, WPT and EPT, with qualifiers at different levels pretty much every week. Daily freerolls exist, some of which are truly “free” if you pay with your VIP points. The level of play in tournaments is much tighter than at the cash games, much better poker play than at other poker networks thanks to the sheer number of member poker rooms.

Entraction Poker Promotions

Another big check mark for the Entraction poker network are their promotions, which are universal, applying to all member poker rooms. Most of the 112 member poker rooms offer the same promos and bonuses. Along with the universal promos, each room has the right to offer their own bonuses and tournament schedules, and most of them do just that. Speaking of which–all of the member rooms display the Entraction tournament winners list, displaying the names of the winners of tourneys for the last week, the last month, and any 31 day period.

Entraction Poker Games Offered

As mentioned above, Entraction offers some less common poker variants, including a few games that aren’t offered anywhere else in online poker play. You can play Texas holdem, Omaha, Omaha hi/lo, 7 card stud, 7 card stud hi/lo, Americana, soko, telesina, and triple draw lowball 2-7.

If you’re unfamiliar with some of these games, here’s a quick guide. Americana is like a short-deck version of 5 card stud using only cards ranked 7 to Ace. Soko is 5 card Scandinavian stud with a unique hand ranking system, and telesina is a six card game that’s like a mixture of holdem and stud rules.

The Entraction poker network has its pluses and minuses–the software is nothing to write home about, but since the network is made up of 112 different online poker rooms, the traffic and level of competition will be a boon to most poker players.