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Lock Poker Offers New Promotions with Revolution Gaming
Earlier this month, Lock Poker acquired Cake Poker network and announced the launch of its new brand, Revolution Gaming Network on June 1. Recently, the poker room revealed details about the deals and promotions that it would be offering through the new network. The changes include a better bonus offer, 100k guaranteed tournament and return of the dealt rake back promo, which has been a hit with several poker players in the past. Here is some more information about the … Read the rest
Poker Tournaments for You This Week
There is never a dull moment in a poker player’s life. Obviously, the main reason for that is the constant existence of poker tournaments and poker events that one can participate in. These events are not just for making money, but also to have some fun and get better at the game in the process. Several live poker tourneys are lined up for this week and the coming weeks. Here is a note on some of the tournaments you can … Read the rest
2012 PokerStars Macau Poker Championships Announced
PokerStars is one online poker room that never takes a break from hosting tournaments. The poker room recently released details about its upcoming event, the PokerStars Macau Live Tournaments. The Macau tournaments hosted by PokerStars is one of the biggest and richest poker events held in Asia. It includes 4 major poker series – Macau Poker Cup (MPC) Red Dragon, Asia Championship of Poker, Macau Poker Cup Championship or MPCC and the yearly Asia Pacific Poker Tour event at Macau. … Read the rest
The iPoker Network
The iPoker network is one of the newest online poker networks, but its rapid growth has made it one of the busiest networks. Home to a few very popular poker rooms (Titan Poker, William Hill, etc.) iPoker has done a good job of snatching up traffic from poker rooms that have already built a solid reputation.
Built on Playtech software, players can choose from popular play options like turning off sound, and can benefit from big sign-up bonuses and reloads.
The iPoker Network (www.ipokernetwork.com) is the busiest poker network in the world, boasting more than 10,000 cash games played on any given day. As a premiere poker network, the software features all the high points you expect from online poker, including mini-view, poker stats, and a personalized best hand history, among other features. The iPoker network is known for having plenty of loose and passive poker players, probably due to the high amount of traffic. Tournaments are a big part of the iPoker network scene, with lots of SNGs and MTTs, and an average of 55,000 players during peak tournament play times. The games offered at iPoker network include Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/L, and 5 Card Stud. Of course, like every other poker network, the most popular game is Hold’em.
iPoker Player Skill
As far as the skill level of the players on the iPoker network, the high volume of players means that the average iPoker member has average or below average poker skills. The no-limit tables are especially popular with poor poker players, though you’ll face tougher competition at fixed limit games. The same goes for tournaments, with Sit and Go tournaments at the $20+2 buy-in and above populated with tough competition. Because the iPoker network casino games are popular, poor players leak in from roulette tables and slot machine games–any time you have a high volume of traffic and popular casino games, you’ll have less-than-average skill players. After the iPoker network acquired TAIN, TribecaTables, and William Hill, the volume of players increased dramatically, further watering down the competition.
iPoker Software
The software that the iPoker network runs on is nothing special–of course it is easy to navigate and gets good reviews. You should expect nothing less from quality poker networks. You can use a Buddy List to keep in touch with your poker pals, a player search feature to track down new blood, and a good lineup of poker stats including blind play numbers, check-raise and reraise stats. If you’re into cool avatars, the iPoker network might be something of a let down–there’s only ten different images to choose from.
iPoker Game Variety
The most popular games on the iPoker network are no limit Texas Hold’em up to $10/20, though the fixed limit games are also getting pretty crowded as well. The most popular tournaments are low and medium buy-ins. iPoker is doing very well in terms of player traffic.
Speaking of tournaments, as of this writing, the traffic during tourney play is going up up up. There’s the usual lineup of guaranteed tournaments, and the better member rooms on iPoker have a good selection of Freerolls too. iPoker is really pushing their Sit and Gos, and the result is a big increase in the minor SnGs. The most popular SNGs are the cheaper buy-ins, though you can take your pick of SNGs from $1 up to $5,000. You can also choose from 2, 5, 6, 8, or 10 handed tables. Really popular SnGs on the iPoker network are the two-table versions with between a dozen and two dozen participants.
iPoker Bonuses
Here’s a look at the five most popular poker rooms on the iPoker network and the bonuses they’re offering right now.
ChiliPoker’s first deposit bonus is good for up to $600 at a match rate of 100%. This is the same bonus offered at many other iPoker rooms, including WIndowsPoker, William Hill Poker, and Titan. Another popular poker room, PaddyPower, increases the percentage match to 150%, but still only goes up to $600. Other popular iPoker rooms like Bonus, NoblePoker, and SunPoker offer up to $500 with a 100% match.
Customer Service at the iPoker Network
The iPoker network tries to give their players a number of options for customer service issues. There’s a decent FAQ section on their website, but I found it was a little slim for my taste. iPoker claims they have customer service agents available 24 hours a day, that can be reached via email, telephone, fax, or instant live chat, but some of their member rooms don’t have the live chat option.
Special iPoker Jackpots
There’s a special feature on the iPoker network that rewards players who win a certain number of tournaments in a row.
If you win four $2+$0.4 twelve-seated SNGs in a row, you win a $2,000 jackpot. Win five $5 + $1 ten-seated SNGs in a row for a $15,000 jackpot. The big money comes from winning six SNG tournaments in a row–win six $20 + $3.5 six-seaters in a row and you’ll be $25,000 richer. If you can pull off six $50 + $9 six-seated SNG wins in a row, you’ll earn a $50,000 jackpot.
Pros and Cons of Playing at iPoker Poker Sites
If you’re a poker player from America, the biggest knock against the iPoker network is the fact that you aren’t allowed to play there. The customer service options are not as readily available as the network claims on their website, with at least a dozen member poker rooms lacking the “live chat” customer service that iPoker brags about. Another big “con” is the lack of poker game variety–the games offered on the iPoker network are all of the standard variety found at any online poker room.
But the pros generally outweigh the cons. If you have any poker skill whatsoever, you can probably turn a profit on iPoker, as a lot of the competition (especially at low-stakes games) is weak and passive. iPoker network member poker rooms offer the standard online casino bonuses, so there’s nothing to write home about there, but at least you have the chance to make a little free cash. The Playtech software that the iPoker network run on is solid, with lots of stats and pretty graphics.
