Poker Satellite Tournaments – Going Big

February 2, 2012

Poker satellite tournaments are responsible for the success of many of today’s professional poker players. When you watch a WSOP or WPT event on TV you probably don’t think about how these people got there. Are they all rich amateur poker players that have an extra $5,000 to $10,000 laying around? You will be surprised to learn that many of them won their seats via low cost poker satellites at online poker rooms. Chris Moneymaker is the perfect example. He was partially responsible for the big online poker boom that started in 2003-2004. If it wasn’t for a $39 satellite tournament offered by Pokerstars in 2003 you wouldn’t even know who Chris Moneymaker is right now. Here is an overview of how satellite tournaments turned Chris into a poker legend.

Poker Satellite Tournaments – The Chris Moneymaker Story

In 2003 Chris Moneymaker was an accountant and also worked part-time at a restaurant. He enjoyed playing small stakes poker at Pokerstars as a hobby. At this point Pokerstars wasn’t the giant it is today. Pokerstars was focused on tournaments in 2003.  Chris played in a $39 WSOP Main Event satellite at Pokerstars. After that he quit his jobs and became the spokesperson for Pokerstars.

Satellite Tournament Guide

Nowadays online poker sites like Pokerstars send thousands of players to major live events around the world. Every poker room I have ever played at has promotions like this. To win a five figure seat package at a live event you can go one of two routes in regards to satellite tournaments:

  • Low buy-in, multiple steps – The road to the Main Event can start with as little as $1.10 or you can simply use poker points to buy in to the satellite. This is true for both satellite sitngos and tournaments. If you go this route you will likely need to win several satellites in a row. Winning a $1.10 satellite will mean you win a seat at a $30-$40 satellite. Winning this will give you a seat at a $1,200 buy-in satellite. When you win this you will have your package to a live event. I just made up these numbers right now. Depending on the poker room and the promotion you might only need to win 2 satellites or you could have to win 5 sitngos.
  • High buy-in, single step – You can jump straight into a direct satellite to a large live event by risking a little more cash. The actual amount of cash will depend on the satellite. If you want to invest a couple hundred dollars into your new online poker career you can sign up for a direct satellite.

How Satellites Work – A Real Example From Pokerstars

I just checked at Pokerstars and I found a good example of the types of satellites available today. The prize is a seat package at the LAPT (Latin Poker Tour) Grand Final in Brazil. This package includes the seat buy-in, hotel reservations and $1,630 in spending money, for a total of $5,700. To buy directly in to the Grand Final satellite it would cost $215. There are five different satellite buy-in levels to get into the Grand Final if $215 is out of your budget:

  • $4.40
  • $16.50
  • $22
  • $44
  • $51

This gives everyone a chance regardless of their bankroll. If you want to risk a little more and give yourself much better odds to get a seat at the Grand Final satellite you can play in 6 or 10 player sitngos.

Another option would be using your Pokerstars FPPs to purchase a ticket to a satellite. You can buy satellite tickets through the VIP store. A $215 satellite tournament ticket costs 13,500 FPPs at Pokerstars.

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Online Poker Growing In Asia – PlayPokerOnline.com Report

February 2, 2012

PlayPokerOnline.com has reported that Asia is likely to be the next hot spot in the online poker industry. The online poker boom that swept the USA 7-8 years ago could pale in comparison to what may happen in countries like China and India. More and more people in Asia are expected to play poker online for money in 2012. India alone is home to 1,200,000 people, roughly 4 times as many people as the United States. India is also on the cutting edge of technology so access to computers and high speed internet is actually better there than it is in the US, except maybe in cities where they would be the same. India also has a massive economy which is growing must faster than many European countries.  When you combine these factors you come up with the potential for the largest online poker boom in history.

Other Asian countries are also starting to warm up to online poker. South Korea is a good example. They recently hosted an Asian Pacific Poker Tour event in Seoul. The APPT is sponsored by Pokerstars and they have been running it since 2004.

Another hot spot for online poker is in Macau. Many of you likely associate Macau with gambling because of their world famous casinos. The APPT hosted a poker tournament here as well.

According to a PlayPokerOnline.com press release published by MSNBC about the growth of online poker in Asia there are many international gambling companies setting up businesses and partnerships in a host of Asian countries.

PlayPokerOnline.com reports that one of these companies is 2UP. This online gaming company recently issued a report that concurred that there is big potential for growth in several countries in Asia. This is also true for other forms of online gambling like casinos.

PlayPokerOnline.com also reported on another company that has done some research into online poker in Asia. Media Entertainment Consulting Network recently published a study the potential for an online poker market in India. They estimate that online poker could generate $50 billion per year in India.

India has an excellent economy and an educated work force. They also have a large population so the government would certainly love to tap in to this kind of revenue. After reading PlayPokerOnline.com’s press release about this I think that the most impressive emerging market is in India. Other the next few years we will certainly see many companies setting up in India. Rooms like Pokerstars and Party Poker probably have already started this process. This is great timing for Pokerstars especially. They had to ban US players last year so India could recover the lost traffic and revenue easily, and then some.

For more information on this topic or anything else poker related check out PlayPokerOnline.com. They offer guides and articles on a host of topics including the legality of online poker in certain parts of the world. They also cover poker room reviews, poker bonus codes, poker rules articles, poker strategy articles, deposit option articles and general online poker guides. They are one of the Internet’s top resources for the latest poker news and they can help you get better than normal bonuses at the best poker sites.

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Online Betting Sites For Beginners

January 30, 2012

Online betting sites come in a variety of different niches. My first lesson to beginners looking to sign up at a betting site is that you can bet on virtually anything these days. Most betting sites specialize in one type of betting but some try to cover as many industries as possible. If you want to bet on sports you should look for sports betting sites. If you want to bet on currencies or stocks you should choose a for-ex or spread betting site. In 2012 you can bet on who will win the next presidential election or who will win the best musical artist of the year award. So the first thing you should do is consider what you want to bet at. I’ve found that some of the big name sports books can cover a lot of different industries so they are a good place to start for beginners.

Sometimes it is better to sign up at a specialized betting site though. Horse race betting is a solid example. Many online sports books also offer horse race betting but it can be better to place all of your horse wagers at one of the mainstream horse betting sites. Since these sites only deal with horse racing they tend to offer a better overall service.

Types Of Betting Sites

As I mentioned there are many different types of betting sites. Beginners may not even know some of them are even available. The online betting industry is expanding all of the time so this list will continue to grow. Here is a basic list of the major types of betting sites available in 2012.

  • Sports betting
  • Horse race betting
  • Currency betting sites
  • Spread betting

Sports betting sites are pretty self explanatory. I would shop around and look at the number of sports any given sports book offers action on before signing up. Some cover every major sport, many obscure sports and some things that are more games than actual sports. Having a large number of betting options is always good.

I’ve found that horse race betting sites offer a better overall service than sports books that dabble in horse racing on the side. You will have access to more races and be able to take advantage of the specialized loyalty programs.

Currency betting sites and spread betting are very similar. I would have grouped them together but there are some benefits to choosing one over the other, just like with sports books and horse race betting sites. Spread betting sites allow you to wager on the future of a particular stock, index, market or currency. Currency betting sites specialize in just this field.

Spread betting allows you to win money by betting on a stock going up or down. How much you win is determined by the changes in stock value. You can pull out of a bet after a week for a quick win, or to minimize losses, or you can stay with the bet for months. It is important to note that you are not betting s fixed amount. If you bet $1/point you can essentially win or lose hundreds or thousands of dollars. These types of betting sites do allow you to specify a minimum and maximum for gains and losses.

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Guide To Testing Online Poker Rooms

January 28, 2012

Online poker players tend to fill out registration forms and enter banking information without really thinking about is the poker room is safe, fair or even has good traffic. It’s like there is a big rush to signup, deposit and sit down at the real money tables. You should put any room that you are considering signing up at through the online poker test. Testing a poker room does not involve making a deposit or even signing up. Most of the time you can test every major aspect of a poker room simply by taking a close look at their web site, software and their reputation at poker room testing web sites and online poker communities. There are a number of things to keep in mind when giving a room the online poker test.

  • Do they accept players from your country?
  • Do they offer the type of games you prefer to play?
  • Do they boast enough traffic to make playing your preferred games there worthwhile?
  • Do they accept a deposit option that you are able to use?
  • Do they have solid reputation for fairness and responsible banking practices?

You might be wondering why we testing a poker room’s reputation would come last. I put it last because the other factors can be tested very quickly and there isn’t much room for debate. If a room doesn’t accept players from your country or doesn’t offer your favorite game (i.e. Stud) there is no point in sifting through poker forums and other sites to find out if they have a good reputation. Here are some tips for quickly finding answers to the test questions listed above.

Many poker rooms offer LiveChat and/or phone support so finding out if players from your country can play there for real money is both fast and easy. If they only offer email support and you don’t feel like waiting hours or even days you can search their FAQ to find out. The next two questions are even easier to find answers to. Downloading the poker room’s software, without signing up, typically enables you to view the lobby. Checking out the game variety and traffic will only take a second. If traffic is somewhat low it may be the slow hours at the poker site so be sure to keep that in mind.

If the poker site test is looking good thus far you will want to spend a little time with the next question, especially if you are an American. You want to make sure the poker room has a deposit option that you can use. Almost every poker room has a page on their web site that lists the accept deposit methods. Sadly these lists are usually out of date so I would either contact them or create a play money account so you can visit the cashier and find out exactly what options are available.

The final part of the poker room test is the most important and time consuming. Finding out if a poker room has a decent reputation can be tricky. Googling the poker room’s name will likely lead you to review pages at affiliate sites. These rooms will say anything to get you to signup under their links so don’t put too much weight behind what you read. I’ve found that poker forums threads about the poker room will provide you with a trustworthy and up to date picture of the poker room’s reputation. There are some affiliate sites that are completely when it comes to poker room tests and reviews. Best-poker-bonuscode.com is a good example. They offer unbiased reviews and tests for the top poker rooms in 2012.

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Bovada Poker And Bodog Poker In 2012

January 13, 2012

Many of you have likely never heard of Bovada Poker before. Most will be familiar with Bovada’s parent company: Bodog.  Sports bettors, casino gamblers and poker players from the US have been gambling at Bodog for over a decade. This company recently changed the way that they deal with American citizens due to increasing pressure from the US government. Many suspect that online poker will be regulated in 2012 but until then Bodog Poker has decided to setup a special brand exclusively for Americans: Bovada. This move has not affected traffic at the poker tables because the two rooms share players.

Bovada Poker and Bodog Poker also use the same software. This platform was recently upgraded so I should go over some of the new features and improvements. Before I get in to that I want to take a look at Bovada Poker’s bonuses and promotions. Here is an overview of what is going on at Bovada Poker in January, 2012:

  • Welcome bonus – A 100% match up to $1,000. This bonus is issued in six increments ranging from $10 to $400. Five poker points at Bovada Poker are equal to $1 in bonus money.
  • Poker Points tournaments & sitngos – Bovada Poker is running $15,000 worth of Poker Points tournaments each month. Buy-ins range from 25 points to 1,000 points. The smaller ones are satellites to the bi-weekly $7,500 freeroll. You can also buy directly in to this event with 1,000 points. One out of 5 players will receive money and the top finisher will receive $1,000.
  • Royal Flush bonus – Catch the hottest hand in poker and receive50X the table’s big blind, for a max of $200.
  • Badbeat Jackpot – Bovada Poker is home to the easiest to win Badbeat Jackpot in the world of online poker. Other poker sites require you to lose with a minimum of four 7′s. At Bovada losing with AAAKK or better will set off the jackpot. You can win up to 100X the table’s big blinds when this happens.

New Bovada & Bodog Poker Software

The most recent software update at Bodog and Bovada Poker is really much more than a few minor upgrades. They basically reinvented their software and changed the way people play poker online. It is certainly the most controversial software upgrade the online poker industry has seen in a long time.  Here is an overview of the changes and new features:

  • Blackjack – You can now play Blackjack from within the poker client at both Bovada and Bodog Poker. In the past you had to go through the casino to do this but now it is built in to the poker platform.
  • Multi-table feature – In the past it was difficult to play at more than a few tables at this poker room. With the recent update multi-tablers can easily play at twenty tables simultaneously.
  • Anonymous tables – This is the feature that has caused so much controversy. Most savvy online poker players know that they can type in another player’s screen name at one of several data-mining sites to learn about a wide range of statistics like tournament wins, history and playing style. In an unprecedented move Bovada and Bodog has blocked these sites from collecting data by only displaying your seat number at a table, instead of your username. Some argue that this is a great feature for recreational players but others claim that it limits transparency.
  • Other upgrades – Lower rake, more types of poker tournaments, Rabbit Cam and better software performance.

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Pokerfest Begins At Party Poker

October 24, 2011

Pokerfest started at Party Poker yesterday. Pokerfest is a new tournament series exclusively available at the Internet’s second largest poker site. This tournament series is nothing like the SCOOP and WCOOP events at Pokerstars. It is far smaller, but in my opinion it is much better for the average player.   I want to share a special Party Poker bonus offer with you before I get into Pokerfest. New players that enter the Party bonus code SKYHIGH will receive a 100% match bonus up to $/£/€ 500. To find out about the clearance requirements for this bonus please read this PartyPoker review. Unlike most poker room reviews this one is actually up to date and includes informative information, not a bunch of generic statements designed to get you to signup.

What Is Pokerfest At Party Poker?

Pokerfest is a series of 47 separate poker tournaments. This is the first year that Party Poker is hosting Poker Fest, but they ran several events yesterday and it has been very successful. Pokerfest officially started October 23rd, 2011, so I’m a day late with this blog post. Party Poker will be running Pokerfest events daily until November 6th so you have only missed a few tournaments. Anyone can play in these tournaments. You do not even need money to play in about a third of these tournaments. Party Poker has setup quite a few Pokerfest tournaments that have buy-ins ranging from 5 to 30 Party Points.

Every single Pokerfest event has a guaranteed prize pool. Party Poker is putting up a total of $3,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools. The largest tournament will be the Main Event, a $640 buy-in tournament with a $1,000,000 GTD prize pool.

Every day Party Poker will be hosting 3-4 Pokerfest events. Here is an overview of the Pokerfest events scheduled for tomorrow:

  • $500 GTD (14:00) – PL Omaha tournament with a 10 Party Point entry fee.
  • $2,500 GTD (14:30) – $11 buy-in PL Omaha tournament.
  • $25,000 (15:00) – $109 buy-in PL Omaha tournament.

Pokerfest Side Events

Party Poker has definitely done everything they can to make Pokerfest one of the best poker tournament series online. They will be running some cool promotions and contests to compliment Pokerfest:

  • Cash in 10 Pokerfest events – $5,000
  • Make the final table for 10 Pokerfest events – $10,000
  • Winning three Pokerfest events – $20,000

There are other cool promotions taking place at Party Poker right now. You will receive an entry into a prize draw for each Pokerfest tournament that you play in. They are giving away a total of 500 prizes.

The thing I love about Pokerfest is the fact that you do not have to have a dime in your account. You can use Party Points to buy in to 15 out of 47 Pokerfest events. If you have 185 Party Points in your account you can play in all 15 events and potentially win any of the side event jackpots or prize drawings. Even if you just win one Pokerfest event you will receive a prize of some sort, in addition to the money.

Party Poker is even running a Pokerfest leaderboard promotion. They are giving away $100,000 to the leaderboard winners. There are three separate leaderboard categories:

  • Party Point tournaments – $5,000, pays top 250.
  • Small buy-in tournaments (up to $33) – $30,000, pays top 500.
  • Large buy-in tournaments ($55+) – $65,000, pays top 500.

WCOOP events at Pokerstars are far too large for 99% of online poker players. Party Poker’s Pokerfest is designed to give micro stakes players the same opportunities as high stakes players. Even people that haven’t had any cash in their account for months can win tens of thousands of dollars just as easily as a Palladium Elite status player.

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Party Poker Vs Poker Stars – The Welcome Bonus

September 16, 2011

Party Poker and Poker Stars have been competitors for many years. Party Poker was once the dominating force in the online poker industry but over the past 10 years these two independent poker rooms have switched positions. These two rooms share many things in common so the Party Poker versus Poker Stars debate is somewhat complex. Over the past few years Party Poker has modernized their software and added a lot of value to their promotions and VIP program. Nowadays these two mega-rooms are comparable in almost every aspect with the exception of traffic.

This post will be comparing the bonus offers available at each room. I’ll look at several factors including:

  • Bonus size
  • Match amount
  • Clearance requirements
  • How the bonus is released
  • Time limit to clear the bonus

I will start with Party Poker since they practically pioneered the online poker industry.

Party Poker Sign-up Bonus

The Party Poker sign-up bonus is pretty standard in regards to the size. Before I get started explaining how this bonus works I should point out that this particular deal is an exclusive offer. To claim this bonus you will need to enter the Party Poker bonus code THEGAME. This code will need to be entered when you sign-up for a new account at Party Poker.

The size of the welcome bonus this code provides is a 100% match bonus up to $/£/€500. Party Poker does not change the size of the bonus depending on which currency you choose to fund your account with so this bonus is actually higher than it appears to be unless you deposit in U.S. dollars:

  • 500 British Pounds equal ~$789 USD.
  • 500 Euros equal ~$689 USD.

As you can see this bonus is almost $800 due to the discrepancy in currency values. The clearance requirements for this special bonus vary depending on the currency you used:

  • USD/CAD ($) – Earn 6 Party Points per bonus dollar
  • Euros (€) – Earn 8 Party Points per bonus dollar
  • Pounds (£) – Earn 9 Party Points per bonus dollar

The bonus is released at 10 installments so a $200 bonus would be issued in $20 increments and each increment would require 120 Party Points. These points are earned very quickly, even at the small stakes table so Party Poker scores high marks in this category. They give you 4 entire months to clear your bonus, which is 25% longer than the bonus at Pokerstars.

Overall, Party Poker’s first deposit bonus offers a lot of value and doesn’t come with the ridiculous fine print many other poker rooms use.

Poker Stars Sign-up Bonus

Poker Stars designed an extremely unique bonus for new players. Once again, this deal is an exclusive offer and can only be claimed by those who enter the Pokerstars marketing code PSP3653 and the bonus code STARS600. The first code needs to be entered when you create your account and the other will be entered when you deposit.

This bonus actually consists of three separate bonuses:

  1. 1st deposit – 100% match
  2. 2nd deposit – 100% match
  3. 3rd deposit – 100% match

Each deposit bonus combines with the previous bonus(es) and the max is $600. Micro and small stakes poker players benefit the most from this unique format because they can make three small-medium deposits and still claim a decent overall bonus.

Pokerstars does lower the maximum bonus amount depending on the currency. This fact essentially makes this bonus lower than Party Poker’s in some cases. Here are the details:

  • USD – $600 – Req. – 17 VPP/$1
  • CAD – $625- Req. – 16 VPP/$1
  • Euro – €465 – Req. – 22VPP/€1
  • British Pound – £390 – 26 VPP/£1

So if you deposit in USD or CAD you will receive a larger bonus at Poker Stars but if you deposit in Euros or Pounds it will be lower. The clearance req’s are also dependent on the currency, as shown above.  These requirement can be hard on micro stakes players but everyone else is usually cool. The bonus is issued in $/€/£ 10 increments and you will have 90 days to clear this it.

Who Has The Better Bonus?

In my opinion Party Poker has the better welcome bonus. It is easier to clear, significantly larger if you deposit in Euros or Pounds and you will have more time to clear it. The bonus at Pokerstars is really good because they match your first three deposits but that isn’t enough to compensate for everything else.

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Bodog Poker – The Bonus Package

July 23, 2011

Bodog Poker is giving away huge amounts of money to new players. They are offering three different incentives including instant cash, a bonus and tournament tickets. Before I talk about these bonuses I should explain how they can be claimed. When you create your new account at Bodog Poker there will be a field asking for a referral number directly below the “How did you hear about us?” field. The top referral number for Bodog is 1980701.

Once you have entered the referral number and created your Bodog account you will be able to make a deposit if you choose to. Here is some info on the special incentives and bonuses I mentioned earlier:

- 100% bonus up to $1,000
- 10% cash credit, up to $100
- Six tournament tickets

The 100% bonus is the meat of this promotion. You can claim up to $1,000  in bonus money, which will be converted to cash in $10 increments. The 10% instant cash credit is not something you see very often these days. If you deposit $100 Bodog will credit your account with $110. Deposit $1,000 and Bodog will credit you with $1,100.

The tournament tickets are for satellites to the Sunday $100,000 GTD event, Bodog’s largest weekly tournament. You will have six chances to win a free seat to this huge poker tournament. Most poker rooms just give you a deposit bonus half the size of Bodog’s 100% match up to $1,000. When you factor in the free instant cash and the tournament tickets there really isn’t a poker room that can compete with Bodog is regards to welcome bonuses.

When you play at Bodog Poker’s cash tables, sitngos or tournaments you will earn poker points. You can use these comp points to buy into tournaments and stuff like that but they are also used to track how much of your bonus you have cleared. When you have earned 100 points Bodog will move $10 from your bonus account to your real money account. The next installment comes when you have earned 500 points which results in another $40 being credited.

Bodog Poker gives you 60 days to clear your bonus. That is in line with the industry standard. You shouldn’t even have to worry about running out of time unless you claimed the full $1,000 or if you only play once or twice a month. Your rack up points at Bodog fairly fast and you can earn twice as many by playing at two tables at once.

Clearing the entire bonus is not required anyway. If you claimed 75% of your bonus after 60 days you will be leaving some money on the table but you will get to keep all of the bonus installments that you received. Once the bonus money has been moved to your real money account you can cash it out. I would try to avoid playing the bare minimum and cashing out though. It may make it look like you are trying to abuse Bodog’s bonus program.

Be sure to enter the Bodog Poker referral number 1980701 when you are signing up. By entering this number you will lock in the best welcome bonus package available at Bodog in 2011.

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PokerView Review & Bonus Offer

June 15, 2011

PokerView has recently been put in the spotlight because they are one of the only rooms that American poker players can play at for real money. Poker View is part of the Everleaf Network. A year ago this network was a ghost town despite having decent software and excellent promotions. Nowadays the tables are pretty active, especially the Texas Holdem tables. This PokerView review will explain what this poker room has to offer.

Poker View Deposit Bonus

If you have never had an account at PokerView you can receive a bonus for making a deposit and playing at their tables. The top PokerView bonus is a 100% match up to $600. This PokerView bonus can be claimed by entering the  bonus code PNREPORT.

This bonus is definitely superior to most others because you will have six months to clear it. Many poker rooms only give you 30-60 days which is not nearly enough for recreational and small time players.

PokerView’s Special Features – Webcam Tables

There are several unique features at the Poker View poker room that even the large rooms cannot boast.  The most popular feature is the webcam poker tables. Only a handful of the poker rooms online today offer this. The only other poker room that offers webcam tables with the same amount of quality does not accept US players so PokerView is the only option for webcam poker players from the USA.

Playing with a webcam is cool for several reasons. I personally love being able to chat and see the competition. It puts the recreational aspect back into online poker. Staring at avatars is a thing of the past. When you can see the other players you will be able to watch for their tells.

A tell in poker can be just about anything. If you learn the competition’s tells you will find that winning money is easier. You will need to dust off your own poker face though since tells work both ways.

I like to broadcast my own tells, fake tells that is, and hope that the other players notice them. This type of reverse psychology can be very profitable and is very common at live poker tables.

When you use the PokerView.com bonus code listed above you will also receive a free webcam.

Not all of the tables are for webcam players. PokerView offers many regular tables so when you get bored with one you can play at the other.

PokerView Software & Traffic

Being part of a network has allowed PokerView to bypass the slow process of building up traffic. I won’t list their current traffic numbers because they are growing so fast. Are they as big as Pokerstars or Full Tilt Poker?  Not even close but micro-medium stakes Texas Hold’em players will have plenty of competition to choose from. The software at PokerView is somewhat basic but not in a bad way. They wanted easy to use software that doesn’t have any bugs and that is what they offer.

They do have some high-tech features like the webcam tables but the general feel of the software is simple and efficient.

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News From Lock Poker – June, 2011

June 4, 2011

There are not many poker room promotions worth blogging about these days. Many online poker sites are laying off staff members or closing all together. Everyone has been affected by the recent processor shutdowns and domain seizures.  Poker rooms, even large ones, are reducing the value of frequent player points and scaling down their guaranteed tournament line-ups. Rooms like Full Tilt Poker are looking for ways to practically steal money from their players. Lock Poker is doing the complete opposite though. Instead of reneging on promotional offers they are upping the ante. I’ve been keeping busy trying to update my Lock Poker review pages with NEW promotions while REMOVING promotions from other poker room review pages.

Lock Poker just wrapped up a huge  rake chase promotion which ended on May 31st. Lock Poker awarded $500,000 in this one promotion, which was not available at any of the other rooms at the Merge Network. It is important to remember that they could have followed suit for other rooms and canceled this promo after Black Friday hit, but they didn’t.

This isn’t their first major rake chase either. They gave away $350,000 in March, 2011. Their first deposit bonus is still one of the best online as well, here are the details.

2011 Lock Poker Bonus Code

When you make your first deposit at Lock Poker you will receive a very big bonus. This bonus is big in two ways; the actual dollar amount & the match amount. You will need to enter the Lock Poker bonus code PNREPORT to qualify for this exclusive bonus:

  • 150% bonus with a $750 cap.

The 150% match is great because you can deposit less and receive more. The standard poker bonus is usually a 100% match. This bonus is great for another reason as well; the clearance requirements and small installments.

After making your deposit you will start earning Lock Poker VIP  Points. Every 375 VIP Points you earn will release a $5 bonus installment. If you are an ex-Pokerstars or ex-FTP player you may think that 375 points is quite a bit. Lock Poker uses a completely unique comp point program so you cannot compare the speed that you earn points at Lock Poker with what you are used to at your old poker rooms.

Lock Poker’s Growth In 2011

Lock Poker has seen grown quite a bit in the last couple months. This means that you will find more active ring tables and tournaments than ever before. Lock Poker used to struggle with off-hours traffic but that is yesterday’s problem. They are suffering from too much traffic these days. They actually just announced that they can no longer accept new U.S. players for the next few weeks. This is not because of anything the U.S. government has done to them. They just need some time to catch up with cashouts and upgrade some of their software to handle all of these new players. Current American players are not affected by this.

If you are from the USA please visit one of the links posted earlier in this article to find out if this upgrade phase has been completed.  The Lock Casino will stay open to U.S. players.

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