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Ignition Casino soft-launched their poker product in August 2016. They fully launched in October 2016.
No one would blame you if you thought they were a brand-new poker site. But you’d be wrong.
Ignition Poker is currently running a first deposit bonus for first-timers to die for. They’ll match your deposit 100% up to $1,000 for the first time, and this even rises to 125% if you make your.
You see, Ignition acquired their poker room from Bovada. Bovada decided they wanted to focus only on sports and casino gaming. Ignition now offers casino and poker.
This is good news because:
- Ignition will continue to accept US customers.
- They already have an existing player base.
- They will continue to focus on recreational players, while discouraging serious or professional players.
- Ignition will continue to use the same top-notch software Bovada did.
- Learn how play and win at online poker at Ignition Casino, incliding how to play the best poker hands, rules strategy and tips. Poker Games PLAY NOW.
- We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us.
Nothing has changed, other than who owns and operates the poker room.
Well, that’s not entirely true. There are some differences in the poker promotions Ignition offers, as well as a few tiny differences on the software side of things.
Which we will cover in our review, by the way.
But if you already have an account with them, there’s no need to rejoin. Your account has been transferred.
And if you’re already familiar with Bovada – for better or for worse – there’s no need to continue with this review, either.
The following review is more or less for people who’ve never heard of Bovada or Ignition before but are in the market to join a new poker site. Those people will find information about Ignition Poker’s banking details, promotions, games, software and support.
Let’s get to it.
Ignition Poker’s Deposit and Cash Out Options
Ignition accepts only three forms of payment – credit or debit cards (Visa or MasterCard), bitcoin and Rapid Transfer (money transfers).
If you choose to fund your account with plastic, be prepared to pay a 5.9% (or higher) fee. It’s sort of disappointing to see a fee on credit/debit cards, though it could be that they’re just trying to cover the processing costs on their end.
(Some of our sources suggest they do waive fees, but they don’t say why, when or for whom.)
There are no fees for using bitcoin. Good news there. And for Rapid Transfer, you’ll pay a flat $12 fee.
As for cash outs, you’ll have 4 options.
You can use bitcoin for cash outs up to $3,000. There’s no fee, but beware that it can take 2-3 days to process your payment.
Your second option is Rapid Transfer. There is a $75 fee for this.
Your third option is a paper check. You can use these for cash outs up to $3,000. These have a $75 fee and can take 2-3 weeks to hit your mailbox.
Your fourth and final option is cashing out to your credit card. However, bear in mind this is (usually) available only to international players. This costs $75, too.
The withdrawal fees are ridiculous. But you could also argue it’s a worthwhile trade if you’re all but guaranteed to be paid from a US-facing, offshore poker room.
Improved Bonus + VIP Program & Other Promotions
Ignition Poker’s first bonus (when they soft-launched in August 2016) sucked. It was something like $100 for poker players and an additional $1,000 for their casino.
Yeah, you read that right. You joined to play poker, but the majority of the bonus is for their online casino.
Meh. No thanks.
But it looks like maybe that didn’t make sense to them, either, or perhaps enough people complained. Because they improved their offer.
Right now, Ignition is offering a $2,000 welcome bonus. It’s split up into two offers. You’ll get $1,000 for the poker room and another $1,000 for the casino.
That’s much, MUCH better.
The casino bonus is given to you automatically. But you need to earn it by wagering the bonus 25x. Between the play through and the 6 months they give you to complete it, this is a very reasonable offer. The only downside is you cannot play most (if not all) blackjack games, craps, baccarat or roulette.
Your poker bonus, on the other hand, isn’t given to you right away. It’s released to you in increments based on the number of poker points you’ve earned.
Here’s how that works:
You’ll have 30 days to clear the entire offer. Which, honestly, isn’t a whole lot of time. Most people probably won’t clear the entire thing. So just do what you can.
That’s it for their core offer. But Ignition also offers a couple smaller evergreen promotions. Here are the details for those.
Bad Beat – If you lose with (a minimum of) aces full of kings, you’ll win 100x the big blind up to $1,000. Both the winning and losing hands need to use both hole cards. At least 3 players need to be dealt in the hand, too.
Royal Flush – Make a royal flush and win 50x the big blind up to $200. You need to use both hole cards to win the money.
Refer-a-Friend – Send real money playing friends to Ignition and they’ll give you 200% of your friends deposit up to $100. You can send however many friends you want.
VIP Program
Ignition Poker offers a simple VIP program. The idea is this:
You earn points for playing poker. Once you’ve built up a stash, you can then convert 200 poker points into $1 worth of tournament tickets. It’s estimated this comes out to about 1.5% rake back.
You can convert up to 5 million points per month.
Ignition Poker’s Games
Ignition spreads a small selection of poker games. That includes fixed, pot and no limit Texas Holdem, Omaha and Omaha high/low.
Their cash games start out at $0.02/$0.05. The highest stakes depend on the game and variation you’re playing, but the highest offered is $300/$600. The types of cash games you can play include heads-up, 6-max and full ring (9-handed).
But that’s not all. Ignition also offers a fast-fold poker variation. Their version is called Zone Poker.
The general idea behind fast-fold poker is this – you join a pool of other players to play a specific poker game and stake/level. Once you buy in, you’re seated with other players and are dealt a fresh hand.
At this point you can either wait for your turn -OR- you can fold in advance (before the action gets to you). When you fold in advance, you’ll be seated at a new table with different players from the pool and a brand-new hand to play.
This is a fast-paced variation, which is made faster given you’ll only have 15 seconds to act. Playing this variation you should have no problems getting 200-300 hands in per hour.
The stakes for Zone Poker run from $0.02/$0.05 to $0.50/$1.
Tournaments
Ignition offers lot of tournaments, too. In fact, they guarantee $2 million in prize pool money every week. They have tournaments running at all times throughout the day.
Here’s a tiny glimpse into the tournaments Ignition hosts throughout the week:
Event | Buy-In
- Mad Monday Event #1 – $15,000 GTD | $20 + $2
- Mad Monday Event #2 – $10,000 GTD | $75 + $7
- Mad Monday Event #3 – $11,000 GTD | $10 + $1
- Mad Monday Event #4 – $12,000 GTD | $50 + $5
- Mad Monday Event #5 – $40,000 GTD | $100 + $9
This is from their Mad Monday series. The following tourneys are from their “Nightly Majors” series:
Tournament Name | Guaranteed Prize Pool | Buy-in | Starting Chips
Ignition Poker Review
- $25,000 Guaranteed | $25,000 | $55 | 5,000
- $8,000 Guaranteed | $8,000 | $11 | 2,500
- $12,000 Guaranteed | $12,000 | $109 | 2,500
- $10,000 Guaranteed | $10,000 | $22 | 5,000
- $15,000 Guaranteed | $15,000 | $55 | 10,000
- $10,000 Guaranteed | $10,000 | $109 | 5,000
- $10,000 Guaranteed | $10,000 | $11 | 10,000
- $5,000 Guaranteed | $5,000 | $33 | 5,000
And that’s just the beginning.
Buy-ins start as low as $1.10 and will set you back as much as $162. But most of their tournaments do have satellites, which includes their biggest tournament, the $162 $100k guarantee they run on Sundays.
They run SNG tournaments too, though the last couple times I’ve reviewed them they didn’t have many games running. The SNG variations they offer include:
- Deep Stack: Get double the starting chips.
- Satellite: Win your way into one of our bigger tournaments.
- Turbo: Turn up the speed with faster blind levels.
- Double Up: Survive half the field and double your buy-in.
- Triple Up: Place in the top third to triple your buy-in.
- Hyper Turbo: Our fastest format – play for fun, high-speed action.
Buy-ins here range from $1.10 to $215. Table sizes range from heads up (2 players) to 45 players.
Overall, they have a small, yet solid selection of poker cash, SNG and MTT games and variations.
They have plenty of traffic, too, only trailing the likes of PokerStars and 888. But the difference between Ignition Poker and these poker sites is Ignition’s player base is mostly recreational aka soft.
You can clean up real good here if you have a solid poker foundation.
Ignition’s Software Features
There are several features that stand out to us.
The most talked about – and the most polarizing – are their anonymous tables. Screen names aren’t used. Numbers are used to identify players instead.
In addition to that, you’re not able to take permanent notes, tag your opponents or use 3rd party tracking software.
These rules are in place to promote and encourage loose, fun, recreational games. Pros are more or less discouraged from playing here.
However, one thing that is unique about Ignition – and sort of counter to their recreational player approach – is they let you play as many as 20 tables at once. Bovada allowed only 15 before the sale, and 6-12 months before that the max was 4 tables.
(So, pros can still get volume here if they pass under the radar.)
Some of their other software features include:
- Selecting your own card and table design
- Playing in different languages including English, Spanish and Chinese
- Adding card animation. This means you can add special effects like lightening bolts or flames to your cards. These go off whenever you win a hand.
- Rabbit Cam. See what the next card would’ve been when you fold on the flop or turn.
- Show pot total
- Show bet value
- Show hand strength
- Show folded hand
- Four colored decks
- This light follows the action around the table. It makes it easier to know who’s turn it is.
Further, tables can be set up in full screen mode, cascading tiles or in a 4×4 resizable grid.
Overall, their software is some of the best available to American players. And it’s on par with the rest of the world, only maybe trailing the likes of PokerStars, Full Tilt, 888, Bet365, etc.
Their software is available for download for both Mac and Windows.
It’s mobile compatible, too, with Android and iOS. No download required. This is one of the only (if not the only) mobile poker options Americans have. Here you’ll be able to play cash and Zone Poker games.
We hope to see tournaments added in the near future.
How to Reach Out for Support
There are multiple ways to get in touch with support. You can call them toll-free at 1-888-263-0000. Another option is to reach out by email or contact them by live chat on their website.
Conclusion
Ignition Poker is an excellent poker site. Definitely a top-notch option for US poker players. Here are some of the reasons to check them out:
- Loose, soft games full of inexperienced (recreational) players.
- No tracking, tagging or note-taking allowed.
- Mobile-compatible games for Android and iOS players.
- A $2,000 bonus split evenly between their poker room and casino.
- They’re licensed and regulated and come from a brand people already know, like and trust.
- They’re 3rd in overall traffic, which means you won’t have to wait for a poker game to fire.
The bottom line is they’re one of the best options for Americans. They have a positive reputation thus far, both for taking care of their players …and for paying them.
What more can you ask for? Create your Ignition Poker account now – if you haven’t already.
This review was made by: LegitGamblingSites.com Rating: 4.1 out of 5
Ignition Poker Review
Everything you Need to Know About Ignition Poker Tournaments
When “Wild Bill” Hickok was playing poker in the Dakota Territory 140 years ago, you can bet he wasn’t playing in a poker tournament. This is a relatively new invention; Jack “Benny” Binion made the tournament format big at the second World Series of Poker in 1971, held at his Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. After the WSOP became the biggest thing in poker, the internet came along, and it wasn’t long before everyone was playing online multi-table poker tournaments.
If you haven’t had the opportunity yet to play this exciting format at Ignition Poker, now’s your chance. Ignition features some of the best online poker tournaments available, and you can play them from the comfort of your own home – or on the go using your mobile device.
We’re giving you the lowdown on everything you need to know about the world of tournament poker. Learn more about; the structure behind the games, how you can get involved, and even a few strategy tips to increase your chances of winning.
What are Online Poker Tournaments?
Most of us are familiar with the concept of sitting around a table and playing poker. With online poker tournaments, you can compete with thousands of other players at the same time – maybe even tens of thousands. Each player pays a specific buy-in amount to enter the tournament (plus an entry fee), then those buy-ins are put into the prize pool. At the start of the tournament, the players are assigned seats at the virtual tables, and each player receives a specific number of chips to play with.
Then the game begins. The goal in a standard poker tournament is to win all the chips in play, leaving you as the last player standing. The prize pool is distributed among the top survivors, usually around 15% of the players who enter; the longer you survive, the bigger your prize gets, with the most cash going to the winner. When you play poker tournaments online for money, you can earn up to six figures just by winning a single event. It takes some skill, and some luck, but anyone can win – even a beginner.
Online Cash Games vs. Poker Tournaments
The poker games that Hickok and his contemporaries played were cash games, where each hand of poker saw somebody win some money. Cash games (aka ring games) are still played online today, and they can be entertaining as well as rewarding. But they don’t have quite the same allure as poker tournaments. Some people choose only to play tournaments; they’re more fun, and the promise of a big cash prize at the end of the rainbow can be too hard to pass up.
Tournaments do require a little extra work, though. Scheduling can be an issue; with a cash game, you can sit down at the table and get up whenever you want, and if you happen to lose your stack, you can buy right back in. An online tournament has a specific start time, and you have to keep playing if you want to see a return on your investment. Some tournaments are over in a matter of minutes, while others can take up most of your day – sometimes several days, with breaks in between. But as long as you’re willing to invest the time as well as the money, tournaments offer the most rewarding experience there is in poker.
How to Play Online Poker Tournaments
To get started playing poker tournaments at Ignition, you first have to download the poker client, which you can find right here. Make sure that online poker is legal in your jurisdiction before playing – Ignition Poker serves customers in the United States only (not including residents of New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, and Nevada). Once you’ve installed the client, open it, and you’ll be taken to the main lobby at Ignition Poker, where you’ll be able to sign in to your Ignition account and view the entire tournament schedule.
At this point, all you have to do is choose the tournament you want to play in. Click or tap on that tournament in the schedule, and the lobby window for that event will open, showing you the details: starting time, buy-in and entry fee, prize pool distribution, number of entries, and so on. Click or tap “Register” to join. When it’s time for the tournament to start, your table will open in a separate window, then it’s time to play some poker. Raise, call, check or fold as you see fit, until either you’re eliminated or you win the tournament.
Poker Tournaments Rules
In order to keep the game flowing properly, there are some rules that are specific to poker tournaments that you need to know before playing. The most important rule is with the blinds. Unlike with cash games, the blinds at poker tournaments increase after a set number of minutes. An event might start with the small blind at 10 (no dollar values applied) and the big blind at 20, then move to 15/30 for the second level, 25/50 for the third level, and so on. This ensures that players will get eliminated if they don’t act.
You’ll also need to learn about antes. These sometimes come up in cash poker but are usually reserved for tournaments. After a certain number of levels, in addition to the blinds, each player will be required to contribute a small number of chips to the pot. For example, Level 6 in a tournament might have the blinds at 100/200, then Level 7 will be 150/300 with a 40-chip ante. If there are nine players at the table during this level, that means there will be 810 chips (150+300+360) in the pot before the cards are even dealt. That’s a lot of chips, so don’t be shy: Go after them.
You can also visit our Poker FAQ page if you have any additional poker tournament questions.
Online Poker Tournaments at Ignition Poker
With so many different kinds of poker tournaments to choose from, you’ll never run out of games to play at Ignition. There are online, freeroll poker tournaments, where you don’t have to pay any buy-in or entry fee to play. There are online satellite poker tournaments, where you can win a seat into a larger buy-in event. There’s also the new Jackpot Sit & Go format, where you play against two other players for a random prize. You can even play Jackpot Sit & Go’s using your mobile device; these are the only mobile poker tournaments available right now at Ignition, but stay tuned for more as we continue to build our mobile poker platform.
Texas Hold’em is the most popular way to play online poker tournaments at Ignition, but you can also play Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo tournaments – these four-card games might be even more fun than Hold’em, and the competition level is often easier, provided you know how to play the game. You’ll also find different tournaments at Ignition where the blind levels go up more slowly or more quickly; other events will give you larger or smaller starting stacks to play with. Each of these changes requires a subtle change in strategy to maximize your performance, so find the games that are best for your style of play and keep working on your game to get the most out of the other available formats.
Ignition Poker Tournament Schedule
Poker tournaments run 24/7 at Ignition; click or tap on “Scheduled Tournaments” when you open the poker client to see what’s running right now. In addition to special Daily and Weekly tournaments, Ignition hosts some of the biggest festivals in online poker, including the annual Black Diamond Poker Open, with well over 100 tournaments on the schedule and $300,000 in guaranteed prize money available at the Main Event.
Tips for Online Poker Tournaments
When you’re getting prepared to play an online poker tournament, make sure you have the time in your schedule to make a deep run – there’s nothing worse than having to abandon a tournament just when you’re about to make some big money. You’ll receive five-minute breaks every hour; use these to get some refreshments and clear your head for a moment so you’ll be focused when it’s time to play again. You can play up to 20 tournaments at the same time when you play at Ignition, but don’t overdo it. Stay within your comfort zone, and make sure you don’t invest too much of your account in one single tournament. Stick with the “1%” rule until you are more familiar with the ins and outs of bankroll management.
Basic Poker Tournament Strategy
If you’re already a cash poker veteran, here’s the best tournament poker tip you’ll ever receive: Slow down. Tournaments are more about survival than taking every single edge you can. You might be happy during a cash game to get your entire stack in with Ace-King against someone else’s Queen-Deuce, but you won’t last very long in a tournament taking all those 60/40 flips. Wait for bigger advantages before going all-in, bet smaller in the meantime, and be prepared to fold marginal hands instead of mixing it up.
With all this poker knowledge at your fingertips, you’ve already got an edge over many of the players you’ll meet on the tournament felt. You know how these games came to life, how to get involved at Ignition Poker, and how to adjust your style of play to maximize your rewards. Give these tournaments a try at Ignition and start climbing the ladder of poker success today.
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