Ignition Poker Review

The Softest US Friendly Poker Site?

Planet Mark’s Summary: Ignition has come from nowhere to become the go-to poker site for recreational poker players. This room is part of the family of brands which formerly included Bodog. You’ll play at the same tables as people from Bovada and Ozoon.

A big benefit of this room is that most of your opponents are sports fans, and not the pro-grinder types you’ll find elsewhere. Anonymous play helps with this. This means those pro grinders can’t easily identify and follow around the fish!

Bonuses and promos are strong at Ignition Poker. You’ll start with a huge $1500 welcome bonus and then enjoy a mix of loyalty rewards and specials to keep your bankroll regularly topped up.

Check out the latest promos now over at ignitioncasino.eu/poker

Here is what you’ll find in my detailed Ignition Poker review:

• Ignition Poker Bonus: All the details of claiming the best available bonus deal, and how to clear those bonus funds into your account fast.
• Loyalty Rewards and Promos: The tiered rewards will keep your bankroll topped up, and the specials are always refreshed.
• Cash Game Selection: What to expect from the anonymous tables, the buy-ins, and the game types available.
• Ignition Poker Tournaments: Covering sit and go, regularly scheduled multi-table tournaments and the one-off events with bigger prizes.
• Moving Money: Getting your initial deposit onboard, and the quickest and most effective ways to make a withdrawal.
• Safety, Fairness and Responsible Gambling: Ignition Poker has all three areas covered and has a track record stretching back more than a decade.

Detailed Ignition Poker Review

The Ignition Poker Welcome Bonus is Split in Two

This bonus is generous, even once you consider that the headline bonus amount is split between the casino and poker sections of the site.

It is also way bigger if you deposit with BTC or cryptocurrency compared with the amount you get for depositing using cards or other old-school methods.

Here is the overview:

• BTC / Crypto Deposit: get 150% up to $1500 for poker and 150% up to $1500 for casino (your deposit is split).
• Regular / Old-School Deposits: get 100% to $1000 for poker and 100% to $1000 for casino (again, your deposit is split).

It is simple to use Bitcoin without having to hold it (or be involved in that world). Use a 3rd party app like MoonPay and you’ll only need to ‘HODL’ for a few minutes while the transaction completes. More on that below.

Clearing Your Bonus:

The poker and casino sides of this bonus clear differently.

For the poker side, you clear your bonus funds gradually as you play. The release is based on ‘Miles’ which are the points you collect through the Ignition loyalty scheme. Every 30 miles collected sees $1 released. At the base level (where every new player starts) you get 15 miles for every $1 in rake or tournament fees. This makes the poker welcome bonus equivalent to 50% rakeback. Keep in mind you’ll also collect the loyalty miles which are redeemable later.

For the casino side, bonus clearance is based on a 25x bonus + deposit play-through. Here there are strict weightings on table games. See my Ignition Casino Review for more details on that part.

Ignition Poker Welcome Bonus: Terms and Conditions to be Aware of

All bonuses have terms attached. I always list the key parts of this with reviews, as this helps readers avoid the common pitfalls. Here is what to keep in mind:

• You have 60 days to complete your wagering requirements
• Withdrawing before your bonus is finished will void any remaining bonus funds
• Like all gambling sites, Ignition is strict on bonus abuse. Don’t cover both red and black (for example) and hope that your wagers will count!
• If you wish to get a new bonus or promotion, you can forfeit any current offers by writing to support.
• Deposit methods do affect bonus eligibility; make sure you check at the cashier.

Overall, this is a generous bonus. If you are poker only and not interested in the casino side, you can still get 50% rakeback – a great way to boost your bankroll.

Ignition Poker: The Loyalty Scheme

Ignition Rewards again cover both the casino and poker room.

This information is specific to online poker players.

Loyalty levels are tiered, and there are two types of points to earn at the table. These are ‘miles’ (the base unit) and lifetime points, which determine your level of benefits and never expire.

As you climb through the levels which are named after metals, you get to redeem miles for tournament entries at better rates. For example, you start at bronze level, spending 2500 miles per $1 in tournament tickets. By the time you get to Diamond VIP (the highest level), this is down to 1000 miles per $1.

Earning points is simple. It is 15 per $1 in either cash game rake or tournament fees. Note that fees for jackpot sit and go tournaments no longer count.

Promotions and Special Offers at Ignition Poker

There are a mix of ongoing and one-off promotions at Ignition.

Many of these change weekly, so the list below is to give you an idea of what to expect. Make sure you keep a close eye on the promotions page at ignitionpoker.eu for the latest offers.

• Royal Flush Jackpot: $200 for hitting that elusive royal.
• Refer a friend: Up to $425 for every friend (targets involved)
• Double Points Games: Earn 2x miles for participating
• Tournament Tokens: Entries into tournaments for participating in promos
• Bad Beat Bonus: Up to $1000 for the worst bad beats
• Daily Scratch and Win: Win up to a million loyalty points.

There are even more promos aimed at casino players. Even if you sign up for the poker games, it can be worthwhile taking advantage of both.

Ignition Poker Review: Types and Formats of Poker

I have divided the games into five types below. These are formats, the games offered are Texas Hold’em and Omaha.

Game play is anonymous. Instead of a player nickname, you get a number each time you sit in a cash game or join a tournament. The moment you leave the game, any history you have disappears. This is a major plus for amateur / recreational players. It means that grinders and pros can’t accumulate stats on your play. It effectively prevents them from following the fishy players around the games.

Here are the formats:

• Cash Games: The bread and butter of poker, bet real money every hand.
• Zone Poker: Fast-fold poker means no waiting between hands.
• Sit and Goes: Small tournaments which start when the table is full.
• Multi-Table Tournaments: A wide range of buy-ins in MTT format.
• Mystery Knockouts: 3-Phase mafia themed knockout tournaments.

I have covered each one in more detail below:

Cash Games at Ignition Poker

You’ll find 2 separate tabs for cash games on the Ignition Poker lobby. One says, ‘Cash Games’ and the other one ‘Zone Poker.’ Zone is the Ignition fast-fold poker variation, covered separately below.

Cash game traffic peaks at more than 2,000 concurrent players. This gives a wide choice of tables and buy-ins to choose from.

One thing you will notice immediately is that no nicknames / screennames are used at the tables. Instead, you play ‘anonymously’ using only your seat number for each game. This is consistent with Bovada and Ozoon (the other sites which share the PaiWangLuo Network).

The smallest buy-in levels are 2c / 5c blinds (so, $5 for a 100 big blind buy-in). There is plenty of action at the lower limits, with games up to $100 buy-in available around the clock and bigger games in the evenings.

One big advantage for recreational type players (that’s most of us) is that you can only play up to 4 cash game tables at once. This means that winning ‘grinders’ can’t swamp the site by playing 12 games each (like they do on other sites). This keeps the ratio of grinders to recreational players in check, which keeps the games relatively soft for everyone. You’ll find 2, 6 and 9-handed games. In addition to NL Hold’em there are PLO and Omaha Hi-Lo cash games too.

Check out the games for yourself and claim your super-fast clearing welcome bonus at www.ignitoncasino.eu/poker

Zone Poker at Ignition Casino

Fast-fold poker started with Rush and Zoom at the big international sites. Zone Poker is the Ignition version, this crams in action by moving you to a new hand the moment you fold.

Zone poker kills the waiting time that you would normally spend waiting for other players to complete hands. It does this in a novel way. Instead of sitting at a table, you enter a pool of players at specified buy-ins (for example 9-handed, $10 buy-in (5c / 10c blinds)).

You are then combined with other players from this pool at random to play a hand. As soon as you fold (even out of turn – the other players will not know you folded until the action gets to you), you are immediately taken to a brand-new hand.

You can expect this format to be up to 4 times as fast as a regular table, and a lot of fun too. Keep in mind that many players fold most hands, waiting for premium holding. Of course, some players loosen up to take advantage, min-raising or forcing the action. They risk finding themselves in trouble against strong hands with this strategy in many spots. Thinking through the ‘they know, I know, they know…’ levels of thinking can result in some novel decision trees. Solid poker will still work with Zone!

Ignition Poker Review: Spotlight on Poker Tournaments

You can expect a lot of guaranteed prize pools. $2 million in total every week to be precise. When you consider that the biggest single weekly game has a guarantee of $100,000, that means that the list of smaller guaranteed prizes is long.

A quick look at the tournament lobby will show you how this works out. You’ll find a long list of guarantees. Most range from $1000 to $10,000. These have buy-ins starting at $2.20c with most under $22.

I like the field sizes in these games, which are a few hundred. This is enough to make hitting the final table worthwhile, though not so many that you must potentially sit for half a day every time you enter a tournament.

Variations include turbo and super-turbo (short stacked) games, rebuys, knockout bounties, and satellite qualifiers. You will find the occasional Omaha (PLO and O8) games, though 95%+ are No-Limit Hold’em.

Like the cash games, tournaments are anonymous. You get a number when you join, which only stays with you for that individual tournament.

Each week the Sunday Major is a $200,000 guarantee, at 4pm ET. This costs $162 to enter directly. Many players win a spot via satellite qualifiers which run all week. There is also a $100k guaranteed Sunday High Roller and a $50k Guaranteed MKO tournament.

Mystery Knockout Tournaments: MTTs with a Twist

These games have a Mafia theme, though the main reason for their popularity is the mystery bounties you get for knocking out opponents.

Buy-ins are split 50/50. Half goes to the prize pool (the same as in any poker tournament), the other half becomes a bounty.

Those bounties are only awarded after you are in the money (12% to 15% of the field left). For the early part of the tournament, you’ll build a stack. Once the bubble bursts, the bounties will get big, as there is only a small fraction of the starting field left.

When you get down to the final table, you are fighting for the big money prize pool, in addition to the mystery bounties.

With buy-ins from $1.10, lots in the mid-range and specials up to $530 (for special events), these are popular and entertaining games.

Ignition Poker Review: Spotlight on Sit N Goes

While not as popular as they used to be, Sit N Go tournaments still run 24/7 at Ignition Poker.

Anonymous tables plus restricted multi-tabling keeps these games soft. Most are standard 9-handed games. There are double-up and triple-up games, alongside turbo / hyper-turbo speeds.

If you are new to SNGs then the beginner’s tournaments have extra paying spots, which reduces the volatility.

Ignition Poker Review: Software and Playability

I’ll have to think of some kind words for what is really an ugly software client! To be fair this is easy to use, fast and smooth. It has improved over the years, though you really are choosing to play at Ignition for the poker games and not for any flashy graphics or animations.

There is a downloadable version for Mac and Windows computers (I recommend this version). You can also use the mobile friendly client which works on both smartphones and tablets (including Android devices). With the mobile version you can only access Zone Poker and cash games, though you only get to play one table at a time of those.

Software Download at Ignition Casino Poker

Lobby navigation is driven by check-boxes – you add or remove ticks to narrow the list of tables or tournaments. At the top level you can choose cash, Zone Poker, Tournaments or Sit N Goes (there is also a tab for ‘Mad Monday’ which is a tournament promotion). For each selection, a series of check boxes will appear with buy-in ranges, game types, and table sizes. Each time you tick or untick one, the list in the main window below changes.

There are stats on each cash game table in the lobby which help you choose the softest games. This is the number of occupied seats, percentage of players seeing each flop and average pot size. For tournaments the type, buy-in and number of players is displayed, along with the game status (late registration, running and so on).

Depositing and Withdrawing at Ignition Poker

This section covers how to get your winnings back into your bank quickly and easily, as well as the best deposit methods to take advantage of Ignition Poker’s generous welcome bonuses.

You get better bonuses, faster withdrawals, and boosted promos at Ignition Poker by depositing Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.

The good news is that anyone not familiar with BTC does not need to hold it for more than a few minutes to take advantage. There are simple apps (I like MoonPay) which cover exchanging and transfer seamlessly. They even give you ways to spend the crypto you withdraw via virtual visa cards. This means you don’t need to get your bank involved.

With a 150% welcome bonus instead of 100%, this is worth the extra set-up steps.

Here are the currencies accepted at Ignition: BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, BCH, BSV.

Traditional Deposit Options at Ignition Poker and Casino

You can use a credit card to deposit. I recommend this only for your first ever deposit. After that you’ll get hit with a crazy-high fee which will quickly eat into your bankroll. Visa, Amex, and MasterCard are your options, and you’ll need your card to be approved for international transactions.

Alternatives are peer-to-peer payments. Winning players offer spare money in return for PayPal, Zelle or CashApp funds. This works like an escrow, using community forums or the MatchPay system.

This is a popular way to get your account funded, and to turn money you win into spendable funds quickly.

Ignition Poker Reviewed: Safety, Fair Play, and Responsible Gambling

Protecting your deposits is only part of the picture for any online poker site.

The other key factors are testing for a fair deal of the cards and looking after any players that develop gambling problems.

Ignition is part of a family of brands which have more than 20 years track record. They have moved through their entire history without any scandals, missed payments or cheating issues.

This alone gives me peace of mind which applies to Ignition, Bovada, Ozoon, Slots LV and Café Casino equally.

RNG testing is covered on their website. Each shuffle gets a call to their Random Number Generator software, which determines the outcome of the hole cards, flop, turn, and river. There are no statistical reports that the deal is anything but fair over time. Of course, you’ll find people online complaining about bad beats. This is just part of the game (or even their bad play in telegraphing hand strength when the pot is small).

Responsible gambling is covered. This is adequate, though not super-detailed. The page lists some problem gambling symptoms. It also links to places to seek help. There are instructions to contact support if you wish to set deposit limits, self-exclude or organize a time-out.

Ignition Poker: Review Summary and Planet Mark’s Verdict

For me, the recreational player model at Ignition makes a big difference.

Actively protecting amateur / recreational players keeps the games fun and gives every player a shot at a winning session.

When you add the cross-over traffic from the big sports betting sites on this network, the games get even better. On an NFL match day, people will often try out the poker room after placing (or cashing in) their sports bets.

Anonymous games will take a little getting used to, though I don’t miss having a screen name.

The range of formats including the new mafia-themed mystery knockout tournaments is another major plus fort this poker room.

With a 100% bonus to get you started, a tiered loyalty scheme and long list of promotions, there is plenty to keep your bankroll topped up at Ignition.

Check out Ignition Poker now and see how soft those anonymous games are for yourself!