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iPoker Network

The iPoker Network consistently ranks in the top three online poker rooms and is often the number one or two online poker networks, sharing the honor with 888.  iPoker is owned by Playtech, a company better known for its casino products than poker.

iPoker accepted U.S. players until the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was signed into law in October 2006.  iPoker banned U.S. players immediately upon the UIGEA signing by President George W. Bush.

iPoker Network Skins

The most well known skin on iPoker is Titan Poker, which is owned by a company closely related to iPoker and its founder.  Other large skins on the network include Betfair, Betfred, William Hill, Genting, and Paddy Power.

iPoker Controversies

iPoker has had a few controversies over the years.  The network allowed rakeback in its early days.  This practice stopped publicly but still continues to this day behind the scenes.  Several skins have been kicked off of the network for violating rules related to player promotions and poaching from other skins.  These include Noiq Poker and Victor Chandler.  Both of these skins moved to the Entraction network, which later became IGT Poker, and eventually closed.

At one point, iPoker split its network into tiers.  It left a higher tier that exclusively catered to high volume sportsbook skins.  This disrupted the lower volume skins and caused some to fail.  Traffic on iPoker tanked while it had two networks.  The lower traffic caused liquidity to suffer across all skins.

The move was originally intended to discourage smaller skins from offering illegal rakeback deals.  Removing access to the better skins made these lower volume skins less attractive.

iPoker decided to change the way that it pays skins and VIP programs.  It now uses a source-based rake model.  This made it so that running a skin where rakeback rules are violated unprofitable.  This ended the split iPoker1 and iPoker2 networks.

iPoker Removed U.S. Dollar Games

While some networks that do not accept Americans continue to spread games in U.S. Dollars, the iPoker Network decided to convert all poker tables to Euros and British Pounds.  This help players avoid currency exchange fees.  The maximum rake of 3 units remained, meaning that players now pay a 3 euro cap, which is more than a $3 cap.

An iPoker2 skin must have 6,000 active players on the network to qualify for iPoker2.  They must also refer 850 new players each month.  Coral Poker, Betfair and Everest Poker were later added to the iPoker2 platform.  The rooms on the tier may change based on meeting the qualifications from one month to another.

A player that is on iPoker2 cannot see iPoker1 games and vice versa.  The only games affected are low and micro limit No Limit Texas Hold’em games.  The affected limits are 6 max up to 1/2 blinds, full ring games up to .50/1 blinds, heads up sit and gos and cash games, and most no limit sit and gos up to a $10 buyin.

No multi table tournaments, Omaha, Stud, or Fixed Limit Hold’em games are affected.  The games that were not affected do not have enough traffic to split.

iPoker1

The iPoker1 tier still has plenty of action.  There are some large skins on that platform.  There are also dozens of smaller skins that are often tied to online casinos or sports books.  Since only the most popular games are split, there are still plenty of players to offer significant action at any limit.

This decision has been controversial.  Many iPoker skins that did not make the cut were unhappy.  Sun Poker, a favorite for players for over 10 years that was formerly on the Cryptologic Network, decided that they should close instead of attempting to make the cut to iPoker2 that it initially was unable to achieve.

Even though the network has split their liquidity, they continue to rank at or near the top in terms on traffic.  Only PokerStars and 888 consistently beat them in terms of cash game traffic.