Ignition Poker Review

Detailed 2024 Ignition Poker Review

Below is my detailed review of Ignition Poker. First below, you’ll find information divided into the different game types – with cash games, tournaments and sit n goes all covered. After that I have reviewed the software (which is the same client as used by Bovada before), then the bonuses and incentives. At the very end you’ll find a quick summary, and my overall opinion of how this poker site compares to your other options.

Ignition Poker Review 2024 – Spotlight on Cash Games

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

Cash game traffic peaks at more than 2,000 concurrent players – giving you a huge choice of tables and buy-ins to choose from. For reference this is the 3^rd largest player pool worldwide (only PokerStars and 888 Poker are bigger). One thing you will notice immediately is that no nicknames / screen names are used at the tables – you play ‘anonymously’ using only your seat number for each game. This is consistent with Bovada and Bodog (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 at Stars for example). This keeps the ratio of solid winners to recreational players in check, and keeps the games relatively soft for everyone. You’ll find 2, 6 and 9 handed games – and will find some PLO and Omaha Hi-Lo games too.

For US based cash game players, there really is no better room for choice if tables and fish-filled poker games.

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

Zone Poker at Ignition

Fast-fold poker started with Rush and Zoom at the big international sites – Zone Poker is the Ignition version, and is the only game of its type open to US residents.

This game 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 8 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 holdings… of course, some players loosen up to take advantage – though they risk finding themselves in trouble against strong hands with this strategy!

Ignition Poker Review 2024 – 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 assured prizes is a long one!

A quick look at the tournament lobby will show you how this works out. You’ll find a long list of guarantees – most ranging 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 have to 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 Holdem.

Each week the Sunday Major is a $100,000 guarantee, this costs $162 to enter directly – though many players win a spot via satellite qualifiers which run all week.

Ignition Poker Review 2024 – Spotlight on Sit N Goes

I have covered Sit N Goes in a lot of detail in my separate (and unique!) Ignition Poker SNG Review.

Here is a quick summary: The 1-table tournaments are not as busy as you might expect given the overall traffic. Anonymous games + restricted multi-tabling keeps them soft. There are double-up and triple-up games + 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 2024 – 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 – so it is just the bad graphics and decade old look and feel which get the ‘ugly badge’.

There is a downloadable version for Mac and Windows computers (I recommend this version) and also a mobile friendly client which works on both smartphones and tables (including Apple devices). With the mobile version you can only access Zone Poker and cash games, and only play 1 table at a time of those.

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.

You’ll have the usual info on cash games. This includes 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).

Tables are plain, blocky and – well – a little on the ugly side. There are no screen names, which feels unusual at first. Fortunately, the game play is fast and smooth, with a spotlight that follows the action around the table. Betting and other actions are very easy, with big clear buttons.

Ignition Poker Review 2024 – Bonuses and Player Incentives

Ignition Poker is already off to a strong start with their bonus offers, with one of the fastest clearing matched bonuses out there.

You’ll get a 100% matched bonus up to $100 on your first deposit. This also requires poker points, and is released in 4 parts as you move towards your target of 400 points. There is another part of the matched bonus (up to $1000) for casino games – if you are into those then you can find details on the Ignition website.

Loyalty deals are based on the poker points system. At the moment you can exchange the points you collect for tournament entries, at the ratio of 200 points per dollar. I’m sure we will see this scheme expanded soon. The casino rewards are quite complex, using metals to name tier levels – I am assuming that poker will follow a similar pattern. This has rewards improving as you go from the newbie ‘steel’ level through to ‘diamond’ (for VIPs)

Promotions were a strong point for previous owners of this site, and I hope to see this continuing. There is a bad beat, royal flush and ‘Mad Monday’ promo already listed. Again, make sure you keep an eye on the website for the latest offers.

Ignition Poker – Summary and My Verdict

For me the number of players at Ignition makes all the difference. As a poker site reaches critical mass they are able to offer better promos, bigger tournament guarantees and more variety – exactly what you will find at this site.

Anonymous games take a little getting used to, though the advantage in terms of supporting recreational players by ‘shielding them’ from tool-using grinders is very clear. The games are certainly softer as a result!

With the super-easy $100 bonus to start you off strong, now is the time to check out Ignition Poker for yourself.

Visit www.ignitioncasino.com to see the latest promos, Zone Poker and much more!