Black Chip Poker Review & get maximum Rakeback allowed

Black Chip Poker is part of the Winning Poker Network and is one of the premier skins on the highly regarded online poker network along with America’s Cardroom, True Poker, and Ya Poker. Black Chip Poker offers a huge range of cash games, tournaments, and sit and go’s that will meet all players’ expectations and bankrolls. Black Chip Poker also offers a whole host of poker bonuses, rewards, and promotions that will excite both casual players as well as hardcore pro grinders on their search for cash prizes.

At professionalrakeback.com, we pride ourselves in offering the best available and lucrative rakeback offers to our players. Winning Poker Network offers a 27% rakeback option to all players, as well as a VIP program that can be even more profitable for certain players. To find out what games Black Chip Poker offers and which rakeback solution would be most profitable for your playing tendencies, get the full details in our Black Chip Poker review!

ProfRB Expert Reviewer's Opinion

If you're considering whether to hit the BlackChip Poker tables, you'll find a bullet-point list of the pros and cons of playing is a great place to start. So let's begin by exploring the positives and negatives of this poker room as we ourselves have experienced them during our time playing on the site. Further on in the review, we'll examine all of the performance indicators that can really give you some detail on what you can expect.

RakeBack
27% Every Day

Cashouts
2 - 3 Days

Network
Winning Poker

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Comments From Other Real BlackChip Players

We always strive to be impartial and unbiased in our reviews, but we understand if you wish to get outside information first before opting to open up your BCP account. Therefore, we've gathered reports from around the internet from real-life Black Chip Poker players and can reveal them below. As you can see, they are mostly favorable although there are some minor complaints from players mixed in too.

Geographical Restrictions

Black Chip Poker is unable to accept US players from the states of Delaware, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, or Washington State. However, players from Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are accepted. If you happen to reside in one of the banned states, playing at the Winning Poker Network will not be possible for you. However, there are other options available no matter what state you reside in. Please read our US online poker guide for more information.

WPN also cannot accept players from the countries of Australia, France, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Italy, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion, Spain, Sweden, Turkey.

Blackchip Poker: Key Performance Indicators

Before going any further with our review, let's summarize how BCP scores across a wide range of key performance metrics. This will give you a broad overview of this room's offerings, which you can use to quickly determine if this might be the right poker site for you.

First Deposit Bonus

Black Chip Poker offers a very competitive first deposit bonus when you take into account the clearance rate that it releases at. The first deposit bonus is 100% up to $2,000, which is larger than what most other offshore poker sites offer new players.

This bonus releases at $1 per 27.5 player points earned. Points are earned at 5.5 to $1 raked, so that means for every $5 you rake, you get $1 of bonus. This rate works in combination with your 27% rakeback from Black Chip Poker and yields 41.7% effective rakeback when bonus clearing. Use bonus code PROFRB27 when signing up to achieve this above-market rate.

Rakeback vs. Elite Benefits

If you're a high-volume player, then you might elect to forgo rakeback and instead opt for the Elite Benefits program. It's impossible to have BCP rakeback in effect at the same time as you take advantage of Elite Benefits. You must select one or the other although a one-time switch is allowed.

Elite Benefits was designed to reward true grinders who can consistently put in significant time at the tables month after month. The returns possible through Elite Benefits exceed 60% cashback on your rake although this comes at the expense of the normal 27% rakeback you would otherwise be entitled to.

Clearly, 60% is much more than 27%, and so for those of our readers who can properly take advantage of the higher tiers of Elite Benefits, is it superior to a flat rakeback deal. You can learn more about the two programs in this comparison of Elite Benefits vs Rakeback and then choose whichever one is best for your profile of play.

How to Guide: Creating a BlackChipPoker Account

Keep reading below for text instructions on how to create a BlackChip Poker account.

Black Chip Poker Account Creation Instructions:

Step 1:  Clear your cookies - this is

Step 2: If you've previously installed the software you must uninstall it now before continuing.

Step 3: Select the account type you would prefer by clicking the appropriate button above.

Step 4: Download and install the poker client.

Step 5: Create an account and your login name. When doing so, input one of the following bonus codes to make sure you receive the maximum deposit bonus. Which code you use depends on whether you have chosen a VIP or Flat Rakeback account: PROFRBVIP or PROFRB27.

Step 6: (Optional): If you would like us to confirm your rakeback account, please Skype or Email us your login name and registered email address.

Black Chip Thorough Poker Review

Now we'd like to go into more detail about the various aspects of the BlackChip Poker setup. Below, you'll find comprehensive information on everything that BCP has to offer.

Overall Site Design

The look and feel of the website is very similar to what you'll find on many poker sites, but it is essentially clean and simple. The color scheme works well with its combination of black and blue. You'll perhaps find that on mobile it's a little more alluring, but you're here to play poker games anyway, right? If it functions well and you can get to wherever you want from the Black Chip Poker lobby- and the BCP interface does let you do that - then that's all you're likely to be worried about.

BlackChipPoker.eu Home Page

The BlackChip Poker download software too is well-arranged. When searching for specific games, you'll find that access to different poker variants is via different sections, but games like live dealer blackjack and sports betting have buttons you must press to launch them in your web browser.

Website Performance Testing

The BlackChip Poker home page loads quickly and is responsive on mobile screens, but sometimes this doesn't tell the whole picture, and there can be other hidden speed issues that might have a performance impact for some players. This is most likely to be the case on slower broadband connections or perhaps older mobile phones. The best way to be sure this is not the case is to run the page through some specific website speed tests.

Our first test was run using WebPageTest with the homepage receiving an F rating for time to first byte when accessed via a test server in California, USA. This is fairly good, although it may not sound so at first, with the main contributors being an LCP of about two and a half seconds and a CLS of 0.23 seconds. Neither of those indicates any real problems, and there are many websites that give worse results on this type of test.

This test was replicated using Google PageSpeed Insights, where scores were returned of mid-20s for mobile and 70 for desktop - both being indicators that there is plenty of room for page speed improvement. As we noted before though, these types of scores often mean that it's only visitors that might be using lesser quality mobile phones or low-speed broadband connections that might experience page loading speed issues.

Of more importance for this type of site is the responsiveness of the poker client itself rather than the website. On this front, BCP does very well, with filtering the lobby, sorting the games, launching a table, and other common tasks accomplished in under a second.

Something to be aware of, though, is that there are sometimes periods of technical glitches and downtime, especially following software upgrades. A certain amount of platform instability is only to be expected following a new software release, but the entire Winning Poker Network seems to be a step behind its peers in minimizing this type of inconvenience.

Website Safety and Security

The elements that go into making any poker site safe and secure for players are all evident at BCP, including adequate measures designed to ensure the safety of both you personally and your money. The safety of minors is also safeguarded, preventing underage players from signing up.

In particular, there is a feature known as Player Protection, and this ensures that other players’ IDs are kept hidden until you’ve actually paid to play at a table. You can see how this works right? Clearly, it is there to make sure that predatory players can't go looking for weaker opposition deliberately, which serves to protect those weaker players to a point.

Black Chip Poker has a no-tolerance policy regarding bots, and players are not allowed to join any tables from the same IP address.

We reviewed the security performance of the site with website scanning software. Tests we ran did not identify any obvious security issues. We ran further tests using the Google Safe Browsing site status checker, and this revealed no indications of unsafe content. Norton SafeWeb also showed a safe status.

BCP makes a point of stating that all personal information held in databases will not be shared with any third party, and consistent monitoring processes ensure that personal information and cash reserves in accounts are guarded by an internal security team.

During play at the tables, monitoring is carried out by a professional security team that is trained specifically to highlight any cases of potential collusion or interworking between players. Any unusual patterns of play are flagged up straight away for review by the security team.

Licensing

Black Chip Poker holds a gambling license from Curacao. Some players might wish for licensure from a stronger authority, like the Malta Gaming Authority, but in reality, the license isn't an issue when you're playing with a site that has the history of the Winning Poker Network behind it. Actually, for most forms of online gambling sites, it's really not so critical, and it's more important that the operator has a long history and consistently good reviews from real players.

Reliability, Reputation & Trust

Having a long-running history in the gambling industry is one of the best indicators of trust for any poker room, and BCP has a history going well back. So, no issues on a trust level.

Equally, both reputation and reliability are well-served by any operator with long history. As with any business, you just cannot keep running if you are not delivering. If you add the fact that many players report great things about BCP, it's fair to say this poker room falls firmly into any list of reputable and reliable operators.

For those who might contend that BlackChip Poker is rigged, we point to the certificate produced by iTech Labs, one of the premier RNG testing organizations in existence. It found that “card sequences are unpredictable” and “The numbers generated by this RNG have passed Marsaglia's 'diehard' tests.”

Cash Games Reviewed

Within the poker lobby at BlackChipPoker.eu, you will encounter the full range of card games supported. They include ring games, sit-and-goes, tournaments, and Jackpot Poker.

Winning Poker Network has become one of the premier cash game sites for players in the US, and even the world, when you consider the good rakeback and promotions surrounding the cash games. Winning Poker Network has embraced the grinder while many other sites have tried to usher him away from their sites.

The biggest example of this is “The Beast,” which is a rake race that makes it very profitable for players to play as many tables as they can, for as long as they can, each week. This rake race is funded by rake taken from each game and is not a separate fee that would make the games harder to beat, as many bad beat jackpots on other sites.

The games at Winning Poker Network, as a result, are some of the most numerous available to US players, and they continue to grow. Winning Poker Network offers NL Hold’em (NLHE), Fixed Limit Hold’em (FLH), Fixed, No Limit, and Pot-Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo (PLO, NLO, FLO, FLO8, PLO8, and NLO8), 7 Card Stud (7CS), and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo (7CS H/L). The newest additions to the roster came in December 2022 when 5 Card PLO and 5 Card PLO/8 were instituted.

Pot Limit Omaha cash game table at Black Chip Poker

The limits for these games differ wildly depending on the game. NLHE and PLO are spread up to $200/$400 (with the $25/$50 PLO game taking off at good clips on the weekends). Fixed Limit Hold’em is spread up to $40/$80 with FLO8 being spread up to $150/$300, as well as 7CS up to $40/$80. 5 Card PLO (both high-only and hi-lo) exists up to $25/$50. These games are offered in differing table sizes with the most popular games being short-handed (6-max) and full-ring (9-max). There is a little bit of something for everyone at Winning Poker Network.

Blitz

BlackChip now has fast-fold poker in the form of Blitz Poker. Whenever you fold your hand in a Blitz game, you don't need to wait around for a new round to begin because you will move automatically to a new table and a new hand will begin.

Blitz Poker lobby at Black Chip Poker

NL Hold'em Blitz runs from $0.05/$0.10 through $5/$10. PLO Blitz exists from $0.05/$0.10 to $1/$2. Some of the Blitz pools feature two-person tables. This is the only form of heads-up cash game offered by BCP.

All-in or Fold

All-in or Fold is a recent innovation that has proven unexpectedly popular. It's a four-seat game with an unusual betting structure. You can go all-in or fold at any decision point, and, in fact, you are restricted to these two decisions and no others. Unlike in other cash games, you can redeem your winnings whilst still at the table and have them added to your real money balance as long as this does not make your stack decrease below the original buyin.

All-in or Fold tables are present for No Limit Hold'em at a range of stakes from $0.05/$0.10 to $50/$100. Buyins are set at 8bbs, except for the highest and lowest blind levels where they are 10bb.

No Limit Omaha and No Limit Omaha/8 AoF tables are also spread, the former from $0.10/$0.20 to $100/$200 and the latter from $5/$10 to $100/$200. These tables have buyins of just 5bbs.

Bomb Pots

BlackChip is one of the few online poker sites that have bomb pots. Rather than following the normal betting rounds, a bomb pot requires each player to put a certain number of big blinds in to the middle at the beginning of the hand. Then, the flop is dealt: There is no pre-flop betting round. The betting action commences on the flop, and the rest of the hand plays out like normal.

All players see the flop after putting in 5bb preflop

Bomb pots take place at clearly labeled NLHE, PLO, and PLO-8 tables. Four times per hour, a bomb pot will begin instead of a normal pot. You will know when a bomb pot is about to start because a special animation of a bomb exploding will be shown.

Avatars

One cool element of the BlackChip tables is the presence of creative avatars that you can choose to display next to your screen name. Each avatar has five separate images associated with it, and you can select which one you wish to show with just a few clicks. Some of these avatars seem to be inspired by various popular figures notwithstanding the site's contention that any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental.

Sit-n-Go Single-Table Tournaments

Winning Poker Network offers a full complement of single table tournaments, or SNGs, to their players. It also offers a rake race targeted directly at SNG players that pays out weekly. The name of this leaderboard is the Sit n’ Crush (SnC) and is funded by part of the entry fee for each SNG played. The winnings from this rake race leaderboard do not affect the rakeback that a player will receive.

Players can enter SNGs for as little as $1.65 and buyins up to around $200 in NL Hold’em but only up to $20 for Pot Limit Omaha ($50 for PLO8). Players can choose from 6-player and 9-player formats while selecting either normal, turbo, or hyper-speed games. Winning Poker Network offers traditional payout schemes as well as some satellite SNGs depending on what big games are coming up on the schedule.

Winning Poker Network used to also host a broad array of heads-up SNGs. However, they have been removed from the lobby probably due to the prevalence of bum-hunters driving the fish to extinction.

Sit-n-Go Multi-Table Tournaments

Winning Poker Network offers a full array of Sit n’ Go Multi-Table Tournaments, or SnGMTTs, which is unique for a US-facing site. These offerings also concentrated toward the lower end of the buyin spectrum with $0.55 micro-stakes games up to $16.50 SnGMTTs present.

Another type of SnGMTT at BlackChip is the On Demand tournaments. The wrinkle with these tourneys is that they need a certain amount of entrants to begin, and then there are 6 levels of late registration available, which gives them their name of “On Demand.” The blind levels are currently 5 minutes, and there is reentry. On Demand tourneys award double Sit & Crush leaderboard points. They're offered at levels from $0.55 to $55.

Jackpot Poker

Jackpot Poker was the first lottery-style poker offering available in the United States when it was introduced by the Winning Poker Network. It's a three-person SNG variant that selects a multiplier randomly before the game begins and sets the prize pool at the buyin value times this multiplier.

Jackpot Poker lobby at Black Chip Poker

BCP now exclusively offers special $1 million Jackpot Poker. For example, in Million Dollar Jackpots, the prize structures are adjusted so as to permit a prize pool of $1,000,000 albeit with a very rare frequency. These Jackpot sit and gos are only available in NL Hold'em format with buyins of $5, $15, and $50. The $50 level obviously gives players the best chance of landing the elusive $1 million prize pool.

Jackpot Poker matches count toward the Sit & Crush leaderboard.

Multi-Table Online Tournaments

Winning Poker Network offers a lot of great multi-table tournaments (MTTs) for pretty much every level of bankroll. They have buy-ins ranging from free up above $600 on a regular basis. The guarantees for the tournaments have been increasing steadily for the past few years, and the Winning Poker Network has shown a desire to continue tweaking and improving upon the schedule, start times, guarantees, and basically any other part of the tournament roster that players could want.

Like many sites, Winning Poker Network has daily tournaments that often come with substantial guarantees. The highlight of the week is Sunday, though, where tourney grinders can pay $215 for the opportunity to compete for a seven-figure guaranteed prize pool in the Million Dollar Sunday. Devotees of PLO can also play in the Sunday Special PLO at the same price point of $215 albeit with a guarantee of only $35,000: still enough to make this the largest PLO Sunday Major for residents of the United States.

Tournament lobby at Black Chip Poker

Black Chip Poker, in conjunction with the rest of the network, runs several tournament series per year dubbed the “Online Super Series” or OSS. Of late, the network has taken to running three separate OSS occasions back-to-back: one for micro-stakes customers, another for high rollers, and one somewhere in the middle. Because it's three series in one, this type of combination OSS is referred to as the “OSS Cub3d.”

Each OSS Cub3d normally lasts around a month with more than 100 events to look forward to. The buyins run the gamut from less than a dollar all the way up to $1,000 and even higher sometimes. The OSS often features $1,000,000 guaranteed tournaments as headliners as well as many other smaller, but still quite lucrative, events on the penultimate day. Occasionally, they will also run a leaderboard to complement the winnings of the most successful series participants.

BCP users can also compete in The Venom a couple of times per year. This is a big-buyin event that guarantees at least $5 million in prizes. Although the $2,650 buyin is above the comfort level of many customers, there are typically tons of satellites so you can win your entry for much less.

Poker Traffic

Rising from a niche operator more than a decade ago, the Winning Poker Network is now a serious contender for the throne of largest internet poker site for Americans, habitually landing in the #2 spot. Indeed, for tournament traffic, WPN is probably already in first place traffic-wise. This is evidenced by the mammoth tournament guarantees that it is able to support, which are larger than anything else to be found in the U.S.-facing market.

When you log in to Black Chip Poker to play micro-, small-, or mid-stakes poker games, you will likely see enough action to keep you satisfied. Only if you play for higher stakes, you mass-multitable, or you play a niche variant will you perhaps encounter delays in finding action. Still, even in this case, if you're willing to open sit games and play shorthanded, you will, in all probability, eventually be able to fill tables and keep them running.

Game Quality

Black Chip Poker is well-known for its rakeback program and other promotions that reward regular grinders. Therefore, it has attracted a base of players that do have some fish but also many sophisticated, value-conscious individuals. This can lead to some tough games at times as savvy sharks compete for their share of the promotional money.

At micro-stakes and in tournaments, the fields are generally soft. But in mid-stakes or higher cash games, there are easier tables to be found at other sites.

Black Chip Poker Promotions

Winning Poker Network is home to two of the largest rake races available to US-based players. A U.S.-friendly room offering this much value to players on top of rakeback is pretty rare, so players will be excited to know that cash game and sit-and-go players can reap the rewards of these systems.

Each system pays out hundreds of players per week on average – sometimes more than 1,000 – and the money won has no strings attached. These payouts also do not affect rakeback amounts, so it’s truly free money for players as each system is not funded by extra fees and is instead taken out of the normal rake paid to the house.

If you want to see what the percentage for rake is on Winning Poker Network compared to other US-facing sites, we have a full breakdown for you in this low rake poker sites article.

Of course, there are many other promos available for BCP's users besides just the weekly rake races. We'll go over some of the most interesting ones below.

The Beast

For cash game players, you earn points for each raked hand you contribute to. The amount of points you receive for said hand is based directly on the rake you paid into the pot. These points are then tallied on a leaderboard called “The Beast,” and the players with the most points at the end of the week win a share of the progressive prize pool.

The prize pool is funded by a percentage of the rake paid on normal cash game tables and is NOT funded by an extra fee taken from the pot. The Beast prize pool is separated into two sections, cash and satellite tournament entries. The cash comes with no strings attached and more than 1,000 players cash on the leaderboard every week. Each cash prize is between $50 and $500.

Sit & Crush

For Sit-n-Go players, there is something called the Sit n’ Crush, or SnC, that works about the same as The Beast, in so far as players receive points and are placed on a leaderboard that awards cash and tournament entries. It’s important to note that SnC is based on playing the tournament and not on how you finish. So whether you bust out first or are able to win the sit-n-go, you will receive the same number of points on the leaderboard.

Just like The Beast, in excess of 1,000 players cash each week on the leaderboard, and the money has no strings attached to it. Just like the Beast, the cash payouts range from $50 to $500. How much certain sit-n-gos are worth, happy hours, and other tweaks are always being made, so it’s best to watch our homepage for major announcements and changes to either of these great promotions!

The Cage Live

Though BlackChip Poker conducts most of its affairs online, it's no stranger to the world of live poker. From time to time, it hosts a Live Cage event in San Jose, Costa Rica. This is a two-day timed tournament where everyone who survives to the end gets to convert their tournament chips back into cold, hard cash.

There are satellites every week that let players try to win $8,340 prize packages to the Live Cage. This includes the $5,250 Live Cage buyin, hotel accommodations, money for airfare, $1,000 in spending cash, and more.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Live Cage along with its online satellites have been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 concerns. This is referred to as a “postponement” on the BCP website rather than a cancellation, so we expect the Live Cage to return sooner or later.

Reload Bonuses

In addition to its standard first deposit bonus, BCP also offers reload bonuses around major series or major tournaments. These bonuses are staged in such a way that players can earn variable percentages, like 100%, 150% or 200%, up to a stated maximum, such as $500, depending on how much they reload for. The specific terms of each redeposit bonus are different, and some of them clear even faster than the welcome bonus.

ProfessionalRakeback.com will always let you know when these bonuses become available, so keep an eye on the active reload bonuses page or give us a follow on Twitter or Facebook.

Software

The software at BlackChip Poker is the same as that used at other Winning Poker Network sites. Therefore, whenever there are updates and upgrades available, they deploy live on BCP at the same time as they appear on sister poker rooms.

The old WPN client had its issues, but many of them were resolved by the upgrade to an HTML5 based client in 2019. This new framework allows features and customizations to be completed and rolled out much faster than was possible on the old version of the software. In addition, the new software is compatible with both PCs and Macs, a clear improvement from the old days when BCP could only be launched from a Windows operating environment.

This poker site is jam-packed with options and elements that permit you to customize your playing experience. For example, preferred seating and adjustable table themes let you arrange the look and feel of your games according to your preferences. Auto buyin and top up relieve you from some of the tedium involved in playing poker especially if you enjoy having multiple games open simultaneously. Various hand history settings are important if you wish to review your sessions later on perhaps with the aid of a tracking program.

In early July of 2023, the Winning Poker Network and Black Chip Poker released a brand new poker client. The new and improved poker client features a number of significant improvements including various animations, new ways of sorting and choosing tournaments and cash games, and much more. The poker play remains fairly similar and solid, although this new release also welcomed a brand new fully functioning mobile poker app for Android users.

In the past, mobile phone users could only access a few select kinds of poker like Jackpot Poker and Cyclone satellites. Android users can now play any of the cash games, sit and gos, and tournaments on offer at Black Chip Poker or any of the sites on the Winning Poker Network. Unfortunately, iOS users are still stuck utilizing the limited web-based mobile poker software.

Unique Features at BlackChip Poker

As you would expect with an organization that has been in the internet gaming world for more than a decade, BlackChip has developed ways of doing things that are not necessarily the same as what competitors have decided upon. Some of the more intriguing features that adorn the BlackChip site are:

Player Protection

Whenever you browse the cash game lobby, you will not be able to see the screennames of the participants on any table. Indeed, this will remain true even after you sit down at a table until you post your first blind.

As its name implies, Player Protection is a way to protect the weaker players from sophisticated sharks who might be looking to target them and follow them from table to table. They are now no longer able to do so, which should prove beneficial to the poker room ecology.

Run It Twice

As long as you have Run It Twice enabled in your settings, you will have the option to deal out two sets of board cards whenever you're all-in, and whoever wins each board will claim one-half of the pot. This is a way to reduce variance.

In order for Run It Twice to activate, all players need to agree by pressing the button that will pop up. The remaining board cards will then be dealt out twice apiece and the winners on each board will be determined separately.

Progressive Payouts

In BlackChip tournaments, you don't need to wait until the MTT is over to receive your prize. Instead, as you make it into the money and keep laddering up to higher paydays, the money will be incrementally released into your account balance. You can then take it to another tournament or table and use it to play poker without having to wait for the formality of your exact finishing position to be determined.

Customizable Hotkeys

Many internet poker destinations let you use keyboard hotkeys to quickly perform an action without having to move the mouse and click. BCP goes a step further by allowing you to customize these keystrokes.

Within the Settings menu, you'll find “Hotkeys” located under the “Playing Tools” section. Click on any of the listed actions to set up a hotkey for it. You can choose to apply hotkeys to the table that has focus or the one currently under the mouse cursor.

If you frequently type in other windows while playing (we at PRB definitely fall into this category), then you may wish to disable hotkeys altogether to avoid having your keypresses unintentionally misapplied to the gaming tables. Fortunately, this is easy to do merely by toggling the “Use Hotkeys” slider.

Deposits

Winning Poker Network is made up of many skins, but the three largest (America’s Cardroom, Black Chip Poker, and True Poker) all utilize the same cashier and thus offer the exact same deposit and withdrawal methods. Below you will find the deposit methods for both USA and ROW poker players as well as information on minimum and maximum deposit amounts, fees, and more.

Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals

The Winning Poker Network offers its players the ability to deposit bitcoins via its cashier. This speedy method will have your account funded, from $10 up to a max of $25,000, in approximately 15 minutes. WPN is one of the largest USA-friendly poker sites to offer Bitcoin deposits and cashouts to poker players, and it has recently increased the maximums for Litecoin and Ethereum to the same amounts as Bitcoin. There are NO FEES on BTC deposits apart from the miners fee that you set yourself.

Bitcoin deposit at Black Chip Poker

Other crypto-currencies

In October 2017, the Winning Poker Network added a host of crypto coins to its cashier interface. They include some of the largest digital coins in existence, like Bitcoin Cash, Dash, and Monero as well as dozens of smaller-cap cryptos. They're available for both deposits and withdrawals, but certain obscure coins are sometimes temporarily unavailable. The limits in effect for these kinds of transactions are generally $50 - $4,500 for deposits although a few of the most popular coins have higher maximums. Just like with Bitcoin, BCP doesn't charge any fees for crypto deposits.

Money Transfer deposits and withdrawals

You can also make a deposit through several person-to-person money transfer agencies. If you do so, it may take up to eight hours for the money to show up in your account. The low maximums ($2,000 or less) and high fees associated with this form of deposit mean that there's almost certainly a better option for you to use.

Credit Card deposits

It's possible to fund your account with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover). However, if you use a Visa card, then you will be hit with a 10% fee. Prepaid and gift cards are not permitted. You can use a business card, but you will have to complete the account certification process before being allowed to do so. Maximum and minimum deposit values depend upon the type of card and the country it was issued in.

eWallets (non-US)

Although they're not an option for U.S.-based customers, eWallets, like EcoPayz, are supported for users in some geographical areas. The maximum eWallet deposit that will be accepted is $25,000.

Withdrawals

As you would expect, BlackChipPoker provides you with a large array of payout methods to choose from. Therefore, you can pick the one that's most convenient for you although we've found that Bitcoin or another crypto-currency is best for the majority of our readers. When you request your first cashout, you might be required to complete a basic identity verification both for your own security and that of the site.

Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals

You can redeem your winnings in installments of between $50 and $25,000 at a time through Bitcoin. There's no fee attached to BTC withdrawals, and you can expect to receive your funds within two days.

Other cryptos

If Bitcoin is not suitable for your needs, then you have a wide array of “altcoins” that you can use instead. Included are Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, and many others. There's a $100 minimum withdrawal through crypto-currency with $4,500 maximums for most coins. A few of the most well-established cryptos have a higher max of $25,000 and a minimum of $50. Just as with Bitcoin, BlackChip does not charge any fees on crypto payments. These cashouts tend to be completed within 48 hours.

Check withdrawals (USA and Canada only)

You can obtain a check for a sum between $100 and $3,000 once a month for free. After this initial payout, which will arrive via regular mail, any further check requests in the same month will each incur a $65 fee although these extra checks will be couriered through FedEx. Checks arriving through FedEx will mostly be delivered within two weeks whereas those sent through the mail could take up to two months to arrive.

Money Transfers

You can have your online poker wins sent through a money transfer service, but the transaction limits associated with this payment channel are very restrictive: $100 - $350 only. Moreover, you will have to pay a fee of between $60 and $70, and it can take up to five days before you have your money in hand. Given the surcharges and inconveniences inherent in a money transfer payout, we urge our readers to stay away from this type of transaction.

eWallets (non-US)

Players from the rest of the world, besides the United States, may have recourse to eWallets, like Instadebit. The specific e-wallets available will depend on your particular geographic region. The limits are generally $10 min/$25,000 max, and you will be paid instantly once the cashout review process is completed.

Bankroll Beneficiaries

In mid-2021, BlackChip Poker added a feature known as “Bankroll Beneficiaries.” This is a way for you to set up your account so that your money will be sent to the crypto-currency addresses you enter in case you fail to show any activity for a designated amount of time. It allows you to specify what will happen to your account balance if something should happen to you that results in your not accessing your account for a while.

This is a completely voluntary program, which you don't have to use if you don't want to. You can provide multiple crypto addresses along with the percentage of your balance to allocate to each one.

You can decide upon a period of inactivity ranging from 18 to 36 months before this Bankroll Beneficiaries disbursement will occur. One month before the deadline, BCP will try to contact you. The site will again attempt to reach you on the day that the time period expires. If they cannot get ahold of you after these two attempts, then your balance will be paid out according to the instructions you have previously given.

Mobile Poker at BlackChip

Blackchip Poker has a mobile client that you can log in to with your normal account credentials. It's a web app, so it works with all Android and iOS devices without any need to download or install any additional software.

Unfortunately, this Black Chip mobile poker room is a stripped-down affair, and it lacks most of the games present in the full desktop client. You can only play fast-fold Blitz Poker, lottery-style Jackpot games, and Cyclone satellites.

Fortunately for Android users, Black Chip released a fully functioning mobile poker app for Android only in 2023. This app now allows Android users to access the full array of cash games and tournaments available on any desktop device. Unfortunately, Apple iOS users will be stuck using the limited, stripped-down web-based software for now.

Mobile poker lobby on Android devices at Black Chip Poker

BlackChip Poker's Other Gambling Products

While poker is BlackChip's main claim to fame, there are other product verticals present too. There's a sportsbook, a Live Dealer casino, and two other casino sections to sample.

However, these other gambling options feel like just basic add-ons attached to the poker room. There are scarcely any bonuses or promotions announced for either sports betting or casino gaming. Furthermore, many of the casino games are supplied by obscure vendors with dated catalogs of titles. Those looking for the latest and greatest innovations in slots are bound to be disappointed by BCP's selection.

The sportsbook and casinos work by prompting you to transfer some of your poker balance to whichever product you wish to use. Then when you're done, you transfer your final balance back to your poker account. However, we have heard many reports of money becoming “stuck” during this process, necessitating the intervention of customer support.

If you really have your heart set on sports betting and/or casino games, then we urge you to find an alternate site from our lists of top USA-friendly online casinos and legitimate offshore USA sportsbooks.

Customer Support

It's inevitable, from time to time, that you will encounter unexpected issues that need to be resolved at your poker site. When this happens at BlackChipPoker, you will want to get in touch with customer support so that they can help resolve your problem.

You can communicate with the Black Chip Poker support team via email at support[at]blackchippoker.eu. You also have the option of completing a contact form and having the site contact you back.

It used to be possible to get assistance through a Live Chat feature, which was very convenient, but this functionality has been removed from the website. The closest you'll now find to Live Chat is an AI-powered virtual assistant that has learned how to solve common problems.

Responsible Gaming

Many gambling sites nowadays pay particular attention to protecting their customers from gambling harms, and Black Chip sit firmly in the list of those who do it adequately. Although it would be fair to say that the link to the responsible gambling page on the site does not exactly feature prominently, it is clearly marked in the footer of each page.

There are obviously protections in place to prevent underage gambling. When you sign up for a Black Chip Poker account, you need to be 18 years of age or older. You are also required to certify that the information you provide related to your age is true and accurate. Any player caught to have played underage will have their account balance forfeited.

For players, there are options to self exclude for specified periods from playing different games, and this extends from poker gaming to other forms of gambling too. There are also ways within the client to disable access to specific games by checking a box, although this can easily be reversed by the player at any point. For more extreme problems or concerns, any player can ask for an account to be permanently closed. In this case, and on written confirmation, BCP will disable all deposit options and access.

There don't appear to be any links on the site to outside gambling support organizations, and these would perhaps make the BCP efforts in this sphere be more helpful overall.

Alternative Sites: Comparison of BCP and Competing Online Poker Sites

In any review of top-quality poker rooms, it's worth taking a look at how the main competitors stack up against each other. Clearly, for the best type of comparison, it's wise to focus on those poker rooms that are placed to compete on a level playing field. There is already a detailed comparison of BlackChipPoker and ACR Poker published on a dedicated page, so for this exercise here we'll be comparing BlackChipPoker directly against Ignition Poker.

• Player traffic - Player traffic at both sites is strong although Ignition probably gets the nod for cash game volume while BCP is in the lead for tournament traffic.
• Trust - Trust levels in poker rooms are best ascertained by reading real player comments on their experiences, and both BCP and Ignition get plenty of positive recognition from players.
• Game variety - Both BlackChip and Ignition support NLHE, PLO, PLO/8, and LHE cash games, a robust complement of SNGs, comprehensive tournament schedules, lottery-style games with multipliers, and fast-fold poker. What puts BCP a notch ahead are its 7 Card Stud and Limit Omaha/8 tables, which used to be spread at Ignition but are not anymore.
• Bonuses & Promotions - Each of our competitors offer varying levels of bonuses and other promos. BCP has the highest bonus amount at $2,000 and it also has more frequent reload bonuses too.
• Payout speed - Both operators under comparison have similar levels of payout speeds, and there's not much to differentiate them. Of course, withdrawing using crypto is always the fastest method.
• Deposit & Withdrawal Options - Banking - With plenty of different banking options available at most popular poker sites, it's rare that getting money in and out is a problem. Given our two competitors' popularity levels, it won't surprise you to find that each of them performs admirably in this respect, but Black Chip takes the win in this area with dozens of cryptos to choose from.
• Speed/software/ux - Both Black Chip and Ignition have been serving up real money poker to players for a number of years. During that time, they've developed their offers so they each provide fast and trouble-free gaming experiences.

Black Chip Poker Evolution

As you would expect from a poker network and poker room that's been running online for over a decade, Black Chip Poker has seen a number of changes over the years.

The major change has been in networks as BlackChip actually debuted on the now-troubled Merge Gaming Network in 2008. Disputes with network management caused the skin to transfer over to the Winning Poker Network in 2012. While this was not entirely clear at the time, the move turned out to be a wise decision as the Merge Network has gone rapidly downhill since that time while the WPN has expanded and become a major presence in the U.S. online poker landscape.

To compete with such giants as Pokerstars, Black Chip focused on building up tournament numbers for a period, and this did allow them to become competitive in the list of top online poker rooms for tourneys. The Beast and Sit & Crush promos debuted in 2013 and, after numerous tweaks and changes, have proven popular with players up until the present day.

Of course, with all these changes, the software that drives the games changed regularly as well. This ultimately resulted in the latest software based on HTML5 on which the games now run. Mac-friendly and mobile clients were added to the mix to enable more users to play on the hardware with which they're most comfortable.

Pluses | Benefits | Pros

Now we're reaching the culmination of our review, this seems a great place to summarize all of the positives we've seen and cover them in some more detail:

• The markers of trust, reputation, and reliability are high for BCP given they're part of the WPN and there is a long-running history of poker gaming from the site
• The $2,000 welcome bonus compares favorably with bonus offers from some other well-known poker rooms, which generally tend to top out at $1,000 or thereabouts.
• Payments are normally fast (within 48 hours for crypto) and processed without major issues across dozens of banking options. Legacy payment methods are slower to use, but this is normal and to be expected.
• BlackChipPoker (and the Winning Poker Network more generally) is the place for big tournament action. Boasting guarantees on some events that reach into the multi-million dollar range, this room hosts tourneys of a size that competitors simply cannot match.

Minuses | Drawbacks | Cons

We can't reach a final conclusion until we've also looked at some of the failings of the site. Fortunately, they're limited in number and certainly not dealbreakers:

• While BlackChip does have a sportsbook and multiple casinos, these forms of gaming are nowhere nearly as robust as the poker platform. Serious enthusiasts of these types of gambling would do well to look elsewhere for the action they seek.
• The mobile software only supports a small subset of the games from the full desktop lobby. Even as competitors have reinvigorated their mobile offerings by including more game formats, BlackChip has remained inexplicably stagnant on this front.
• Players don't have any option to play games with practice chips. Play money poker is a standard feature at most poker rooms, and it used to be present at BCP too; however, the ability to play for practice chips has been discontinued.

Final Word | BlackChipPoker Conclusion

Now we've reached the conclusion of this Black Chip Poker review, we're in a good position to summarize our findings. We've seen a good number of plus points, with only a small number of issues to temper our enthusiasm. None of the positives are particularly surprising given this poker room has a long history as part of the Winning Poker Network, while the drawbacks can be easily dismissed when you look at what's on offer overall.

The reality is that any player wishing to play online poker is going to have a perfectly acceptable experience on the Black Chip tables. It's a poker site that delivers good bonuses and promotions, a wide range of tournaments, a valuable rewards program, and great rakeback offers. Oh, and with good players numbers too, there's not much chance of logging on and not finding a game to play.

The WPN don't rest on their laurels either, and there looks to be plenty left in the tank for the future. Like many other poker industry operators, BCP has embraced the use of cryptocurrencies for deposits and withdrawals that will help keep them in a competitive position. Some attention may be needed on bringing the software up a level or two in the next few years, but there are good signs that the overall popularity with players will continue to grow.

The ProfessionalRakeback team has played online poker at a substantial number of poker rooms over the years, and after having reviewed BCP based on our own and other players' experiences can safely summarize our analysis by giving BlackChipPoker a big thumbs up.

Frequently Asked Questions About BlackChip Poker

You may have some questions remaining even after perusing our detailed BCP review and might need a little more Black Chip Poker info to help decide whether to sign up or clear up a query. So, we've collected some of the most frequent inquiries made about BlackChip along with their answers below: