⛽ Ignition Poker Review: deposit or run in 2023? Pro's perspective!

"Ignition Poker" refers to the poker product offered at ignitioncasino.eu/poker, an online poker site available to American and Australian poker players. IgnitionCasino.eu boasts a large and full featured online casino as well, but this review is dedicated to the Ignition Poker room, which has a very large online poker following. In fact, Ignition Poker is the seventh-largest online poker provider in the entire world even though it only allows players from 2 countries!

Seventh place is good enough to make it the largest option available to players in the USA, and, having recently opened to players in Australia, the same holds true there. When you visit Ignition using our links, you’ll be eligible for a $1,000 Ignition Poker bonus on your first deposit without having to enter any bonus codes. Aussies are eligible for a $1,350 poker bonus due to the weakness in the AUD.

Ignition itself has been around for a couple of years as a casino, but it did not start to offer poker until the fall of 2016. In fact, they surprised everyone in the industry by coming out of nowhere to purchase all of the poker business from the former giant in the US market, Bovada. Speculation online is that Bovada's poker operations were sold to Ignition for somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million US dollars! A pretty tidy sum – Ignition clearly has deep pockets, which of course bodes well for player fund security.

Not only did they purchase the player base of Bovada, but Ignition purchased all of the information technology as well, including the advanced collusion and bot detection security tools. In fact, from what we've been told, they are working on expanding the player protection resources and providing the fairest games for all players, be they recreational or professional.

Speaking of recreational players, they will be happy to know that the tables are anonymous, and sharks will be unable to track their play over weeks and months, chase them should they choose to swap tables, or use advanced third-party software against them. Sharks, sorry, but unlike PokerStars, there is very little third-party tracking software available for this site, but we do recommend that you make use of the (per-session only Ignition poker HUD.

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Opinions of an Expert Reviewer

Our experienced reviewer has taken a close look at all aspects of the Ignition Poker site. This has allowed us to come up with a quick list of the benefits and drawbacks of playing at Ignition.

Other Players' Opinions

Most players are very happy at Ignition Casino, which has led to its becoming the #1 U.S.A. online poker site by traffic numbers. Speedy payouts, soft games, and mobile-friendly software are just a few of the elements that leave customers satisfied. There are some small quirks that keep the room from achieving universal acclaim, but negative responses are few and far between. Check out what real users have to say about the site:

Restricted Areas

Ignition quite usefully serves as a poker outlet for those in the United States and Australia, who have seen their options for internet poker dwindling over the years. Unfortunately, these two are the only two countries from which Ignition accepts customers. Even from within the United States, residents of a few states are restricted from opening up an Ignition account: New York, Nevada, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey.

With that being said, you will be competing against players from other parts of the world when you log in for a session of cards. You see, Ignition's partner brand Bodog does business in other parts of the world, like Canada and Mexico, and the entire player pool is combined. Therefore, when you play from Ignition, you will be competing with these other players too in addition to your peers in the United States and Australia.

Ignition Poker: Key Performance Indicators

Up to $1,500 First Deposit Bonus

The Professional Rakeback Ignition poker bonus is among the fastest-clearing bonuses to be found in internet poker. It is a 100% match up to $1,000 bonus (150% up to $1,500 for Bitcoin enthusiasts), and it pays out in $1 increments as you collect the required number of Ignition Miles. You need to collect 30 Miles to unlock each $1 bonus payment.

At the same time as you receive your poker bonus, you can get an equal casino bonus. However, this casino-specific bonus cannot be used in the poker room but rather on casino fare, like slots, video poker, et cetera.

Ignition Poker players will earn Ignition Miles at the following rates:

• Tournaments will pay 15 Ignition Miles per 1 dollar of fees
• Cash games will pay 15 Ignition Miles per 1 dollar of rake collected
• Jackpot Sit and Go players will get 1.5 Ignition Miles per dollar of buy-in

Learn more about Ignition poker rake.

You have 30 days to work off the Ignition poker bonus. After this time, all unearned bonus pieces will expire.

Because 30 Ignition Miles corresponds to $2 in rake and tournament fees, and you get $1 added to your balance whenever you hit this Miles target, the Ignition Poker welcome bonus is worth 50% effective rakeback. This bonus clears more than twice as fast as standard USA internet poker bonuses, which tend to deliver about 20% payback on average.

Let’s say you deposit $1,000 of BTC and get the maximum poker bonus of $1,500. You then buy into a juicy $50 + $5 multi-table tournament or sit-and-go tournament. Your $5 fee earns you 75 Miles. You've already cleared $2 in bonus and are well on your way toward the third dollar. Just play another game of the same buyin, and you'll be $5 richer, earning back 50% of your tourney fees.

It's even better if you're a Jackpot Sit & Go fan. To generate the 30 Ignition Miles that you need to pick up $1 from your bonus, you need to pay $20 in Jackpot entries. Ignition states that the house hold on this style of gaming is 7%. This corresponds to $1.40 in rake on the $20 in buyins that you pay. As long as your bonus is still active, you'll get back $1 of the $1.40 rake you paid – a rate of return of more than 71%.

Confirming the Poker Deposit Bonus

After you complete your initial deposit, there won't be any notification that your poker bonus has been issued, and in fact, there's no info pertaining to your bonus that can be accessed from within the poker client. While it's impossible to get to any overview of your pending poker bonuses from within the download client, you can view all bonus payments that have already hit your account balance. To do so, log into the poker software, and click on “Account” on the left side of the poker lobby. This will bring you to a list of recent transactions.

By default, the transactions view only shows items from the past day, so you might have to change this to display a longer timeframe. Once you adjust this setting, you should see any bonus payments credited during the period in question as shown below:

Ignition Poker Bonus Payouts Are Recorded Like Any Other Transaction

PRO TIP: How to improve your rakeback with a 2,500 Freeroll

There is a very +EV way to get into a $2,500 per week freeroll with a $500 top prize. All you have to do is get to the Chrome level in the Ignition Rewards program. To do so, you must gather 2,500 Ignition Miles.

You'll get the required 2,500 Miles by paying $167 in rake or tournament fees. In Jackpot Sit & Go, you'll hit Chrome after $1,667 in buyins paid. You can also advance to Chrome in the casino with $500 in slot playthrough or $2,500 in blackjack or video poker rollover.

Once you complete this level of play, you will be Chrome level VIP and have access to the freeroll all year long. You never have to even visit the casino or play poker again and you will have continuous access to the freeroll.

The weekly Ignition $2,500 freeroll equates to $130,000 worth of value each year! Should you choose to take advantage of it, this huge EV boost is a great way to improve your overall rakeback percentage.

How Do I Create an Ignition Account?

For players in the USA and Australia, sign up with Ignition. The player pools on Ignition, Bovada, Bodog com, and Bodog eu are the same - the brands are simply different for legal reasons.

1. Press the signup button above. Or click on this direct link to Ignition Poker.
2. This button/link will bring you to the Ignition Poker website to commence the registration process. It will also place a tracking cookie on your computer or mobile system. This cookie will track your account to ProfRB and will be instrumental in allowing us to assist you in case of any issues. Sometimes adblockers and browsers block cookies by default, so make sure you temporarily disable any cookie blocking software features before clicking on our button or link.
3. Once your browser redirects you to the www.ignitioncasino.eu website, the registration form will automatically pop up in your window.
4. Complete the signup form with your true and accurate personal information. Click the “Register” button at the bottom of the page to create your account.
5. You may be contacted via SMS at the phone number you have entered. This is a standard security precaution. Enter the code given to you via mobile into the space indicated on the Ignition website.
6. Great! Now your new Ignition Poker account is ready for you to begin playing. You will probably wish to make a deposit, which you can do from the Cashier section of the website.
7. We highly recommend using Bitcoin (BTC) which is always free - learn how easy it is to set up bitcoin for online gambling here. Another lightning-fast and completely free deposit option is Bitcoin Cash, which we cover extensively in our very detailed BCH set up guide. Not only are both BTC and BCH deposit options easy to use (almost everyone that tries them uses them again... and again... and again!), but if you follow the instructions in our guides you will also get $10 worth of BTC or BCH free upon making your first purchase of crypto-currency. Furthermore, the standard Ignition poker deposit bonus of 100% up to $1,000 is supplanted by a superior deal of 150% up to $1,500 for those who deposit with crypto-currency.
   Click here to Read our Bitcoin Guide Click Here to Read our Bitcoin Cash Guide

8. When you select your bonus, be sure you choose the one labeled “200% up to $2,000 Poker & Casino Welcome Bonus” or the one listed as “300% up to $3,000 Poker & Casino Welcome Bonus (Bitcoin Only)” as these are the valid poker bonus. All other bonuses are casino-only bonuses so don't make a mistake that could cost you up to $1,500 here!

9. Optional – acquire a HUD: Did you want to use a HUD when playing? Unfortunately, the terms and conditions of the network are restrictive, and very few HUD programs are allowed. In fact, only one has seemingly passed the test. That program is Holdem Indicator, which even works on fast-fold Zone Poker tables. Professional Rakeback offers an exclusive 10% discount on Holdem Indicator and iHoldem Indicator, for you Mac users, to our players. If you are interested in a review head over to our software page and if you simply wish to purchase it now, with a ten percent discount off the retail price of $99 USD, then all you need to do is click here for PC and here for Mac.

   While Poker Tracker doesn't provide native Ignition support, an add-on has been released that makes one of the most popular hand tracking programs work with the most popular USA- and AUS-facing online poker room. The Ignition hand grabber for PT4 is available directly from the company and is totally free. However, PokerTracker itself costs money to buy – between $59.99 and $159.99 depending on which specific package you opt for. You can browse over to our PokerTracker 4 review to learn more about this software. To purchase it immediately, go here.

Ignition Poker: Comprehensive Review

Now it's time to delve deeply into everything and anything related to Ignition Poker. Armed with the detailed information presented below, you'll be able to make an accurate decision as to whether or not you wish to open an account and begin playing.

Website Layout and Design

The Ignition site is vibrant and colorful with orange and black predominating. It's laid out in an intuitive manner with various categories of games toward the top of the window along with the useful “Promotions” tab. Though you are most probably interested more in the poker section of the website, there are also hundreds of casino titles for you to sample in the “Casino” section.

Ignition Casino Poker Website

The top-right “hamburger” menu gives you access to other parts of the site, like the very useful help articles that cover dozens of topics that you might have questions about.

The top portions of the site are devoted to large banner images showing you, e.g., big upcoming tournaments, advertising the weekly freeroll, et cetera. Below that are small square cards devoted to different aspects of the poker room that you can click on for more info.

Site Loading Speed + Performance

During our testing, we found the Ignition website to perform about inline with our expectations. We were able to browse to whatever pages we wanted to without more than a slight delay for content to load. Still, we elected to check out what third-party testing suites had to report so as to deliver an unbiased view.

First up is Webpagetest.org. The scores reported for www.ignitioncasino.eu/poker were mostly acceptable although a high Total Blocking Time indicates that users may experience a short period where they cannot interact with the site before it fully loads.

Google PageSpeed Insights echoes these results. It gave the Ignition Poker website a respectable 79 score on desktop but only a mediocre 58 on mobile. Again, Total Blocking Time and Time to Live trend a bit high especially on mobile.

How this translates into real life is that desktop players will encounter virtually no issues while mobile users may experience delays when initially loading the webpage. These slowdowns pretty much disappear once you actually log in and begin playing.

Site Security + Safety

As a modern consumer in today's economy, you're probably somewhat concerned about malware and shady sites that can steal your personal information. Fortunately, Ignition's site is safe and does not support any type of malicious software or phishing scams.

Evidence for this statement comes from Google Safe Browsing site status, which states “No unsafe content found” when presented with Ignition Casino's URL. Similarly, Norton Safe Web rates Ignition as “Safe.”

Gaming License

Following a period of time wherein it was doing business without a valid licensure, Ignition Casino obtained a license from Curacao in January 2021.

Curacao is viewed neither as one of the strongest nor the most lax licensing jurisdiction. Obtaining this license serves basically as a way for Ignition to satisfy those who refuse to play at unlicensed poker rooms.

Reputation for Trustworthiness and Dependability

Ignition has been in business for more than five years, and during that time it has earned the trust of its patrons with its honest gameplay and its propensity to deliver the speedy payout of winnings.

That's not all though. As a member of the interrelated Bodog family of companies, Ignition benefits from a stellar reputation that has been in the making for a couple of decades. You're not just relying on the integrity of Ignition itself when you sign up and deposit; you're also benefiting from the wisdom and experience gleaned by the entire organization throughout the run of its entire time in existence, which is much longer than the five-year history of Ignition might indicate.

Cash Games

Cash Games offered:
NLHE: 5NL - 2000NL
PLO: 5PLO - 2000PLO
PLO/8: 5PLO8 - 2000PLO8
FLHE: 0.05/0.10 - 30/60
Zone (Zoom): 5NL - 500NL

Heads up, six max, and full ring are the game types offered in cash play. 

Something that both recreational and professional players will adore is cash game selection and availability. This site exceeds all other US-friendly sites in this regard, offering up considerably more traffic than its nearest competitor, Winning Poker Network. Cash games are available 'round the clock, every day of the week, for Texas Hold'em. Pot limit Omaha too draws action across all levels of stakes.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Ignition hides its cash tables, apart from Zone, from the lobby, making casual visitors think that the site has far less traffic than it does. They do this to protect their recreational players from being scouted by sharks and also to keep nosy tracking sites from collating and reselling their game data.

To get in a non-Zone game, you have to use a Quick Seat feature that lets you enter in the stakes, table size, and game format that you want. Then, the software will place you in a matching game. If you happen to be sent to an empty table, simply sit around for a minute, and it just might fill up. If not, try opening up another, similar type of table, and you might have better luck.

$0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Action at Ignition

Zone Poker

Also in the cash game department there are “Zone Poker” games, Ignition's version of “fast fold” poker where players can play up to 1,000 hands per hour (once you fold, you start a new hand on a new table almost instantly). Zone games run regularly up to the $200 buy-in level and sometimes above.

Zone Poker Pools at Varying Stakes

We get that our textual description of Zone might not quite do the format justice, and you may have to see actual gameplay to truly understand what we're talking about. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a video has got to be worth, like, at least 100,000 words, so we've recorded a session of Zone Poker for your enlightenment, and you can view it below. (We've actually performed sophisticated calculations to determine that our video is worth 2.75 million words. Here is the math behind this startling result):

Sit & Gos

Sit and Goes: 
Double Ups, Triple Ups, Regular, Turbo, Heads Up, 6max, 18 mans are all available. Buy-ins range from $1 to $214.

Sit and Go action is also good at Ignition. They do not offer hyper-speed games of any appreciable size, relegating the faster-playing games to lower stakes. Most of the higher-stakes games, as well as many of the lower-stakes SNGs, are regular-speed sit-and-goes that allow for deeper-stacked play for longer. They do this to, once again, cater to the average player, many of whom they have found do not like five-minute poker games with quickly increasing blind levels. Ignition is also one of the few remaining sites for USA visitors to offer Double or Nothing / DON / DUP sit-and-goes, and they also offer a unique triple up structure.

Jackpot Sit & Go

Jackpot Sit & Goes:
Buy-ins listed at $0.50, $2, $7, $20, $60, and $100

The newest format of game to appear in the Ignition lobby is called Jackpot Sit & Go. These are three-person games that use a random multiplier to determine how big the prize pool will be. The highest possible value for the multiplier is 1,200, and the lowest is 2. The winner is normally the only one paid, but when one of the higher multiplier values is chosen, all three contestants receive cash. Find out more about this lottery-style sit n' go variant with our breakdown of Jackpot Sit & Go prizes and structures.

PaiWangLuo Network Jackpot Sit & Go With $60 Buyin ,240x Multiplier, and $14,400 prize pool!

Multi-Table Tournaments

2 million dollars a week in guaranteed tournaments, $162 Sunday Major with $150,000 Guaranteed, $1M Monthly Milly, freerolls, points tournaments.

There are no re-entry events on the regular Ignition schedule; most tourneys are freezeouts with just a few rebuy + add-on events thrown in. The $150k weekly Sunday Major is so popular that the prize pool sometimes hits $200k. Every week, there’s a Mad Monday tournament series with a dozen tournaments featuring guarantees ranging from $2,000 to $100,000 USD.

Every month on a Sunday, there's a $500 + $35 Monthly Milly event that guarantees at least $1,000,000 in prizes. Every two months they also run a tournament series that culminates in a main event typically having a $250k to a $500k guaranteed prize pool. The most prominent of these series are the Black Diamond Poker Open and the Golden Spade Poker Open.

Tournament Offerings at Ignition With Golden Spade Series Running

Popularity and Poker Traffic

Ignition, along with its partner site Bodog, has sufficient heft in the online poker industry to boast the highest level of ring game traffic among all sites serving the American and Australian markets. Unless you play for high stakes, you will undoubtedly find the seats you desire after just a minute or two of waiting.

This extends to the other formats of poker spread by Ignition. Fast-fold Zone Poker generally has several pools of participants active even while similar products at competing sites languish unpopulated.

SNGs and Jackpots tend to fire off after just a few minutes. The exception, as you might expect, are contests at the higher end of the buyin range, which sometimes take a while to fill.

If you're a tournament player, then you must be aware that the massive guarantees offered by this room would be impossible to sustain unless Ignition attracted the hundreds or thousands of entries needed to avoid continual overlays. This is a solid demonstration of the general player volume levels in tournaments, which is second only to the Winning Poker Network among U.S.-facing sites.

Game Quality

As the early 2000s poker boom shifted into the stability of the late 2000s and the post-Black Friday slump, games tended to become tougher and tougher. The widespread availability of poker tracking tools along with grinder-friendly incentives like rakeback and a proliferation of training materials meant that a sizable population of sharks developed, eager to jump into any pool of fish and devour them.

However, Ignition/Bodog/Bovada is an exception to this trend. Management of these rooms has prioritized a recreational-friendly model whereby certain features are in place to ensure that the casual users who comprise the bulk of the player pool are not fleeced too quickly by poker veterans.

There's a four-table limit on cash games to prevent mass multi-tablers from boosting their hourly rates while slowing down the game. More importantly, all table names are anonymized here, so that no one can track any opponent over the long term and get a bead on their tendencies. The Quick Seat feature, which effectively randomizes all seat placements, also plays a role in blunting the edge of pro players.

The net effect of all of these deliberate policies on the part of Ignition has been that its games remain considerably softer than the tables at most other poker rooms. If you're a professional player yourself, you might be upset that some of the advanced techniques you use to get an edge won't work as well here; however, this payoff comes in the form of easier games, which you can probably beat for a healthy amount even without your sophisticated suite of game-selection and software tools.

Ignition Poker Promotions

The large and valuable first depositor bonus is the most noteworthy of the special deals provided at Ignition Poker, but there’s plenty more free money where that came from. Ignition has come up with a few ways to take care of players be they new or returning. What you can look forward to at Ignition includes:

Ignition Rewards

Through Ignition Rewards, you can gain recurring benefits on your continued play. Every time you pay $1 in tournament fees or rake, you will receive 15 Ignition Miles. For Jackpot Sit & Go, the rate of Miles accrual is 1.5 per dollar of buyin.

You can use these Miles to purchase tournament tickets in the Ignition Rewards store. Additionally, you can redeem them for casino bonuses, which each come with a 20x rollover. The value of these perks isn’t great, amounting to somewhere between 1% and 2% rakeback, but this is better than nothing.

The more Miles you collect over the lifetime of your account, the higher your level in Ignition Rewards. Everyone starts at Steel, but the next level, Chrome, requires just 2,500 Miles (equivalent to $167 in poker rake). As you climb the ladder, you will be able to exchange your Miles for casino bonuses at better and better rates.

Here's a full breakdown of the levels, Mile requirements, and Miles exchange rates:

Once you have achieved a tier in Ignition Rewards, it's yours forever. There's no dropping down in levels or minimum number of Miles you need to maintain your tier.

Besides getting Miles on your poker play, you will also collect them should you venture to the titles contained in the Ignition Casino. This might allow you to climb the ranks faster than with just poker alone.

Chrome Weekly Freeroll

As long as you have achieved Chrome level or higher in Ignition Rewards (described above), you can participate in a weekly freeroll with a prize pool of $2,500. The freeroll commences every Thursday at 9:05 p.m. ET.

Every Friday, you will see a new ticket available to claim in your Rewards Dashboard, and each ticket is valid for 14 days. The number of entrants in each freeroll is capped at 7,000, so register early before all seats are taken.

Crypto Exclusive Membership

Ignition Poker is one of the biggest supporters of crypto-currency in the online gaming industry, and it has proven its commitment to digital currency by giving you the option to upgrade to a Crypto-Exclusive Membership. If you decide to take advantage of this opportunity, then you will only be able to deposit and withdraw via Bitcoin, other crypto-currencies, and vouchers going forward. This, however, isn't much of a drawback if you already intend to use digital coins for your transactions, and by becoming a Crypto-Exclusive Member, you will derive certain benefits that are not otherwise available.

For starters, the normal 100% up to $1,000 Bitcoin casino reload bonus s doubled, so you can claim it twice per week. Unfortunately, it cannot be used in the poker room, only in the casino, and it comes with a 35x rollover.

Then, as long as your deposit is a minimum of $30, you will also get 25 free spins, 15,000 Reward Miles (worth $5.50 in the rewards store), and a $10 + $1 poker tournament ticket. You can take advantage of this offer week after week. The free spins rotate between A Night With Cleo, 777 Deluxe, Caesar's Victory, and Fairy Wins. There is no playthrough attached to the free spins, but you can only withdraw maximum winnings of $100 from them.

Weekly Poker Freerolls

Whether or not you have elected to upgrade to a Crypto Exclusive Membership, you can participate in a free poker tournament every week that you make a crypto-currency deposit. Whenever you deposit at least $20 worth of crypto Friday through Thursday, you'll receive a freeroll ticket good for that Sunday.

The freeroll comes with a prize pool of $2,500, and the number of entrants is capped at 7,000. Actually, we suspect that many qualifying individuals fail to register, and of those who do remember to sign up for the tournament, a goodly fraction of them forget to actually take their seats when the time comes. Thus, there should be plenty of extra value to be had here.

Royal Flush Bonus

A royal flush is the biggest hand in poker, and Ignition will help you celebrate whenever you get one by issuing you a playthrough-free credit of 50 big blinds. To receive this payout, you must win the hand using both hole cards and three or more players must have received cards in the hand. The Royal Flush Bonus is only valid for Texas Hold’em ring games, and the maximum reward is capped at $200.

In order to claim the Royal Flush bonus, you need to submit the hand number and table number to poker[at]ignitioncasino.eu. The bonus will be paid out within 48 hours.

Bad Beat Bonus

If you take aces full of kings or better to showdown and lose, then you can get a Bad Beat Bonus of 100x the big blind up to a maximum of $1,000. To qualify, both pocket cards must be used to form both the winning and losing hand, you must go to showdown, and at least three people must have been dealt into the hand. This offer is only valid at Texas Hold’em cash tables. There’s no rollover or other conditions attached to the complimentary $1,000 payment!

If you suffer a bad beat meeting the conditions described above, send an email to poker[at]ignitioncasino.eu. Include the hand number and table number. Your account will be credited within 48 hours.

Poker Software Client

Ignition Poker provides downloadable software for both Windows and Mac operating systems. That’s not all – there’s also a responsive mobile client that works with iPads, iPhones, Android devices, BlackBerries, and really any modern computing platform that has an up-to-date web browser and internet access. All the games from the normal desktop software are listed in the mobile poker room.

Despite the fact that Ignition and its predecessor organizations have been operating successfully for more than a decade, they tend to have more software issues and glitches than is normal. In most cases, all you need to do is wait for a new upgrade to correct these problems, but in the meantime, it might be wise to sit out of the games until the situation is resolved.

There are occasional reports of players not being able to see their hole cards, tables freezing and users timing out when it's their turn to act, and games closing with corresponding buyins going missing. All of these can negatively affect your bottom line, which is why it's best to wait until your software client is running properly again before resuming play.

Prominent Innovations

Over the years, Ignition's software has been customized and improved with elements that make it distinct from other online poker sites. This is particularly true when we reflect on the recreational-friendly mindset of this room, which has led to the development of features explicitly designed to appeal to new and inexperienced customers rather than grizzled poker veterans.

Anonymous Games

No usernames are visible in any of Ignition's games. Instead, users are identified at the tables as “Player 1,” “Player 2,” et cetera. In tournaments, the user number is determined by order of registration into the tourney.

Because of the way this is set up, you cannot track opponents over the long term because there's no way to identify the participants in any particular hand. It is possible to use tracking software here, but any stats displayed are valid only for the current session; all historical data is irrelevant.

By making bumhunting impossible, Ignition enables the fish to lose their money more slowly and have a more enjoyable time at the tables.

Quick Seat

The traditional lobby view, where you see all active tables and a few stats related to them, is not present for most cash games at Ignition. Instead, you have to use a Quick Seat function to specify the game you wish to play, and then the software automatically matches you with an empty seat at an appropriate table.

Quick Seat means that game selection is impossible, and so this technique employed by savvy sharks to boost their winrates is not practicable at Ignition. There have been complaints that Quick Seat makes it harder for games to start, especially in niche formats like LHE, but overall, it seems that the most popular game types have not been adversely affected by Quick Seat and may even have seen traffic levels increase a bit since its introduction in September 2017.

Besides allocating ring game seats in this way, Ignition places another limitation on would-be grinders: There's a maximum of four cash games open at any one time. Thus, players who are accustomed to heavy multi-tabling will see their edge dulled somewhat.

Full Hand Histories

Although using a HUD to track your opponents across sessions is impossible at Ignition, you can still download hand histories, import them into the tracking program of your choice, and study your own past play. So far, this sounds about the same as at any other mainstream poker site. However, there's one difference: At Ignition, you can download HH files with all opponents' hole cards revealed!

The reason this is practical is because all individuals are identified solely by player number. Therefore, showing their hole cards doesn't give you any advantage over them in the future. At the same time, this is a pretty cool anti-collusion measure because you can easily see if any player's actions make no sense given their cards.

There's a 24-hour delay before you can download the complete hand history. That way, there's no chance of your benefiting from this information in real time as hands are being played.

Deposits

The size of your first deposit will determine the amount of poker bonus funds that you receive because it's a 100% up to $1,000 match. However, if you use BTC or another digital coin for your deposit, then you will be able to redeem a jumbo-sized 150% up to $1,500 bonus.

Bitcoin   <---- ProfRB's Recommended Deposit Method
With the crypto-currency Bitcoin, you can add from $10 to $5,000 to your account almost immediately. There are no fees levied directly by Ignition itself although the Bitcoin network itself demands mining fees of generally less than $1 per transaction. Your money will be available for you to play with after a single network confirmation, which usually happens in less than an hour. The combination of low fees and transaction speed makes this our preferred method of depositing at Ignition.

Making a Bitcoin deposit is very easy. Use the “Cashier” button in the poker lobby or select “Deposit” in the top-right menu on the Ignition website while logged in to your account. A list of deposit methods will be shown to you from which you can select “Bitcoin.” The deposit form will now appear.

Ignition's Bitcoin Deposit Form

This screen will inform you of the current Bitcoin exchange rate and the address to which you can send your bitcoins. The BTC/USD exchange rate displayed is locked in until the time indicated, so you have some time to finalize your transaction.

Before you send your coins, though, we recommend that you click on “Choose Your Bonus” so that you can take advantage of the special 150% up to $1,500 bonus offer that Ignition provides to everyone who makes an initial deposit through Bitcoin. Depositors using other payment channels, like credit card, are limited to the standard 100% up to $1,000 bonus.

Select the Right Bonus
If Depositing With Bitcoin, Choose the 300% Bonus (150% Poker + 150% Casino)

After selecting your bonus, send your bitcoins to the address given. Because most regulated BTC exchanges prohibit their services from being employed for gambling purposes, we caution you to avoid sending coins directly to Ignition from such an exchange. Routing your BTC through a personal wallet, like blockchain.com, before depositing them at Ignition Casino will work to mask the final destination of your funds. You can send any amount of Bitcoin from $10 to $5,000 to the address Ignition gives you.

After sending the BTC from your wallet to Ignition, click on the big button marked “Done.” You will now see a message similar to:

Message Shown While Waiting for Blockchain Confirmation

After Ignition confirms that your transaction was successfully sent, this message will change and look something like:

Your Transaction Was Successfully Processed

This is basically a summary of the number of Bitcoin you sent and how many dollars that sum corresponds to. In addition, this page lists the exchange rate used and the depositing address. As long as your transaction was completed without any issues, your balance will be updated to show the proper amount of your account currency.

Credit Card
Credit cards are viable for depositing between $20 and $1,500. Unfortunately, there are certain fees associated with credit card deposits at least for U.S. users. Visa and MasterCard deposits may be charged 5.9% of the deposit amount, and the number for American Express is 9.9%. Aussies do not have to pay these surcharges, but both Australians and Americans might have to face an additional charge of 3% for currency conversion if applicable. Citizens of Australia can use a credit card cash advance to deposit, but there might be a fee associated with this service too.

Bitcoin Cash
The Bitcoin Cash crypto-currency is an offshoot of legacy Bitcoin, which was created in August 2017. The PWL Network decided to support Bitcoin Cash (BCH). It typically has even lower fees that BTC, so many crypto fans turn to Bitcoin Cash whenever there's congestion in the Bitcoin Network. The 150% up to $1,500 poker bonus that legacy Bitcoin qualifies for is also supported for Bitcoin Cash.

Bitcoin Satoshi Vision
Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) arose from disagreements amongst Bitcoin Cash advocates. Bitcoin SV is now a mainstream crypto-currency, and it has been added to the Ignition cashier.

Litecoin, Ether
Litecoin and Ether are the two most recent cryptos to be added to the Ignition cashier. All the special crypto offers and bonuses are also valid with these two coins. Litecoin tends to have much lower fees than old-school Bitcoin while Ethereum confirmations are processed more quickly.

Tether
Tether (USDT) is a popular stable cryptocurrency recently introduced to the Ignition cashier. The value of Tether is tied to the US dollar, so it is always nearly equivalent to one dollar. Tether is a great option as it allows you to utilize the advantages of crypto, such as bonuses, without having to worry about significant price fluctuations.

Voucher
Vouchers are a way for players to cash out money in the form of a code. If you possess a voucher code, then you can deposit the funds to your Ignition account simply by entering in your code. This is a pretty good way to introduce newcomers to internet poker in a safe and secure manner.

Zelle
Ignition doesn't accept Zelle deposits directly, but you can use your Zelle balance to buy BTC from a seller recommended by Ignition on LocalBitcoins.com, a forum for trading crypto-currencies. Then once you acquire Bitcoin, you can add it to your Ignition balance.

Withdrawals

It's standard at Ignition to get one free payout every 90 days, and any subsequent withdrawals within this period come with fees attached. However, Bitcoin and other cryptos are always free for withdrawals and deposits.

Check by Courier
Check by Courier is a way for Americans to get their withdrawals of between $100 and $3,000 for a $100 fee. For Australians, the valid cashout amounts range from $20 to $3,000, and the fee is $75. Checks are processed within 10 days, but then it takes a couple of days for the check to be delivered.

Bitcoin   <---- ProfRB's Recommended Payout Method
Bitcoin is fully available for USA players (limits: $10 - $9,500) and Australian users ($20 - $10,000). THERE ARE NO FEES EVER for BTC cashouts from Ignition. The site proclaims a 48-hour timeframe to process Bitcoin withdrawals, but reports from actual players show that they're often completed within a single day.

Bitcoin Cash
First supported only for deposits, Ignition wasted little time in adding Bitcoin Cash to its withdrawal menu. They take around a day or two to be sent: around the same time as regular Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Satoshi Vision
Bitcoin SV aims to return to the original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto. Ignition and related sites all support Bitcoin SV for cashier functions.

Litecoin, Ether
Litecoin (LTC) and Ether tokens (ETH) are both very well-known altcoins, so it makes sense that Ignition added these cryptos to its cashout menu in 2021.

Tether
Tether (USDT) is a stable crytpo coin tied to the price of the US dollar. Ignition and related sites all now support Tether for cashier functions. Any amount between $50 and $9,500 can be withdrawn via Tether.

Voucher
Any sum between $10 - $3,000 can be withdrawn from your account balance in the form of a voucher. You will get a code that can be transferred or sold to another individual. These vouchers are basically a mechanism for conducting peer-to-peer transactions. It's possible to redeposit your own voucher back to your account, so you won't ever be stuck in case your plan to trade your voucher falls through.

Player Transfer
You have the option to transfer money directly to another Ignition account holder. The recipient doesn't need to do anything special; the money will be automatically placed into the appropriate account once the transfer is completed. Valid amounts for player transfer are $10 - $15,000.

Visa Fast Funds - AUS ONLY
Visa Fast Funds lets you put the money you win back onto your compatible credit card. It costs $75 per transaction, and the limits are $20 - $2,400. Each such transaction takes between 4 and 7 days to complete.

Bank Wire - AUS ONLY
Bank Wires for amounts from $1,500 to $9,500 take between 5 and 7 days to reach the customer's bank account. They cost $75 apiece.

We have tracked withdrawal speeds from Ignition and other leading offshore gaming sites. You can learn more about them in our report on payment times for online poker, casino, and sportsbook sites.

Information Validation

It's standard at Ignition to require customers to complete an account verification process before making their first withdrawal. This is a routine anti-money laundering and anti-fraud measure taken by most sites, and it's nothing to worry about.

You'll have to submit a copy of your government-issued ID. If you used a credit card to fund your account, you might also have to send in a copy of your card and complete a credit card verification form.

Account verification needs to be completed only once. You won't have to go through this process again for subsequent cashouts. Many individuals elect to complete identity verification well before they intend to request a withdrawal. This ensures that everything will be ready to go when the time comes and your money won't be held up by any delays.

Ignition Poker Mobile

In addition to the Mac and PC download clients, Ignition also houses mobile poker software that you can run on virtually every type of smartphone or tablet. It achieves this cross-platform compatibility by using modern responsive web technology that works with just about every up-to-date web browser; thus, there's no app to download or install.

Ignition Poker on Mobile

At one point, the Ignition Poker mobile lobby only listed some of the games available on the regular desktop software. However, in June 2018, tournaments and sit-n-goes were added to Ignition mobile, and so you can now play every game offered at Ignition on your phone or tablet.

Because it employs system-independent coding to deliver poker to whatever device you're using, this web-based poker solution also works on traditional computers. Therefore, if you're not at home and are seated before an unfamiliar computer, you can still access Ignition Poker through any popular web browser.

Other Gaming at Ignition

Ignition has, in addition to its poker room, a casino with hundreds of games. This is a fine diversion for when you need a break from the poker tables. You'll encounter slots, blackjack, roulette, and a bevy of other options.

The casino is fully supported for desktop and mobile because it uses responsive web techniques to adjust the display to the size of your screen. If you click on a game while logged out from your account, you'll have the ability to play for practice chips: perfect if you want to get a handle on how a particular game works before putting your own money on the line.

To find out more about the casino at Ignition, including details on the 150% up to $1,500 casino bonus, read this factual Ignition Casino review.

The major type of betting that's absent from Ignition is sports betting. If you're looking for a place to make a few wagers on sporting contests, then you can browse over to this list of the best USA sportsbooks online.

Getting in Touch With Support

Ignition has a series of FAQs covering topics that may interest its customers, like a Financial FAQ and a Bonuses FAQ, but there are ways to get in touch with support personnel should your query not be addressed by one of these documents. You can access Live Chat from the Ignition website or use a web form to send a message. If you'd rather speak with a representative over the phone, you can call toll-free at 1-855-370-0600.

We decided to see for ourselves how good (or bad) Ignition's support efforts were. Therefore, we launched a Live Chat session to inquire about a topic that causes plenty of confusion not just for poker writers but also for regular customers: the first deposit bonus.

Ignition's Live Chat Feature Is Speedy and Easy-to-Use

The answer we were given – that the poker welcome bonus would be granted automatically notwithstanding that we couldn't find anything about it in the software – seemed farfetched, and we didn't believe what we were told at first. Nevertheless, our subsequent experiences bore out the fact that Ignition support staff member Amarnee F. knew what she was talking about. Our first bonus segment was credited within 24 hours after we had collected 15 Poker Points [NOTE: the bonus has since changed over to an Ignition Miles system rather than Poker Points], just as it was supposed to. We later discovered that we could view more info about the bonus while logged into the Ignition Casino website.

The time it took to conduct our Live Chat session was just a few minutes. The guidance provided to us turned out to be 100% correct. We were fully satisfied with the level of customer care we experienced.

Responsible Gaming

Ignition Poker recognizes that gaming responsibly is a benefit not just for individual players but also for the site itself because customers who engage in betting activities over a long period of time are more valuable than those who rapidly blow their whole rolls and then cannot wager anymore. Therefore, there are certain responsible gambling features that Ignition offers its players.

The most common of these tools is self-exclusion. Anyone can request that their account be closed for a specified period of time. It's also possible to request permanent self-exclusion, which will disable your account.

It's important to realize that you should not even joke about having a gambling problem when contacting support. If site personnel get the idea that you may have such a problem, they might permanently close your account.

Ignition also takes steps to combat underage gambling. Any accounts opened by persons below the age of 18 are subject to immediate closure and the forfeiture of winnings. Ignition considers any misrepresentation of age on the part of the user to be a type of fraud.

Alternatives to Ignition Poker

Ignition may be the largest U.S.-friendly offshore poker provider, but it is by no means the only one. Indeed, it faces stiff competition from other reputable sites. Two of its most prominent competitors are Americas Cardroom and BetOnline, which both offer solid poker products that are available to Americans.

Let's take a look at all three organizations and see how they compare against each other across a variety of categories. Or, if you'd prefer, you can click below to go to reviews of Americas Cardroom and BetOnline for more in-depth information.

• Player traffic - As previously mentioned, Ignition's player traffic figures are greater than those at any other U.S.-facing online poker site. Americas Cardroom lags just slightly behind while BetOnline is firmly in third place.
• Trustworthiness - All three companies have proven themselves to be worthy of customers' trust. However, Ignition's ancestors Bovada and Bodog have been in business longer than ACR and BoL, so we have to give Ignition the top spot here with ACR in second and BetOnline bringing up the rear.
• Variety of games - Americas Cardroom has a few types of poker that Ignition lacks, like Limit Omaha/8, so we have to hand ACR the crown in this category. Ignition is in second place closely followed by BetOnline.
• Promotions and Bonuses - Though Ignition has a superb welcome bonus, there's very little in the way of player rewards going forward. Americas Cardroom, with its frequent reloads and weekly rake races, is ahead of its competitors in this area. We would put Ignition in second place and BOL in third.
• Payout speed - Ignition and BetOnline are just about tied with their next-day and sometimes same-day payouts for crypto withdrawals. Americas Cardroom is just a tad slower, delivering digital coins to its users wallets within 48 hours.
• Deposit + withdrawal options - Ignition has several cashier methods to choose from but not as many as BOL. Both of them pale compared with Americas Cardroom, which offers dozens of crypto-currencies to deposit and withdraw with.
• User interface and software speed - All three of these gaming sites have modern software and websites, but we must dock Ignition for the frequent glitches and errors that users report. ACR's software is more stable while BetOnline's is very smooth and functional indeed.

In addition to the detailed comparisons above, we have also evaluated how Ignition stacks up against other popular gambling and poker sites. To learn more, please feel free to head over to this Ignition Poker vs Carbon Poker article or this expert comparison of Ignition vs Bovada.

Ignition Poker History and Traffic Trends

As top dog in the U.S.-friendly online poker market, Ignition is a great example case to look at to see how gaming operators can grow their sites and achieve unprecedented success. We've examined the historical player liquidity information for Ignition's Network, PaiWangLuo, as well as the predecessor Bodog Network to identify what the key moments were in this organization's journey.

We've collected player traffic data from industry monitoring site GameIntel as well as the defunct PokerPulse. We have to note, though, that all numbers from late 2011 onward are mere estimates because this group has taken active efforts to suppress any outside attempts to get a handle on how many players are sitting at its tables at any given moment. That being said, it's pretty useful to compare these estimates at varying points in time because, while they might not correspond exactly to the actual traffic levels, the increases and decreases between estimates should yield useful intelligence.

Average Player Count Figures for the PaiWangLuo/Bodog Network Since 2004

Bodog was founded in the year 2000 by Calvin Ayre. At first, it focused pretty much only on sports betting, but it did launch an online poker room in 2004. This was during the height of the Moneymaker Boom, the perfect era to begin an internet poker enterprise. Many places to play cards online were announced to much fanfare, but the majority of them quickly disappeared.

Bodog, on the other hand, experienced steady growth. Still, it was never one of the market leaders, and in this pre-UIGEA climate where USA poker enthusiasts could access worldwide player pools, it didn't even have the bragging rights of being the leading site for Americans.

The passage of the UIGEA and the withdrawal of several popular operators, like PartyPoker and 888, boosted Bodog's fortunes. Black Friday in 2011 had a similar effect, and quite a few American players opted to make the site their new online poker home once PokerStars and Full Tilt became unavailable to them.

Bodog could have just rested on its laurels and conducted profitable business as usual. But the geniuses (madmen?) at the top of the organization had other plans in mind. They started to implement features of what has since been dubbed “the recreational player model,” the first of which was anonymous tables.

Veteran poker fans cried foul, upset at this seemingly bizarre change that nobody was asking for and few expected. The decision to shift all U.S. customers over to the new Bovada skin also raised questions as to whether perhaps Americans were being relegated over to a sideshow company that lacked the Bodog reputation for honesty and integrity.

All these fears and worries soon vanished in smoke. Ordinary poker players loved the anonymous tables, which protected them from being tracked and targeted by serious grinders. It quickly also became apparent that there was nothing shady about Bovada; it continued to run more or less along the same lines as its ancestor Bodog.

In the latter half of 2012, the popularity of the Bodog Network jumped to new heights, and it became, far and away, the #1 site for poker online that accepted U.S. residents. It has not yet relinquished this position although, on occasion, another poker site temporarily displaces it at the top of the heap for a few hours or days.

The network's fortunes kept advancing until it had about 1,800 simultaneously active ring game players on average in 2015. Traffic dropped quite a bit though in 2016 for reasons that aren't exactly clear but could have been related to the growth of formidable rivals like the Winning Poker Network and Chico Poker Network.

Nevertheless, Bodog's reduced player volume was still sufficient to keep it a cut above any challengers. This remained true even when Bovada elected to get out of the poker market in Q3 2016, selling its poker-related assets to Ignition, which had been offering casino games for a while but only then started dealing out poker hands. Ignition is still the premier poker solution for Americans notwithstanding the fact that Bovada later reopened its room.

In February 2017, the entire Bodog Network was sold to the PaiWangLuo investment group and renamed accordingly. Nothing really changed from a player's perspective however. The same bustling tables and anonymous gameplay thrill users as they have done for the past seven years.

At around the same time, the network announced plans for expansion into other countries. Ignition itself opened its doors to Aussies in late 2017 while other network partners expanded into various Asian and Latin American areas. However, a couple of Ignition's skins shut their doors in September 2020.

Thus, the expected boom in PWL player numbers did not fully materialize, and traffic seems to have leveled off for the present. Who knows but that this might merely be a pause before a significant uptick? All the elements for new Ignition Casino Poker heights are present: already-excellent user traffic, access to underserved and burgeoning poker markets, a robust weekly tournament schedule, speedy crypto payment channels, and a management philosophy that caters to new players.

Strengths | Benefits | Advantages

We're nearing the end of our Ignition Poker Review, and now would be the perfect time to highlight the strong points of this internet poker destination.

• The games here are all anonymous, meaning that no one can track anyone else's play over the long term and thereby gain an edge over that player. This is welcome news if you would rather not battle experienced poker sharks and their array of specialized software tools.
• Related to the above point, the game quality is excellent. By catering to casual and recreational users, Ignition keeps its tables populated by fun players who often don't grasp the intricacies of proper poker strategy. This leads to games that are easy to beat.
• Ignition is not only available to Americans and Australians, but it is also the largest poker site open to these two countries.
• Jackpot Sit & Gos and fast-fold Zone Poker are spread here. Unlike at some other sites, there's plenty of traffic in these formats too, so you won't have to sit in an empty game waiting for others to hopefully join.
• Customers who conduct their transactions in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, or any of the other supported crypto-currencies will benefit from speedy withdrawals, which often arrive the same day the cashout request is made.
• The mobile poker client at Ignition is excellent and contains all of the games found in the desktop version of the software. It's compatible with a broad range of smartphones and tablets.
• In addition to the many active tables of NLHE and PLO running at all times, Ignition also has more Limit Hold'em games than any other site.
• The poker deposit bonus of up to $1,500 clears at a remarkable 50% rakeback rate in cash games, SNGs, and tournaments. The clearance rate in Jackpot Sit & Go is even higher still!
• Multi-table tournament fans generally enjoy the selection of events at Ignition, which are mostly freezeouts with a few R&A's sprinkled into the mix. Late registration and re-entry periods are reasonable, mostly an hour or two, so you won't have to fight all day to have a chance at scoring a prize.
• The tournaments are not only structured well, but they often come with sizable guaranteed prize pools. Over the course of a month, you will find more than $10 million in guarantees across the MTT schedule.

Weaknesses | Drawbacks | Disadvantages

No review of any online poker room would be complete without a forthright examination of its drawbacks and weaknesses. Therefore, here's a short rundown of the disadvantages of playing at Ignition:

• Beyond the initial welcome bonus, there are few promotions for poker players. Reload bonuses are rare, and the points-to-tickets system does not deliver much value. There are no weekly rake races.
• The anonymous nature of Ignition's games means that popular HUD programs are virtually useless here, which might be a drawback if you rely heavily on HUDs as part of your strategy.
• Ignition subscribes to industry-wide databases of problem gamblers. If you've closed your accounts at other gaming websites because of problem gambling, it's likely that Ignition will deny you the opportunity to sign up for an account.
• Though Ignition is a firm advocate of crypto-currencies and their many advantages, it hasn't yet switched over to the “no-dox” philosophy that some of its peers in the crypto space have adopted. Therefore, you still need to prove your identity before initiating a withdrawal even if your deposits were all made via crypto-currency.

Ignition Poker Conclusion and Final Recommendation

Ignition Casino Poker is the most popular online cardroom among Americans and Australians for a number of reasons. Its anonymized tables and recreational poker model beget games that are quite a bit softer than any other internet poker site operating in these markets. Combine this advantage with its large tournament guarantees and a long-standing reputation for speedy payouts, and it is easy to see why Ignition is beloved by novices and professionals alike.

We're firmly in the camp that thinks that Ignition Poker is a solid online poker site. We have no hesitation in recommending this room, at which we regularly play ourselves, to our readers.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you still have questions about Ignition Casino poker, then take a glance below. We've compiled some of the most frequent questions and their answers into a compact FAQ section.

External Resources

We always attempt to evaluate every aspect of a site when writing our reviews. Still, no matter how diligent we are in this task, there are bound to be things that escape our notice. If you would like to gather additional information about Ignition Casino Poker from outside sources, then check out the sites listed below.

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/IgnitionCasino/
2. https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/unofficial-bodog-bovada-ignition-thread-1142716/
3. https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/bodog-bovada-ignition-payout-thread-us-players-do-not-post-bank-names-1553/
4. https://www.paiwangluo.hk/
5. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.ignitioncasino.eu