Iron Poker Review

Ordinarily, we hesitate to give highly positive ratings to the newest sites, even though some of them are excellent, simply because not enough time has gone by to properly evaluate them in all categories. Obviously, a site that has been operating for a long time, with a demonstrable track record of superior software, games, customer support and, above all, security and fairness, is a place we can confidently recommend. However, we can also give high marks to Iron Poker despite its newness. As part of the highly regarded iPoker Network, Iron Poker, established in 2015, has quickly become a heavyweight player in the crowded field of online poker.

Iron poker was created as a spinoff of Titan Poker that is geared primarily towards players from Canada and Germany. Like other members of the iPoker network, Iron Poker is a high traffic site with thousands of players logged on simultaneously. Regardless of your game and stakes preferences and whether you are a beginner or a more advanced player, at any hour of the day or night, you will find a suitable ring game or tournament.

Additional draws are the unusually generous Welcome Bonus and player recognition program, including a tiered loyalty rewards programme, freeroll opportunities, special promotions for all players, and many opportunities to qualify online via satellite for major events. As if all that isn't enough, anytime you feel like taking a break from poker to do another type of gambling, the casino and sports betting areas of the site are just a click away. Conversely, many gamblers who are primarily casino players and sports bettors like to try their luck in poker from time to time. The steady influx of these players, who are mostly poor poker players, keeps the Iron Poker games very beatable. The site is very user friendly and easy to navigate, so despite the enormous choice of games, you should have no trouble quickly finding and joining the particular game you wish to play.

Software

Iron Poker is powered by software from Playtech, one of the leading providers to online poker rooms and casinos worldwide. Playtech is known for its reliable, high quality, cutting edge software and superior graphics and smooth gameplay. Furthermore, this particular website, unlike many others, is exceptionally well designed. Newbies and experienced players alike will appreciate the honest pitch and wealth of information presented in a user friendly manner in a uncluttered, visually appealing layout.

Unfortunately, the fledgling mobile platform at Iron Poker is much too limited to recommend, so basically, to get the full benefits of the site and access to all of the games, your only option is to download he software onto your computer. There is no instant play flash version, so if you are away from home and do not have access to your laptop, don't count on being able to play.

Mobile Play

Granted, Iron Poker is a new site, but even so, we cannot overlook the fact that the option to play your favourite poker games on the go on your mobile device has become tremendously popular. Many people even find that using their smartphone or tablet is the only practical option for incorporating poker into their busy schedule. We are therefore surprised and disappointed to see that this is one area where Iron Poker is lagging significantly behind many other sites. A serviceable mobile platform is reportedly in the developmental stage. However, at this time it appears that other than a very limited number of games being supported for Apple iOS devices (iPhones and iPads), this is a site where mobile poker players, including those who own Android devices, are out of luck.

Security and Fair Play

Iron Poker.com is committed to providing its players with an online poker room that is secure and fair in every respect. Although the site itself is new, its affiliation with the iPoker network, which since its inception in 2004, has grown to become the largest multi-room online poker network in the world, gives Iron Poker credibility. Like Titan Poker, which is also part of the iPoker network, Iron Poker is operated by PT Entertainment and licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority. In addition, all of the games have been independently tested for fairness and randomness by Gaming Labs International.

The site has zero tolerance for any form of irregular play or player collusion and employs sophisticated monitoring techniques to identify and prevent any such activity. Iron Poker also uses advanced digital encryption technology to ensure that every player's financial transactions are kept secure and private.

Cash Games and Tournaments

Iron Poker is buzzing with activity 24/7, so the chances are no matter what time you log on to play, you will be able to find a cash game or tournament that suits you. During peak hours, you can expect to find thousands of players logged on from all over the world.

Cash Games

Iron Poker offers all of the following cash games:

• Limit and No Limit Hold 'Em
• Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo
• Seven Card Stud
• HORSE: An acronym describing a rotation of five different poker games: Hold 'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz (Seven Card Stud low), Stud, and Eight-or-better (Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo)
• Chinese Poker
• Pan: A game similar to Rummy, but played with eight decks with all of the eights, nines, and tens removed. One deck also has all of the spades removed.
• Guts Poker: A variation of Hold 'Em in which each player gets two or three cards face down. Whoever has the best hand among all those who have "the guts" to stay in wins the pot.

In addition to all of the above, Iron Poker has jumped on the Speed Poker bandwagon. Speed Poker is offered in your choice of Hold 'Em and Omaha cash tables, or you can play it in a speed tournament. You are allowed to fold either in turn or out of turn, but as soon as you do, you are immediately switched to a new table for the next hand.

The games at Iron Poker are mostly very soft, largely due to the fact that some of your opponents will be players from many of the big sports betting brands in Europe that are also part of the iPoker Network. Except for Speed Poker, which is strictly a low stakes game, players can choose from a wide range of stakes. For example, hold 'em and Omaha tables range from micro-stakes to games with buy-ins in the $1,000 range. Another option, if you are not sure if you are ready to risk real money, is to play select games for free.

Freerolls

In addition to the New Depositors' Freeroll tickets you receive when you first sign up, each week (Wednesday-Tuesday) that you make a deposit and earn 10 points or more, or make a deposit and wager at least $5 in side games, you can participate in the $350 Free Bet Freeroll taking place every Wednesday at 20:00 GMT. The top 25 finishers win a share of $350 in free sports bets.

Also, as soon as you attain a VIP level of at least 2 (Copper), you will be invited to more freerolls. A daily Gemstone $100 Freeroll starting at 19:00 GMT is open to all players at VIP levels 2 or higher. The Weekly Gemstone $750 Freeroll taking place every Monday at 19:00 GMT is limited to players at VIP levels 4-6. However, Canadian players at all levels are welcome to play in thee $200 Canadian Freeroll that gets underway every Saturday at 20:00 ET. This free tournament is exclusively for players from Canada.

Tournaments

The next best thing to playing poker tournaments in a live poker room is to play guaranteed tournaments in a top quality online poker room like Iron Poker. At Iron Poker, the tournament selection includes a wide enough variety to suit almost any player. In addition to many standard format tournaments, some of the other types of tournaments in the lineup include freezeout, rebuy, turbo, deepstack, and knockout. In addition, you can choose from a wide range of entry fees.

For example, every Sunday, there are tournaments taking place all day long with buy-ins for as little as $1 to as much as $150. The latter is for a $30,000 guaranteed freezeout tournament getting underway at 20:00 GMT. The big tournament of the week is the $100,000 Big Sunday Tournament. Players can either buy in directly for $75 or win their way in via low cost satellite. The Big Sunday Tournament is actually spread out over two days. It starts on Sunday at 18:00 GMT and continues to midnight, after which it picks up again on Monday at 19:00 GMT.

Regularly scheduled tournaments take place at all hours of the day and night every day of the week. The complete tournament schedule, including the day, time, buy-in, and type of tournament (e.g., freezeout or rebuy) can be found in the lobby. Other exciting opportunities you won't want to miss are the frequently held special satellites where you can win your way in to a prestigious live event.

Sit 'N' Go tournaments, with a wide range of buy-ins, are also very popular on this site. The following are two special types of Sit 'N' Gos that are offered on Iron Poker.

Twister Sit 'N' Gos

The Twister Sit 'N' Go is is a three player only turbo competition, in which you can play up to six tables at once. The twist is that when the tournament is about to start, a wheel is spun to randomly determine the prize pool, which could be as much as 1,000x the buy-in! 80% of the prize pool goes to the winner, but the second and third place finishers don't go away empty-handed; each receives 10% of the prize pool. The minimum prize for first place is 2x the buy-in, and the maximum is 800x the buy-in.

Fort Knox Sit 'N' Gos

These are six player Sit 'N' Gos with a $40 buy-in. If you win six of these tournaments in a row, on top of your regular tournament winnings, you receive a massive Fort Knox jackpot prize which starts at $35,000 and keeps increasing after each week in which no one wins it. If a full week goes by without a winner, the following Monday the jackpot increases by $7,000. If two weeks go by, the jackpot increases by another $5,000. Then starting with the fourth week onward, the jackpot is increased by an additional $2,000/week until someone wins it. A consolation prize of $500 is also offered to anyone who doesn't win six tournaments in a row, but finishes no worse than second in all six tournaments.

Promotions and Customer Support

Welcome Bonus

At one time, online poker players were unlikely to receive any signup bonus. Now the practice of offering a bonus to casino players and poker players alike upon first signing up with a particular site is the rule rather than the exception.. But what is the exception is a Welcome Bonus as generous as the one offered by Iron Poker, 200% up to $2,000 on your first deposit! Here is how this bonus works.

As soon as you sign up with Iron Poker and make your first deposit, you can claim this bonus. Enter a bonus code if you have one. The maximum amount is $1,500, which will require a deposit of $750. However, if you prefer, you can deposit less and get a smaller bonus. If you make your deposit in a currency other than USD, GBP, or EUR, the amount available for play will be based on the Euro.

The bonus is cleared by earning Status Points playing real money games at Iron Poker. Each time you earn 400 Status Points, your account is credited with $5 cash. You have two months from the time of your qualifying deposit to clear the bonus in full. Therefore, if you deposit $750 or more and take the maximum bonus of $2,000, you will need to earn a total of 120,000 Status Points.

New Player Freerolls

In addition, as a new player, you are invited to the New Player's Freerolls for a shot at $20,000. All new players receive four entry tokens to the $2,500 freeroll tournaments taking place on the last Thursday of the month and another free token to the $10,000 Monthly Bonanza taking place on the first Friday of the month. Your first deposit as a new Iron Poker player automatically qualifies you to play for free in the first $10,000 Monthly Bonanza. Thereafter, you can qualify for subsequent Monthly Bonanzas in any of the following three ways:

1. Earn 750 Status Points
2. Wager $1,000 in casino bets
3. Win your way in via satellite

New players also receive multiple entries to Beginners Freerolls and an opportunity to participate in the $3,000 Beginners Races.

Iron Poker VIP Club

Based on your play, you receive two types of points: Iron Points (also called Status Points), which determine your VIP level, and Club Points based on your VIP level, which can be exchanged for various benefits. Every time you contribute $1 to the rake in a cash game or pay $1 in tournament fees, you earn 20 Iron Points. The total number of Iron Points you earn each month determines your VIP level. Every time you earn Iron Points, you also earn Club Points. In addition to your regular Club Points, depending on your VIP level, you receive a certain multiple (up to 1.5) of your regular points as bonus points.

The Iron VIP Club consists of the following six levels: Bronze, Copper, Silver, Gold, Titanium, and Diamond. Each successive higher level requires earning a certain minimum number of Iron Points monthly as indicated below.

Since VIP levels are updated weekly, during the course of a month it is possible to qualify for and advance to a higher level. All players start the next month at the highest level achieved during the preceding month and maintain at least that level throughout the entire following month. Copper level players can use their Club Points to purchase casino bets. Only players at the VIP Silver level and higher have access to the VIP Club Store to purchase cash bonuses and tournament tokens.

Rakeback Unlimited

As an alternative to receiving Club Points, players can opt in for Rakeback Unlimited. This benefit entitles you to at least 20% rakeback (22% for Titanium level players and 25% for Diamond level players) as a weekly cash bonus each week you earn 100 Iron Points or more. All players at the Copper level and higher are eligible to participate. Keep in mind that if you opt in for Rakeback Unlimited, you do not earn Club Points, but you still receive other special offers and promotions.

Other Special Promotions

Iron Poker offers its players a variety of other special promotions, including the following:

Beginners Races

The Beginners Races provide a great opportunity to earn extra cash playing against other newbies and to hone your skills in the process. They are open to all players who have signed up in the last 90 days.

Try to generate as many raked hands as possible every week at the beginners cash tables. The more raked hands you generate the more you can win. All players who generate at least 100-399 raked hands receive a cash prize between $1 and $6.50. Players who generate 400 or more raked hands can receive a cash prize of up to $40.

Gladiators Races

This battle is only open to VIP Diamond players the month they achieved Diamond status. All month long these players compete against one another to try to earn as many points as possible. The leaderboard is updated every 30 minutes, and at the end of the month, the highest ranking players share in the $6,000 prize pool. The first place winner receives $1,000.

Bad Beat Bonus

If you lose at showdown in a Texas Hold 'Em ring game with a hand of KKKK or higher and both your hand and the winning hand include the player's two pocket cards, you're the winner of a $250 bad beat.

It is nice that Iron Poker offers this Bad Beat Bonus promotion. However, it should be noted that compared to the size of the bad beat bonus many other poker rooms offer, and especially considering the rarity of its occurrence, this one is quite small.

Refer a Friend

For each friend you invite who signs up with Iron Poker with a deposit of at least $20 and earns 100 points or more in the first 30 days, you receive up to $500. You receive $50 cash plus an additional $10 for every 1,000 points your friend earns, capped at an additional $450. Your friend not only receives the regular new player Welcome Bonus, but a special additional bonus of $20.

Customer Support

Customer Support is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, or email to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Supported languages include English, French, Spanish, and German. There is also a helpful FAQ section on the website which answers many players' questions.

Join Iron Poker Now and Claim Your $2,000 Bonus!