Ignition Casino: The best and only option for Australian online poker players?
August 2017 marked another knot in a string of dark days for online poker. The Australian senate made an inexplicable decision to follow the lead of the US in passing a draconian bill which all but ended online poker in the country. The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 resulted PokerStars, 888Poker and partypoker issuing a statement advising all Australian players to cash out their funds before closing their doors on the Australian market.
America’s Cardroom defied the bill for a while, but eventually withdrew from the country in mid-2018. Soon after, Ignition Casino stepped in to fill the void.
Australian players accepted – multiple options for deposits/cash outs
When it arrived on the scene, Ignition Casino immediately breathed some life back into online poker in Australia.
There was no longer any need for a fake proof of address or a VPN to play online, with Bitcoin, credit and debit cards all being accepted forms of payment. These easy forms of fund transfer and reliable payments helped Ignition to gain some immediate popularity.
Complete poker offerings
Ignition may be the only realistic online poker option for Australian players, but it is also a very solid one, with Hold’em and PLO cash games available, Jackpot STT’s, fast-fold poker, plentiful freezeout MTT’s and $10 million guaranteed across MTT’s each month. The poker client is also mobile friendly, and the downsides are relatively few. Players are anonymous at the tables which rules out poker trackers, which is predominantly a negative but for some players, it is a plus. There is also a lack of reload bonuses, but this is a minor point.
Softest games of any major network?
Ignition Casinois part of thePaiWangLuonetwork and shares liquidity withBodog,Bodog88andBovada andwelcomes Asian, South American, Canadian and US players along with Australians.
Not only does this drastically boost player traffic on the network but it also ensures that the competition is relatively soft, as there are no European players at the tables.
Anonymity of players and multi tabling limits of 4 tables also helps the action flow without fish being relentlessly targeted.
First deposit offer
For those making a first-time deposit with Ignition Casino, there is an industry standard 100% bonus on any amount up to $1,000 with bonus money being cleared reasonably quickly in most cases.
$5 is released for every 150 “Ignition Miles” earned, which represents a fair release rate, equivalent to a 50% rakeback boost in cash games.
Weak competition leaves no viable alternative?
While Ignition has its fair share of positives, the biggest reason for its success to date is that there is nothing better currently on offer for players in Australia. With so many other major brands having packed up and moved out of the market, if players did want to opt for something different to Ignition, their options are mostly limited to joining private games on applications such as PPPoker and Upoker.
These applications can certainly provide a viable alternative which is very popular, but there is a slight difficulty attached; Players must gain access to a private club game, with with the help of a trusted agent (such as Somuchpoker).
More:Join the best PPPoker clubs with Somuchpoker
Players may have heard that Bodog88 are entering the Australian market in July 2019, and while they do offer another option of sorts, the fact that they share a network with Ignition means that there will be very little difference between the two.
More: Best Australian Poker Sites in 2019
Article by Craig Bradshaw
