InterPoker

About | Software & Games | Poker School | Betting Structure, Rake & Tournament Fees | Promotions | Cashier | Security | Disconnection Policy | Customer Service

About

As the name entails, InterPoker is the sister site to the famed online casino, InterCasino, which was one of the first casinos to go live on the internet, in addition to developing one of the best, longstanding reputations of any online gaming site currently in operation.  Along with InterCasino, InterPoker also has two other family members - InterBingo and InterLottery, which are all owned and operated by OIGE N.V.  Based in London, England, OIGE N.V. is a highly touted online gaming operator and has an excellent relationship with the manufacturer of their branded software platform - CryptoLogic.  Downloadable poker games are available through the services of WagerLogic (Cryptologic subsidiary), while all financial transactions are processed using the world-renowned ECash system - having safely processed over $12 billion in eCommerce transactions.  Security and ethics are evidently a top priority for InterPoker, who imposes several security and fairness protocols, including a strict auditing practice and an open relationship with third party mediators.

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Software & Games

Software Platform - As mentioned above, CryptoLogic's software specialist subsidiary, WagerLogic, is the developer of InterPoker's gaming system.  Winner of several coveted online gaming awards, CryptoLogic was one of the pioneering gaming companies to introduce online casino games that could be played with real money.  New betting and game features are always being developed at WagerLogic, and are introduced into InterPoker's existing software platform in the form of seamless upgrades.  In order to play for real money, players must download the software, which is a simple process.  After selecting the download link, a dialogue box prompts users on exactly what to do.  Considering Interpoker's platform has more content and features than most other poker rooms, the download will take slightly longer, depending on one's internet connection method.  For an optimal broadband connection and adequate hard drive, the download should take about a minute, transferring data at an average speed of 45 kb/second. In all, a minimum requirement is a computer with a Windows operating system.

Buy-ins - The minimum buy-in for real money games is at the standard that all online poker rooms use.  The minimum amount of chips a player must have when sitting at a table must be ten times the maximum bet limit.  For a $10/$20 game, the minimum buy-in is $200.

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Poker School

InterPoker does not operate a poker school, or sponsor a third party poker school.  However, they provide everything a new player will need to get by.  On the main InterPoker Website, under the navigation menu titled "Poker Strategy", links to pages with complete game rules, poker hand rankings, game strategy, tournament tips and general poker tips written by one of InterPokers team of professionals - made up of poker champions Kathy Liebert, Juha Helppi, Robert Varkonyi, Pete Giordano, and Scott Fischman - are available.

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Betting Structures, Rake & Tournament Fees

InterPoker likes to simplify things when it comes to rake fees.  Due to the large amount of players who frequent InterPoker at any given time, the amount of seats taken at any particular table are more than average.  As a result, InterPoker's rake policy governs tables with six or ten seats.  All pots over five units of dollars, pounds or Euros are raked 5%, with a maximum rake not exceeding three units.  Hands that do make it to the Flop are not raked.

Rake Schedules for one-on-one games of Texas Hold'em are displayed in the following chart:

In regards to Betting Structures for No-Limit and Pot Limit poker games, they are determined by the table type and buy-in amounts.  Minimum buy-in amounts for pot limit games and no-limit games are twenty times the maximum bet, with blinds being structured according to normal poker rules.  The small blind is always set for half the minimum bet amount, while the Big Blind is for the amount of the entire minimum bet.  As for betting rounds, the minimum stake is set for the first two rounds, while the maximum bet amount is set for the last two rounds.  All betting rounds are permitted to receive three raises.

The Tournament Entry Fees are posted in the software lobby when viewing each scheduled tournament.  The fees are for 10% the buy-in amount when the buy-in is $5 and above, while tournaments with buy-ins less than $5 usually are hit with a fee of 20% the buy-in amount.  As players scroll through the list of tournaments, in addition to listing tournament fees and buy-in amounts, the software will list whether the tournament is registering, finalized or just announced, how many players have already joined, seats per table, prize pool - and for single table tournaments - starting chips, levels, and games per level.

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Promotions

InterPoker offers a wide selection of Ongoing Poker Promotions that can all be viewed under the "InterCasino Promotions" navigation menu on their website.  Beginning in January of 2006, InterPoker began awarding My Poker Points (MPP's) to all players who participated in real money ring games.  MPP's are used to reward players for their loyalty to InterPoker, and make up a crucial component of the InterPoker Hot Spot League.  The way it works is that every registered real money player is automatically entered into the league, which contains 6,000 different spots.  Of these, 1,000 spots are considered Hot Spots, which give an award to the player who holds that spot at the close of the league.  Players can advance to higher Hot Spots based on the number of MPP's they have accumulated.  Basically, the more one plays, the more MPP's they will acquire.  The rate of acquisition is 1 point for a pot that hits a 1 unit rake, while quarter points are given for each pot hit with a quarter unit rake, but remaining under one unit.  So that players are kept abreast of how many MPP's they have earned, at the top of each real money poker game, players will see an "MPP's Earned" space with their sum of points that are refreshed while one continues to gamble.  In addition to free MPP's, players have several opportunities to join Free Rolls and satellite tournaments, many of which, award seats to the World Series of Poker.  The software lobby lets players peruse through all Multi-table Free Rolls, Specials and Satellite tournaments when they are announced and before registration begins.

One of the best offers at InterPoker is their monthly 100% bonus, which now seems to be a permanent fixture in their long list of promotions.  Players can get up to $100 Free every month as part of a 100% Match bonus.  The wager regulations on cashing the bonus out only require that a player gamble five times the bonus amount in raked hands.  This means that a $100 bonus will require a player to participate in 500 raked hands, which is very generous compared to other poker room bonus terms.  In order for the pot to be raked, it must be valued for at least $20.  Players will also receive a one-quarter rake credit for every hand played that gets raked from .25 to .99 units (Dollars, Euros or Pounds).  Raked hand accumulations are recorded and can be viewed by entering the online cashier and accessing the "My Promotions" tab.

Other promotions include Proposition Invitations that will actually pay players to join a table and initiate a game.  For instance, when a player logs in, they will receive a message stating that a particular table needs more players to get going.  The table type and stakes will be listed, as well as how much a player will be paid per hour (up to two hours total) for playing at the table.  Players can simply decline or go to the table, which may just happen to be the type of game they were wanting to join.  Bad Beat Jackpots, which start at $2,500 and increases by $250 a day, awards percentages of the jackpot to players who hold a minimum ranking hand beat by another player.  The winning player receives a portion of the jackpot as well.

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Cashier

ECash is the system responsible for processing all financial transactions made through the InterPoker cashier.  Using the most advanced encryption technology available, the cashier is highly secure and protected from outside hacking threats.  ECash is one of the world leader's in eCommerce technology, and has processed over $12 billion in more than 240 countries around the globe.  ECash Direct is located at Nimeli Court, 41-49 Agiou Nicolaou St., Block A, 3rd Floor, Engomi, 2408 Nicosia Cyprus.  Fund transfer methods, which allow for both deposits and withdrawals, include Visa and MasterCard credit cards, debit cards, NETeller, Citadel, FirePay, electronic check processing, wire transfers and Cheque.  Each method is explained on the InterPoker website, and sets forth step-by-step instructions on how to open an account and use to process funds within the online cashier.  In the cashier, players can print statement, view all transactions, active bonuses and rewards, and can contact a cashier representative to phone them regarding any issue.

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Security

As their website says, InterPoker is 100% Secure.  Making security and game fairness a top priority, InterPoker abides by a strict set of guidelines that insures all players are protected from collusion, poker robots and computer hackers seeking account information and identity information.  Computer servers are monitored and physically protected at all times, while the operating system is protected by 128-bit encryption and Secure Socket Layer firewalls.  In regards to game fairness, the software operates according to a random number generator, which is tested on a monthly basis by comparing long sequences of 300,000,000 generated numbers to a variety of statistical distributions.

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Disconnection Policy

Knowing that occasional internet disconnections between players and the software system do occur, InterPoker has a Disconnection Policy that gives the player the benefit of a doubt.  When a player is timed out, meaning the software does not register a response from the player in twenty consecutive seconds, the players hand will automatically be folded.  If it is determined that the players hand would have won a credit (depending on the outcomes of the rest of the players hands at the table) the player who was timed out will be credited with their rightful purse.  In cases where a hand is restarted and a player had already made the big or small blind, no money will be taken from the players true account, since only completed hands post to player accounts.

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Customer Service

With literally thousands of players on their site at any given time, the customer service branch at InterPoker is heavily manned and well-trained.  Toll free telephone support is available for nearly two-hundred and forty countries, and an open line through ECash Direct is available at their website: ecashdirect.net.  Players can also contact a large customer support system at helpdesk @ playershelp.com or may opt for live help when logged into the software platform.  Depending on availability, help from the Casino Host can be sought after by the player in the poker room lobby.  All in all, the personal support here has certainly received a great deal more praise than criticizing.  In addition to one-on-one help, players can opt to receive newsletters keeping them informed of upcoming events and site changes, and have the option of downloading InterPoker Alerts, which is a desktop feature that informs players the moment a new promotion or bonus is being offered.  For those who want to find out answers for themselves, there is a great FAQ section on the InterPoker website, covering Bonus codes, ECash direct, connection issues, game fairness and miscellaneous concerns.

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Visit InterPoker for more information.