Today we will share our honest thoughts on playing online in regular poker sites and all the disadvantages of doing so.
The purpose of this article is not to show a certain regular poker site in a negative light. This is why, we will not mention poker sites names , but at the same time, we will expose the countless disadvantages of those platforms.
Which are the “Regular Poker Sites” ?
By “regular poker sites” we mean all those old school platforms, in which starting to play is often more challenging than beating the tough regs, which lurk on the tables. But more on that later.
Maybe for some of you, the term regular poker sites automatically paints a picture in your head of large corporations, tough to navigate bonus systems and questionable withdraw rules and fees.
So here are the main reasons why we find regular poker sites to be the worst way to play poker online :
1. Country Restrictions
Playing in any regulated site, comes with a extensive list of allowed and forbidden countries. Green listed, grey Listed, black listed countries, they have it all.
Sometimes , you are allowed to play a bit on their platform this month, but from the next one, the site is no longer available in your country. What will happen to my funds ? What will happen with the challenges i have been trying to complete for a hefty prize ? Where will i play now ? All of those are valid questions, which many of you have asked themselves on occasion or two.
Not only that, some people find it enticing to try to use VPN to mask their location, and cheat the rules a little bit. But once they decide to cashout and the imminent KYC check comes into play, the chances of withdrawing your winnings are next to 0. Which bring us to the next inconvenience of large poker sites :
2. KYC ( Know your customer )
Is it really needed to explain further ? The 3 letters of doom. Once you are asked to provide these documents, you already know the possible complications, which may occur. Now you have to send ID, License Plate, Electricity Bills, Proof of Address, Proof of Income, Your Grandma’s favourite dish in written format and your Dog’s birthday certificate. On top of few other “very important” documents.
KYC checks are the best way for you to be immediately irritated and never return to play online.
Alternative: Club poker apps have none of these verification checks. You just create free account and ask your agent for chips. Mobile applications also do not have country restrictions.
3. Terrible Bonus Systems
The infamous joke ” More rake is better” on regular poker sites is paraphrased to ” Less Bonuses is great”. The Poker Agent is team of experienced affiliates, which for many years have been playing and referring people to regular poker platforms, for the lack of better alternatives. Mentioning this not to brag, but for exactly the opposite reason.
Even though we have been on hundreds of platforms, some of those regular poker sites have so ridiculous rules and conditions, that even we do not understand them. Doctor of mathematics will have a hard time figuring out how the bonus system works.
The conditions of getting to approximately 15-20% rakeback in large sites, involves opening chests, grinding for many hours a day , participating in hand races and overall destroying your personal life, in order to try and reach an end goal, which is not that rewarding. Not to mention, that you will not be able to reach always.
Alternative: Agent based platforms, have clear bonus system and often even flat rakeback deal, which gives you freedom to play only when you are at your best, not being forced to grind in order to reach an unattractive prize in the end.
4. Hidden Cashout Fees
It is important to mention, that not all regular poker sites do this, but most of them are. They do not flat out tell you that they will charge you cashout fee. Instead they modify the currency exchange rate or directly send you less money, without much explanations.
Upon discovering this, you may decide to ask them what’s up with that, but you are about to face the next inconveniency – their customer service.
Alternative: Playing using a reputable poker agent, means you will receive your cashout without fees and immediately within few minutes.
5. Slow Customer Service
There is not a single regulated poker site, which have responsive live chat, which resolves the issues immediately. It is always an overarching email discussions, which take weeks and sometimes months.
Even for the simple questions, you have to wait at the very minimum couple of hours, before receiving some kind of answer, which is often disappointing.
Of course some sites are better than others in this regard, but overall, not one of them have fully functional and helpful customer service.
In comparison – poker agents are at your disposable at all times for all your questions. All the conversations are in friendly matter on personal message, you do not have to write formal emails and expect a formal answer. No bots, no robot-like answers. Human conversation.
6. Regs and Sharks
Regular poker sites are filled with good players. The amount of sharks on the tables, cannot be compared to any private game online. The fact that these regular players feel a bit more secure, while playing on fully regulated platforms, means that they will always choose these sites over the other softer options.
The marketing of the large poker rooms, works in an amazing way, giving the players an illusion of complete safety. We had a ton of negative experiences with regular sites, but most of the recreational low stakes players will rarely notice or be presented with these challenges themselves.
Alternative: Poker apps are where the recreational players gather. It works like a time machine, you go back to 2008-2010, where almost everyone had more enthusiasm than skill. It really is a unique way to enjoy online poker. No GTO geeks and no tough sharks, who can smell blood and exploit almost any mistake.
7. Terrible Conditions for Affiliates
Yes being an affiliate for large poker site is very simple . You gain a referral link and start spamming it everywhere. Not much else is needed from you.
However, the actual rakeback bonuses are very low, both for your players and for yourself. In some of the platforms, the system is very difficult to understand or will not reward you at all for bringing winning players.
Not only that most regular poker sites, have targets, which if not reached, you do not get anything for referring players. One of the platforms we have worked with back in a day and is still up and running – had this condition of raking 5 digits per week, before starting to pay us anything.
Basically we needed few dozen of mid stakes players or hundreds of low stakes players, to reach this number.
One of the newest regular poker sites on the market, again without mentioning its name , charged us 2% every time player made withdraw using the in-app cashier. This system is nightmare to work with, as players join , play and cashout on daily basis. In the end, instead of rewarding the act of referring players, you may be punished for doing so.
Alternative : It is much much more simple to become poker agent and work directly with experienced partner, who do not have any punishing rules. Your time is rewarded, instead of wondering if you will be rewarded or penalized.
Final Words
Ultimately everyone decides for themselves, where to play poker online. The Poker Agent team has offer from all the largest regular poker sites in the world and we refused almost all of them. For us will be much easier to just put referral link and not provide any customer service or take care of deposits and withdraws.
However, our main goal is to offer poker players always the latest best thing, when it comes to online poker. We will never neglect our principles, just for something which will be more rewarding for us or easier to do. This is why, you can find a bit less known places to play poker, but we are absolutely sure, they are the best ones as of right now.
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