Ignition Poker launched in 2016 and accepts players from several countries around the world including most U.S. states and all of Australia. It is the USA's largest poker site based on traffic.

The site is purportedly owned by an investment group in Hong Kong known as the PaiWangLuo Poker Network after the Bodog Poker Network (including Bovada Poker) was acquired and all traffic shifted (temporarily) to Ignition.

More on history and details below...

Software and Games

Ignition Poker can be played on any desktop or mobile device connected to the internet. For desktop play, the download client is suggested with all the bells, whistles, and big screen features.

Smartphone and tablet users can just go to the website and login (or sign-up) to start playing.

Ignition Poker is accessible on all operating systems and devices. The client runs on Windows PC, Mac, iOS, and Android OS. The Instant Play web app will let you play right in your web browser.

Companion-site: Ignition Casino

To read a full review of the connected online casino site, please go here. Video slots, progressive games, blackjack, roulette, video poker, and specialty games are bolted right onto the poker software. No need to visit the cashier to transfer funds, just hop back and forth whenever you want. Casino games are available from various software providers including legacy/proprietary RTG slots, Rival, Makitone, Genesis (GGI), and others.

Top Poker Features

The user interface is mobile friendly and navigation is essentially the same no matter what sort of device you use. It's easy to find the games you want quickly.

Games offered include:

• No Limit Hold'em 
• Limit Hold'em
• Pot Limit Hold’em
• Limit Omaha
• Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
• Pot Limit Omaha
• Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
• Stud

Anonymous Tables

One of the most important features for beginner and novice players alike is Anonymous Tables. Old sharks might not like them so much at first because they can't track your play over all time and use heads-up displays (HUDs), artificial intelligence, or any other tools to know how you play better than you might (yet). Beyond that, and maybe a little bit of ego that goes with using a personal avatar and username - there's nothing not to like about all of the Anonymous Table features.

Wide range of player skills

Ignition is home to every stripe of player from beginners to intermediate players and old pros.

If you're fairly new to the game it's best hit the free tables or to bet within your means and learn all you can. Since the sharks won't be able to sniff you out, they won't be picking on you either.

But anonymous play also has some advantages for people with a good set of skills and strategies behind their game; some of the crowd will offer softer competition for the pot. Focus on your game skills and maintain your edge and the tables at Ignition will offer you plenty of excitement in a landscape that otherwise gets tougher to navigate every day.

Quick Seat

If you want to play cash games like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or Omaha Hi/Lo for particular stakes you won't have to wait around to find a seat at the game. Using the Quick Seat feature you'll be sent to the table you want to play at as soon as a seat opens up.

Mobile Access

By now it should go without saying that mobile players expect the same real money poker experience as anyone sitting at home or in the office playing on a desktop device. The mobile features are up-to-date and you can even play a lot of the casino games if you want a break from the action.

Zone Poker

This is a feature for those who never go on tilt, can manage their bankroll, and can handle double the adrenaline rush from playing more than a hundred hands per hour.

Zone, or fast-fold poker cash games transport you to a new table as soon as you fold a hand. You can even play two tables at a time, if you have the steel for it.

You don't have to sit there after folding to wait for the game to finish, but you will find new players and a new set of hole cards much quicker. When the place is hopping, tables fill and a new game starts fast. It's almost always quicker than waiting it out at a single table.

Since it's all about speed and constant action, or as constant as possible, you only get 15 seconds to make your decision instead of the 30 seconds normally seen in cash games.

Blinds are handled a little differently since you'll have a new set of opponents with every hand. The big blind is assigned to someone who has not paid the big blind yet, or to the player that's gone the longest without. If two or more players fit the description one of them will be assigned the big blind at random.

Tournaments

One of the main reasons Ignition players get fired up is the tournament scheme. Look for over a million dollars in guaranteed action. Work your way up with daily satellites throughout the week or buy-in to the $100,000 guaranteed Sunday tournament for $150 and take a shot at the $17,000+ winner's seat.

Like the big festivals?

The Springtime offers over 7 digits in prize money with the Black Diamond Poker Open and Summertime brings on way more than a million dollars in prizes with the Super Millions Poker Open. There are dozens of tournaments to choose from during the festivals - and - you can play up to 20 tables at a time.

Bonuses and Promotions

While poker promotions are not over-complicated by online casino standards, there's still a lot for new players to learn in order to take full advantage of the offers. Ignition keeps it pretty simple.

Be sure to check elsewhere on this page or on site for current offers and terms as they can change from time to time.

The maximum welcome bonus will be released in increments over a month's time. If you don't get it all cleared in 30 days, at least you'll get a portion of it.

You'll earn Poker Points for tournament fees paid and when contributing to a cash pot. The rake will determine the number of points issued in cash games.

Cash players can look for ongoing promotions like Bad Beat Jackpots and a Royal Flush multiplier-bonus based on the big blind.

Poker Points can be swapped over to the casino for bonuses. They have playthrough requirements but no max cash out limits. You can also get tourney tickets with them.

Banking at Ignition Poker

Deposits

American and Australian players are accustomed to the fact that currency conversion fees and other incidentals can add costs to their gaming. It's no different here. Most credit and debit card deposits will cost about the same as buying Bitcoin and depositing that way - a little under 6%. Bitcoin Cash may be the cheapest way to deposit and the method is available here.

Withdrawals

There are usually three ways to get your money out, with an occasional alternate method added for convenience when possible.

• Bitcoin
• Bank wire
• Check

Each method has its own limits and potential fees. I always go with...

Bitcoin because it's fast and free.

Bank wires are not free and can take a few weeks to hit your account.

Checks can be drawn on Canadian or other banks, have a fairly large fee, and can take three weeks or more to arrive. Your first check withdrawal will be free if requested. Please check terms and conditions or the banking page for how often checks can be sent free of charge.

Pitfalls

• Deposits and most withdrawals are not free unless you use cryptocurrency
• Occasional slow pays
• Unregulated gaming site (no known gaming license)

Oddly enough, there's not a lot of sense in trying to chase the paper trails of who owns what because the site has been operating without a valid license since September 2016, when Salmon River Technologies Limited (www.bovada.lv) and Lynton Limited (www.cafecasino.lv, www.slots.lv and www.ignitioncasino.eu) left the purview of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

The Final Word

Ignition Poker is the number one US tournament site, period.

It might take seasoned players a minute to get accustomed to the anonymous tables, but with plenty of fish out there thanks to the volume of recreational players, it should prove worth your while.

I've been playing at Ignition since they launched. I came over to the casino side from Slots.lv. While it was nice to see they had the Kahnawake (Canadian First Nation) Gaming Commission seal of approval, that came with mixed feelings due to some history with the regulator.

Unlicensed sites are rare, but this one is special and different due to about 20 years of the Bodog legacy. All associated gaming sites have always paid, even when I had to wait for new processors to be found thanks to UIGEA 2006. Now that Ignition is not necessarily associated with Bodog (Bovada), nothing has changed. They still pay, and Bitcoin payments are very fast.

Ignition Poker is a good bet for the beginner and novice because there are free play tables and you can really sharpen your cash game skills with worthy competitors at the real tables. It's a good bet for old hands too because there's always a fresh game to be had.

The onboard casino offers variety and one of the only places in the US or Australia that you can play a whole suite of Genesis Gaming slots made in Las Vegas. The RTG Real Series slots with random jackpots can create a lot of buy-ins, and the casino offers a welcome bonus even if you took the welcome match here.