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- PokerKing Review
| Bonus | 100% up to $2,000 |
| Rakeback | up to 65% |
| Room type | Licensed |
| License | Curaçao |
| Payments | |
| Platforms |
- US-recreational players
- HM/PT and HUD support
- All stakes action
- Up to $2000 match bonus
- Up to 65% rakeback
- Private rakeback deal
| Reliability | 4.9 |
| Game selection | 4.9 |
| Bonuses and promotions | 4.7 |
| Casual players | 4.2 |
| Deposits and withdrawals | 4.9 |
| Convenience of the software | 4.5 |
PokerKing Review
PokerKing — is the flagship poker room of the American Winning Poker Network. Although PokerKing doesn’t accept players directly from the United States, it shares traffic with other US-friendly sites, which allows them to focus on other markets such as Europe and Russia, and also avoid any legal issues with local laws.
PokerKing differs from most poker sites since all of its promotions are aimed exclusively at regular players and essentially represent direct rakeback. For example, a 100% welcome bonus up to $2,000, reloads, and weekly rake race. Combined with the VIP program, you can get up to 65% rakeback.
Because of this, it has a reputation of a "pro players and rake grinders infested.” But is that actually true? In the following review, we will answer this and other questions:
- Is 65% rakeback real or not?
- What is the best time to play?
- Is it safe to play here?
Bonuses and promotions
PokerKing offers promos such as rake races, reloads, and tournament series. These clearly benefit regs more. Only freerolls are available for beginners.
We can summarize the bonuses available at PokerKing as follows:
- 100% First deposit bonus up to $2,000;
- Royal club loyalty program with up to 65% rakeback;
- The Beast weekly rake race for cash games;
- Sit & Crush weekly rake race for SnG players;
- Private rakeback deal from trusted affiliates.
PokerKing rakeback
The Royal Club at Pokerking is a loyalty program consisting of 6 levels that give from 12% up to 65% rakeback. The first four levels are monthly, and the last two are annual.
How does it work?
5.5 Status Points (SP) are awarded for $1 in rake during all cash tables or tournaments and are used to progress up the levels. As your level rises, the rate of obtaining Royalty Points (RP) increases, which can be exchanged for money.
This procedure can be done directly at the client's cashier: Rewards → Loyalty → Points Exchange.
The RP exchange rate is different for each level. Therefore, it is wise to exchange points at the highest possible level for you to maximize value.
Meanwhile, the SP exchange rate is permanently fixed, so there is no point in saving them.
In addition, there are extra Achievements that players receive automatically for gaining a certain amount of SP per year.
You can view them in Rewards → Loyalty → Achievements.
| Level | Status Points* | Multiplier RP | RP per $1 | Rakeback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 0 | 1x | ||
| Silver | 750 | 1,5x | 100 | 12%-14,5% |
| Gold | 3,000 | 2x | 90 | 14,5%-20% |
| Platinum | 7,500 | 2,5x | 83,3 | 17,5%-22% |
| Royal | 100,000 | 3,5x | 66,6 | 26%-46% |
| King | 1,000,000 | 5x | 62,5 | 57%-65% |
Important things to know about the Royal Club:
- To maintain a level, you need half as much SP to reach that level from the one below.
- Part of the rake (about 15% to 20%) goes towards Beast races and does not contribute to status progression.
- King status (1,000,000 SP or $181,818 rake) remains until the end of February of the following year.
Royal Club is similar to “Supernova Elite” from the old Pokerstars loyalty program. Considering all the bonuses from races and loyalty statuses, it is quite possible to receive up to 70-75% in RB. However, this requires a lot of regular play throughout the year.
But even low-volume players may count on a fair 20-25% cashback. You can also request an exclusive promotion through our manager. It will boost your rakeback and make the room even more profitable.
Rake Races at Pokerking
PokerKing runs two weekly races: Sit & Crush and The Beast. The first one rewards SnG players including Jackpots (spins). The Beast is designed for cash games fans only. Both races reward players with cash and entries to tournaments.
The leaderboard structure was changed. In 2020, the network changed the leaderboard structure. The number of prize places was increased from 400 to 600. Many grinders were affected by this decision, but on the other hand, more players cash in.
The Poker King VIP program will draw the attention of regs mainly, as it rewards high volume with massive cashback. Hence, you can expect many rake machines at the tables. The network has been trying to add “casual” promotions for amateurs but nothing exciting has come to the tables yet.
Our manager will confirm all the details of our rakeback deal at PokerKing:
PokerKing rake
The rake for Hold'em and Omaha is 5%. According to the "weight contributed" scheme (when the rake share directly depends on the player's contribution to the pot), the commission is only charged if the player hits the flop.
The amount of rake is quite high (more than the market average) on stakes up to $1/$2 due to large caps. But starting at NL / PLO $200, the standard fees charged are comparable to any other top competitor.
The cap changes as follows:
| Stakes ($) | Rake per pot ($) | 2 players cap ($) | 3 players cap ($) | 4 players cap ($) | 5+ players cap ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All up to and including 1/2 | 0.01 for each 0.20 in the pot | 0.50 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2/4, 3/6, 4,8 | 0.05 for each 1 in the pot | 1 | 1.50 | 2 | 3 |
| 5/10 and greater | 0.25 for each 5 in the pot | 1.25 | 1.75 | 2.25 | 3 |
Rake in SnGs and MTTs varies from 2% to 10%. It depends on the table size, the speed of the blinds’ growth, and the buy-in.
At all stakes of JackPot spins, the rake is 6%.
Games and traffic
PokerKing belongs to the Winning Poker Network, which is one the largest networks to host US users. It features 24/7 action and the peak of traffic occurs at night and morning GMT since this period falls on the US prime time.
Cash Games: Hold’em, Omaha, and Fast-Fold
No surprise, Texas Hold'em is the most popular: 6-max and 9-max tables, CAP (30bb). Stakes start from $0.02/$0.05 and are actively played on up to $100/$2000. Poker King is one of the few poker sites where you can find action at Full Ring tables in 2023.
Omaha is represented by the same stakes as Texas Hold'em but has much more variety: limit, no-limit, regular pot-limit, as well as Hi/Lo. The casual-magnet PLO5 game was launched in 2022 with stakes up to $25/$50.
Stud and Fixed Limit is not popular. There are some tables at the highest stakes but little action at stakes of up to $5/$10.
Blitz Poker
The Blitz Poker represents the Fast-Fold format. Whenever you fold, you are moved to a different table. It is played on NL10, NL50, and NL200 with 80-130 players each.
Bomb Pots
In 2020, WPN decided to jump into the “poker ecology” train; Bomb Pots is an example of this. Up to 4 times per hour at special tables, a unique hands take place. The game starts in the flop and instead of blinds, all players put antes (4BB for 6-max and 2BB at 9-max tables). You can identify such tables with a cannonball icon in the lobby.
PokerKing tournaments MTT
PokerKing features Hold'em and Omaha events: deep stacks, knockouts as 6-, 8- and 9-max formats with buy-ins ranging from $0.10 to $1,050. The total weekly guarantee exceeds $10,000,000!
Professional players will be interested in:
- $1,000,000 GTD Million Dollar Sundays for $265 (multi-flight)
- BIG10 $100k GTD for $215
- PKO $100k GTD for $320
- BIG10 High Roller: $500,000 GTD for $630
- PKO Sunday Special: $50,000 GTD PLO 6-max for $630
Note, that the schedule of the Pokerking MTT grid does not match with European poker sites.
Several tournament series like Online Super Series Cub3d is held several times a year guaranteeing millionaire prize pools. The biggest tournament event at PokerKing is The Venom ($10M GTD and PKO $5M GTD).
During one of The Venom's tournaments, the network set a Guinness World Record for the largest cryptocurrency-winning jackpot in an online poker tournament with a $1,050,560 Bitcoin payout.
Spins and SnG
Although Pokerking is not recognized as the best poker site for Spin and Go, fans will be pleased to know that this format is still popular at here. The poker room has only the classic 6-max and 9-max formats represented by regular, turbo, and hyper-turbo types. Games range from $0.55 to $206.15. Several dozen tables are active at night, and there is a potential for growth thanks to Sit & Crush.
JackPot
Jackpot spins (analog of Spin & Go from Pokerstars) have 9 different stakes, 7 of which are held in Hold'em, the remaining 2 - in Omaha. In NLH, buy-ins range from $2 to $40, as well as tournaments for $5, $15, and $50 with an opportunity to win $1,000,000.
PLO has only two buy-ins available (for $2 and $10) without a jackpot.
PokerKing has decent traffic in all popular games. In addition, historically "American" types of poker such as Stud and Fixed Limit Hold'em, which have long been forgotten in Europe, are still played here. The best time to play is obviously the US prime time.
In this case, it is not a downside but rather a reason to revise your schedule.
Game softness
PokerKing combines a high rakeback with access to poker statistics, a perfect formula to attract regulars. However, it doesn’t mean casual players don’t play in the room
Here you can meet players from countries where poker is prohibited or has an underground status: Turkey, Portugal, Australia, Israel, or in other words soft countries.
Attitude towards professional players
- Trackers - yes.
- Auto-landing scripts - no.
- Mining - no.
- Bumhunt - no.
- Preflop charts - no.
If it weren’t for the fact that this poker room has removed the opportunity to bumhunt (see the players’ nicknames until you sit down at the table and post the blind), then PokerKing would have easily entered the top three most loyal rooms concerning regulars.
Unfortunately, for professional players, only the following tools are available:
PokerKing appeals to regulars, and this can be noticed in literally everything from the rakeback system to the tournament grid. In addition, we are not aware of any cases of bans of winning players, so the field here is quite competitive across all stakes and rake grinders infested.
PokerKing software
PokerKing software is operated on the SJH Studio platform. In addition, the room client is available for Windows and Mac.
The client has a friendly interface that anyone with little knowledge of online poker can easily understand. In the upper part, there are menu sections. Below them, you will find lobbies of tables and tournaments, and in the lower right corner, there are filter and cashier buttons. The client operates at a very fast speed.
PokerKing allows poker trackers with direct HUD output.
Winning Poker Network started a crusade against bots in 2019; as a result, layouts were prohibited. Nevertheless, the client offers over 20 themes and other customization options for the tables.
One of the most exciting software features is the Sping to Get In slot and Double or Nothing lottery. The first one allows you to win buy-in for a tournament by spending less than a dollar. And in the lottery, if you're lucky, you can double the prize of a cash session. Please note that there are regular crashes of the software that forces you to cancel tournaments. They happen several times per month.
Not a very critical thing, but essential to know nevertheless.
Mobile app
PokerKing launched its full-fledged mobile client for Android users in 2023 (it's still being tested for iOS).
All cash games and tournaments are available and you can play in up to 4 tables at the same time.
Reliability and trustworthiness
- Year of foundation - 2012.
- License - Curaçao.
- RNG certificate - iTechLabs.
- Identity verification - necessary.
- Guarantees from WPD - no.
PokerKing can be called a legal and reliable poker site: Curaçao gaming license (No. 8048 / JAZ), KYC identity verification, and a high level of trust from players and affiliates.
During its eight-year history, the poker room has not been involved in any high-profile scandals.
Since 2019 the network started a fight against bots and compensate players after blocking accounts.
There is a public roadmap for updates, which confirms the openness of the Winning Poker Network to its player base. In addition, the most significant affiliates are engaged in the promotion of PokerKing, which is another plus and a sign of reliability.
Banking options
Players have many options to fund their accounts. Check out the restrictions of each method:
| Payment Method | Deposit | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $5-$2,500 | $5-$25,000 |
| Skrill | $5-$1000 | $10-$2,500 |
| Neteller | $5-$777 | $10-$5,000 |
| USDT Tether ERC-20 | $10-$25,000 | $50-$25,000 |
| ecoPayz | $5-$777 | $10-$2,500 |
| LuxonPay | $10-$25,000 | $50-$25,000 |
| LiteCoin | $10-$25,000 | $50-$25,000 |
| Ethereum ERC-20 | $10-$25,000 | $50-$25,000 |
| Visa | $25-$300 | - |
*When using Skrill and other e-wallets, both e-mail addresses must match.
Withdrawals are processed within 3 business days.
It is important to note that only the first cashout since the beginning of the month up to $2,500 (for high-rollers this amount can be modified with the room support) is carried out without commission. From all subsequent and larger withdrawals via e-wallets, the room retains 5%. If the deposited funds were not used in games and were placed for withdrawal, the room takes a 3% commission.
Verification is required to withdraw more than $500. For smaller cashouts, it is not necessary. Nevertheless, we recommend that you go through the verification of documents immediately after registration and not postpone this necessary but straightforward procedure.
The list of documents required for verification is standard:
- A copy of your passport, ID, or driving license.
- Utility bill or a bank statement.
If you have some questions, you can reach PokerKing support via live chat on their website or by filling out an online contact form. This room also has an extensive FAQ with video tutorials on their website and an AI virtual assistant (although it is still in a BETA version).
PokerKing is one of the few WPN skins with Skrill and Neteller in the cashier, all others only offer crypto. So this is a significant advantage of the site despite the commissions charged.
Summary: pros and cons to play at PokerKing
Main advantages of the poker room:
- Full ring table action.
- Fast-Fold poker (Blitz) up to $200 NL.
- High total rakeback (Elite Benefits program, races).
- One of the largest MTTs grid.
- Trackers and HUD support
- US-friendly Winning Poker Network.
- Skrill and Neteller in the cashier.
The main disadvantages of the site:
- The peak of traffic occurs at an inconvenient time for Europeans.
- Reg-infested filed.
- 5% commission for more than one withdrawal per month
- Lack of table selection.
- Regular software crashes with tournament cancellations involved.
Who will benefit from Poker king?
Grinders will benefit from a high cashback program and our VIP rakeback deal.
As mentioned previously, even though PokerKing does not directly accept users from the US, it is a part of the Winning Poker Network, with a shared player pool, meaning that clients from that region can greatly benefit from it. It’s also an entry point to WPN with Skrill and Neteller.
There are no prohibitions of poker tracking software in the room. It will also appeal to those who enjoy large 9-max tables, practically absent at other platforms.
Why play with us
Worldpokerdeals has vast experience in the poker affiliate market. We deal directly with all major online poker sites owners and administrators to offer our players the best deals, and our team of 10 managers provides fast and attentive service.
Our players get:
- VIP rakeback deal;
- No commission for any number of cashouts per month (high rollers);
- Professional customer service seven days a week.
Please contact our team to get a deal and start playing now:
