Full review of The Poker Club

The Poker Club
www.thepokerclub.com 
FREE DOWNLOAD!
Established 1999
Software size 3.83 MB 

Special Features
Bad beat jackpot and high-hand bonus
VIP/Loyalty program
 

Total score (out of 10) 3.75

 Sign-up bonus in $ $100
Deposit bonus in % 25%
Referral bonus per friend $50

Hits
Live customer support
Note taking support
Lobby information is detailed, with view flop percentage
Refer-a-friend program
Nice promotions

Misses
Very low traffic
Sub standard software
Mostly low limit games

Summary
The Poker Club, formerly Poker.com, was launched for real money play already back in December 1999. The Poker Club has a tradition of nice promotions and quick support. The loyalty program has good rewards for the bigger players. The Poker Club is the leading poker room in the Power Network, sharing the software and player base. However, the new Power Network is in a build up phase so the traffic is often too low for comfort. The Power Network software was upgraded in March 2004 with stronger graphics and some added functionality. Now the software is at par with the other networks. The Poker Club is clearly the best choice among the rooms in the Power Network. Real money player statistics - April 2005 30-50 ring game players at peak hours, 50-100 tournament players at peak hours.

Software and graphics
The software is part of Power Network by Micropower. The software has most of the basic functionality, such as statistics, player notes, but does not provide a very smooth experience. The graphics are not appealing. Lower score than average.

Ring game traffic
ThePokerClub ring game traffic is low, with 50-70 real money players at peak times.

Tournament traffic
The tournament traffic is low, reaching somewhere around 40-80 real money players at peak times.

Game variety
ThePokerClub has all the standard games; Hold'em, Omaha Hi and Hi-Lo, seven-card stud Hi and Hi-Lo, as well as five-card stud. There are also no-limit or pot-limit versions offered in the most relevant games. There are also 1-on-1 games, primarily hold'em. There are both single and multi-table tournament events.

Rake
The rake is slightly higher than the average for full games, typically 5% are taken in even intervals. The rake for short-handed games is better. The max rake at tables is never more than $3. Tables below $2/$4 limit have a max rake of $1.5 or lower. Short-handed games with less than 6 players are capped at max rake $2. Tables with 2 or 3 players are not raked above $0.5. The tournaments fees under $100, have charges at 10%, with 9% for the $100. The exception is the $5 fee with a $1 charge.

Soft competition
The games seem to be quite loose. However, there is not much volume to make a clear assessment at present.

Sign up bonus
25% deposit match for a maximum of $100. For each 50 points earned $10 is released. By just paying a tournament fee of $100 you will qualify for the bonus of $100, which makes the clauses very favorable. For ring games there is not clear point scheme communicated at the site.

Loyalty bonus
Poker Club Points are awarded for each raked hand player participates in, redeemable for tournament entries, merchandise and other. The top monthly players get special awards. Nice.

Promotions
ThePokerClub offers a good number of promotions, some of high value. There is a referral program with $50 for each new real money friend joining. There are also some value added tournaments. The progressive bad beat jackpot is only for hold'em ring games, the jackpot starts at $2000 with $50 added each day, until it is won. The requirement is using both hole cards for a minimum of aces full of kings (which makes it the only full house meeting the requirement). There is also a daily hold'em high-hand bonus of $250 for hold'em. There are a number of free rolls and satellites for members of the Gold and Platinum Club.

Support
There is live support online, as well as telephone and e-mail support.

Financial security
Should be quite secure, with a history as a top 20 poker room in the world, with no earlier recorded problems. However, with the lower traffic we have put down the top score a notch. Good score.

Deposit & withdrawal options
Deposit options:
VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, FirePay, Western Union, PrePaid ATM, Western Union.
Cash out options:
NETeller, FirePay*, VISA* and check (VISA and FirePay up to the deposited amount only).