Black Chip Poker Review
Black Chip Poker, a skin of the Merge Gaming Network, has recently re-opened its doors to residents of the U.S. While the Merge Gaming Network has done this across all of its poker affiliates, Black Chip Poker has emerged as a primary source of consistent revenue, contemporary features, and good game play.
Almost exclusive to Black Chip Poker, the site is also a host to several well-known online players, including Ben “reasons14″ Reason and Owen “QTip” Gaines, who have both been playing professionally for over 5 years. They’ve gained notoriety through their extensive knowledge of the world on online poker play, and their ability to dominate the games shouldn’t only be attributed to their skill, but also ability to exploit the weak competition of Black Chip Poker.
You too can become a beneficiary from this soft player pool, by signing up with Black Chip Poker through us here at High Stakes Report.
The Merge Gaming Network and Black Chip Poker have delivered an impressive platform, capable of mesmerizing even the most scrutinous players, and with tons of poker variations and great promotions, signing up for Black Chip Poker will be a worthy investment to your online bankroll.
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Layout and Features
Many players who have filtered through various sites on the Merge Gaming Network will notice that the interface of Black Chip Poker looks and feels familiar. Reason being, is that the Merge Gaming Network rarely infuses too much change into their lobbies and virtual tables, understanding that they’ve been functional and efficient since they were first introduced.
The lobby does included a newly-redesigned Black Chip Poker logo, but for the most part, the lobby has remain unchanged since that last Merge update. However, the poker games are still very easy to locate, and most of the essential parts of adjustable features can still be found.
Some novelty items such as their Bad Beat Jackpot counter, the poker game legend which explains unique symbols, and player traffic display are readily available for users who need to stay keen on these particular statistics. Maintaining that thought, table stats and in-game results are also still monitored, so you’ll never been in the dark concerning how frequently you “win at showdown”, or how many times the players at a table “see the flop”.
Heads-up, full-ring, and shorthanded tables may be played, and other more circumstantial customizable selections may be chosen at your liking.
Customer Service
Providing the best customer service possible is a goal that Black Chip Poker is dedicated to. Providing friendly and personalized customer support has been a staple of the platform since it was first introduced, and continues to be one of its strong points moving forward in its evolution.
The 24-hour support system is used either through their online contact form, emailing the staff, or chatting with live support. The last method listed is mainly for real-money players, and will need to be done by downloading the software and contacting them through here. After logging in, the “support” button should become available.
Processing your cash outs and withdrawals also isn’t too difficult, but in order to make sure that things are processed legally and without discrepancy, new players have to go through a secure identification process. This may involve sending scans of your photo ID, along with previous bank statements, or any other verifiable materials that Black Chip Poker’s staff deems appropriate.
For your safety, and the safety of other using the software, they need to use these methods to prevent frivolous theft and other illegal financial transactions. Money laundering, bank fraud, identity theft and collusion are a few of the most reviews portions of Black Chip Poker’s security team, and those thinking they can avoid penalty will be surprised by the comprehensiveness of their procedures.
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Competition
Merge and Black Chip Poker have been padding the bankrolls of skillful online grinders for years. Although players from the U.S. have likely been disappointed that they couldn’t cash in on the soft games while they were excluded, both international players and American residents will be happy to see an increased player pool full of easy targets.
What makes Black Chip Poker so profitable is its preference to maintain focus on the micro and low-limit areas, where many players are just starting out or have yet to gain a complete understanding of poker’s complexity. Those well-versed in poker’s latent lingo will be happy to see that there are still sites that have players willing to spew away buy-ins.
Long-term players will rarely be able to duplicate the profits they earned nearly a decade ago, however, Black Chip Poker and the Merge Gaming Network go a long way towards re-igniting that spark that improved the take-home pay of so many professionals.
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Games
At Black Chip Poker, you may play the following games:
- Texas Hold’em
- Omaha Hi
- Omaha High/Low
- Five-Card Stud
- Razz
- Badugi
- Five-Card Draw
- Triple Draw
- Seven-Card Stud
- Ace-to-Five Lowball
- Deuce-to-Seven Lowball
- H.O.R.S.E.
- Euchre
Included within the casino suite are Blackjack, Caribbean Stud, Roulette, Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, and Deuces Wild.
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Traffic
Black Chip Poker usually has around 1,000 players during off-peak hours, and well over 2,000 players during peak times. Although the site doesn’t have the most players, the good news is that the Merge Gaming Network is only going up in terms of popularity, which should allow more players to join partners daily.
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Tournaments
For those new to online tournaments, the biggest form of event being offered is that of the “Guaranteed” format. In these types of events, there are set prize pools, meaning that no matter how few entries the tournament has, players will have a set amount of money they can expect to be paid out. This tournament type has become the most popular because of one reason: They’re the largest paying revenue source on ANY poker site.
Across many sites on the Merge Gaming Network, including Black Chip Poker, the $100,000 Sunday Guarantee serves as the premier attraction for tournament players. This event pays first place at least $25,000, and usually more depending on the number of entrants.
If you prefer other more elusive tournament types, you can try your hand at Rebuys, Add-Ons, Bounties, Turbos and Sit-N-Gos. These events are also very lucrative, so if you specialize in any of these areas, it will be to your benefit to spend your time dismantling this revenue source.
Live tournament events also generate a high level of anticipation, and occasionally Black Chip Poker throws in a satellite or qualifying tournament to a major event such as the World Series of Poker to give players the chance to enter cheaply.
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Freerolls
Winning real money for no investment sounds too good to be true. But it’s not when you sign up on Black Chip Poker. If you’re looking to make a little pocket change while having fun experimenting with your poker identity, feel free to give the freeroll tournaments on the site a shot.
Freerolls usually include large player fields, but anyone who is a competent poker player will usually do better than average despite the odds. Running a series of five $200 freerolls every day, you may enter one of these events to try and win free money! As with any tournament, you’ll need a bit of luck and well-timed aggression to seal a victory, but it’s very possible with five different freerolls on any given day.
What makes things even better, is that there are 3 different freeroll game types: No-Limit Hold’em, H.O.R.S.E. and Pot-Limit Omaha. If you have more skill in one versus the other, you’ll be better off taking advantage of your skill in that area.
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Stakes
Black Chip Poker does well by using some standardized limits across the most popular online poker sites, and does provide a few bigger games for the high-stakes community. Limits start from as low as $.01/$.02 and climb to $200/$400 for No-Limit games.
Limit players, and games that are a bit more seldom such as Badugi and Draw poker, have stakes that have been scaled back appropriately due to their inactivity.
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Private Games
Although available, you’ll need to request assistance from the support team if you wish to have a private event other than a tournament. Private tournaments may be established from the lobby window, and selecting the “tournaments” tab.
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Compatible Operating Systems
Players on both Windows-based computers and Macs may use the Black Chip Poker software. Available in download versions for both, gone are the days of the limited “instant-play” Flash applets that become cumbersome after short periods of play.
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Deposit Bonus & Player Rewards
At High Stakes Report, we offer an exclusive 200% bonus up to $2,000 for new depositors on Black Chip Poker. By entering the bonus code MAC2K, you’ll be given this outstanding bonus with little to no effort. Just make a qualifying deposit to receive the maximum bonus!
The player rewards system on Black Chip Poker is referred to as the Ace-High VIP program. Every time you play for actual money on Black Chip Poker, you’ll receive a certain amount of VIP Points. Depending on your current VIP level (which ranges from level “2 high” to “A high”), you’ll gather points more quickly, and be able to redeem them at a faster pace.
In order to reach a certain level, you’ll need to hit a specific point requirement, and maintain this level over time to stay in this range. If you continue to earn more points at a faster rate, your membership level will improve.
Not only are your points redeemable for cash once you reach a certain level, but at any time you may use your loyalty points for merchandise within the Loyalty Store, or use them to buy into one of the many daily freerolls or guaranteed tournament events.
Even if you exchange points for cash or merchandise, your VIP level won’t drop, so you truly have nothing to lose by running up your VIP points!
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Deposit and Withdrawal Options
Deposits: You’ll click the deposit button on the right side of your lobby window to get started with the process.
Withdrawals: You may need to have your account verified in order to make a withdrawal. After doing so, it may take up to a week to process the withdrawal after you’ve requested it. Then, depending on the method chosen, you can expect to see your withdrawal within one-to-three weeks.
You can choose from the following options (depending on your current location):
- Cash Transfer
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Click2Pay
- paysafecard
- NETeller
- Moneybookers
- entropay
- giropay
- QIWI
- Ukash
- iDeal
- Online Bank Transfer
- ECOcard
- WebMoney
- ClickandBuy
- INSTADEBIT
