Poker site review - Interpoker

I thought it about time to post my second poker site review and decided on Interpoker, as it is one of the few remaining skins on Cryptologic, and i'm not sure where the future lies for them. However, I can comment on how they are running currently. (with respect to fixed limit holdem anyways).

Strengths

1. Solid rakeback deal through RakeTheRake with 30% rakeback
2. Additional rake race through RakeTheRake
3. Monthly freeroll through RakeTheRake
4. Monthly bonuses simply by entering a code. No need to redeposit. You pick the size of the bonus you want from a number of choices
5. Bonus is paid in pounds if your account is in pounds, and clears almost twice as quickly as a $ account. (trap for young players - open your account in pounds to get the best bonus deal!!). It was even better before the pound dropped so much in valuen against the $.
6. Bonuses are NOT deducted from rakeback
7. Works with Pokertracker
8. Low stakes double up sitngos are fishy - even I can win :)

Weaknesses

1. Traffic is fairly limited and getting a little worse due to skins leaving the network. Not as big of a drop off as I had expected though
2. Often every single table in my range ($1/2 - $3/6) is full of tags. But then you get some random times where every table is full of fish. Go figure
3. Pound or euro tables have a higher max rake - trap for young players
4. The best bonuses require your account to be in pounds which will incur conversion fees when you deposit and withdraw

Rake structure

Above $5 its a flat 5% of the pot which is actually pretty poor. I'll have to check it as I can't recall it being that bad.

My performance

This is another site where I have had a horribly cold start. Early on I was at -8BB/100 and have gradually pulled that back to a -0.5BB/100. I'm actually positive 2BB/100 at $3/6 and positive 1BB/100 at $2/4, so my stats are being dragged down from getting slaughtered early on at $1/2.

Overall i've deposited $570 onto Interpoker (although my deposits were actually in pounds, hence the odd number), but I am yet to withdraw any money, and have a current bankroll of $1,100. So overall up around $530 in around 5,000 hands.

Included in that i've played around 50 double up sitngos for a profit of $50. The majority have been just $5 games that i've played as a bit of fun for a break from the cash tables.

My current plans

I will continue to take up the minimum monthly bonus that requires 300 points to clear. I'm finding I can comfortably get the 300 points needed even with limited table availability and my limited play schedule. I suspect that the bonus pluse rakeback is equivalent of somewhere near 60% rakeback.

I will also use interpoker for my double up sitngos whilst I still require points to clear my bonus for the month. Even when cash tables are empty, the low stakes double ups often fill up pretty quickly.

I will cease playing Interpoker when either the games dry up even further so that I can't find good games from $1/2 to $3/6 to play while clearing my bonus, or if the pound drops significantly further against the dollar.

Who am I signed up through

As noted above i'm signed up through RakeTheRake. As one of the bigger rakeback providers they've always paid on a timely basis, although with Interpoker it has to go directly to your Interpoker account as it's actually paid by the room direct. RakeTheRake have enough added extras (rake race / freeroll) to make signing up through them worthwhile.

Overall opinion

Interpoker can be a bit hit and miss I find. There are often times when there's not a single table worth playing and its a case of opening the software, having a quick scan of the tables and closing it. Other times you can spot the fishiest of fish and sitting down at several tables is a no brainer.

If you're only playing on a single site, again I couldn't recommend it due to the lack of volume. However, if you're looking for a relatively high rakeback site and have other sites you're playing on at the same time its a pretty decent deal.

I will have to watch the site fairly closely though to see what impact the skins leaving Cryptologic have on the traffic for Interpoker, and whether it remains viable to play on.

Room review - Bodog

I've decided its time to start writing my thoughts on particular sites. I figured i'd start with Bodog, as that is one of several sites that I often play on at the moment. Please bear in mind this is my opinion only and relates specifically to limit poker, and some of the strengths are more relevant to my affiliate than to Bodog itself.

Strengths

1. Great bonus deal on Bodog which provides very good bonus $ including monthly reloads!!(feel free to click my rakebackstat link and let me know if you sign up!) RakeBackStat
2. Easy to see how much in bonuses you are earning (daily)
3. Often fairly fishy opponents - its rare when a table is running that its not worth sitting down
4. The loyalty points system on Bodog converts directly to cash
5. You don't have to clear the entire reload bonus each month - you receive any earnings to the nearest 1c
6. Some bonus cash doesn't need to be redeposited to Bodog
7. Appears to be fewer sharks as you need to buy third party software to capture hands into Pokertracker
8. Stability - I haven't had a crash yet, although I believe others have had problems

Weaknesses

1. Not huge traffic. Often only 2 or 3 tables running at $1/2, and at night times for me there are often none running that I want to play on.
2. No 6 max tables between $1/2 and $4/8 (so I need to build up my roll on there)
3. You can only play 4 tables at a time (not an issue for me)
4. You need to get third party software to capture hands into Pokertracker
5. I believe US players have major cash out issues. Not a problem for me though.

Rake structure

25c/$5 for the $1/2 games with a max of $1.50, which is not quite as good as fulltilt due to the maximum of $1 there. Probably better than ipoker that has 5c/$1, although that has a max of $1 as well.

At $4/8 it has a poorer structure of 50c/$10 compared with say fulltilt at $1/$20

My performance

I ran incredibly cold at the start of my Bodog experience, and am only now beginning to pull it back. Overall i'm back to about -0.4BB/100 which is actually a loss at the tables. Given it started at a hideous -2BB/100 or worse, i'm slowly edging my way back towards expectation.

I've had a couple shots at $4/8, and although i've had fishy opponents, both shots were largely unsuccessful. I believe that was variance more than the game not being easily beatable.

I was going to copy and paste in a chart of my Bodog bankroll movements, but it doesnt really make sense due to deposits and withdrawals. Overall i've deposited $1,300 onto bodog, withdrawn $1,050, and have a current bankroll of $800. So overall up around $550 in around 12,000 hands. Actually a bit disappointing, but the results are kinda skewed by the shots at $4/8 being fairly big losers.

Small addendum: I'm still running at a 37% wtsd with a quite cold 47% w$sd. That's probably costing me at least 2BB/100 and maybe more compared to a normal winrate with a 37% wtsd.

Small addendum 2: Now running at 48%W$SD, and actually showing a positive 0.1BB/100 after the weekend's session

My current plans

I will continue to take up their monthly reloads, and clear as much of them as possible. Part of my bonus cash I will be withdrawing every one or two months. I'm hoping to build my bankroll up on there to be playable on $4/8.

Who am I signed up through

As discussed above I signed up with Bodog through RakeBackStat . Have had no issues with them so far, and cash outs are on request. In fact through one error they actually credited me for the inconvenience even though it was the room's error and not theirs.

Overall opinion

I actually quite enjoy bodog which I guess is fairly obvious based on my above plans. Yes it has its drawbacks, and i've had a relatively poor run there, but overall they're not enough to stop me playing there. The relatively good deal through RBS and the monthly reloads make it a great site to play on. I think I will be even more successful when i'm up and running on the $4/8 tables rather than the $1/2 as they also appear to be quite fishy.

If you're only playing on a single site, I couldn't recommend it due to the lack of volume. However, if you're looking for a part time site to play on whilst playing on other sites simultaneously then go for it. At the moment, I effectively use it in this manner when tables aren't available on the other sites that i'm clearing bonuses on.