Online poker has found a great ally in Bitcoin. Thanks to Bitcoin, poker can now be anonymous and allow faster and easier deposits and withdrawals. Not only that, Bitcoin poker is also global, meaning that restrictions like government legislation and geographical boundaries aren’t a factor. As if this wasn’t enough, Bitcoin poker rooms usually offer better deals in terms of both rake and rakeback which basically means that the rooms charge players way less for playing than their non-crypto rivals. Today, We will take a look at the top Bitcoin poker rooms as of now. This list is based on my personal experience and is not ordered in any particular way.
Seals with Clubs (SwC)
Seals with Clubs is known for being the first Bitcoin poker room ever. It was founded back in 2012, shortly after the events of the Black Friday poker scandal, and it was the king of Bitcoin poker for a long time. It features a great rakeback program (krill) and has one of the lowest rakes of all poker rooms, both in Cash games and tournaments. SwC also offers a great variety of stakes and games (Omaha, Stud, Draw, Mixed, and even Chinese Poker).
The downside of SwC is the player pool, there are very few people using it nowadays and it is hard to find other people to play with. However, it wouldn’t be right to not have SwC on this list given its status as an innovator and the great conditions offered. If you’re a casual player, than SwC may be the right fit for you.
Betcoin
Betcoin is the biggest Bitcoin poker room today. It has a partnership with the Winning Poker Network (Americas Cardroom, BlackChip Poker, among others), so it uses the same software and shares tournament player pool. It also usually has 50+ players in cash games so you will not have any trouble finding others to play with. Betcoin features a variety of gambling options (casino, live casino, sportsbook, virtual games, and dice) and accepts deposits/withdrawals with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dash.
The only downside of Betcoin is that it features the highest rake of all the Bitcoin rooms on this list. If you’re an experienced player, then you know this may be a small price to pay in order to have a wider pool of players.
Fortune Jack
Fortune Jack is one of the most visited and trusted Bitcoin casinos. It features a great variety of casino games and accepts multiple cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Monero, Dash, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Zcash). The software is reliable, user-friendly, and it is all browser-based, no download or installation required.
Fortune Jack used to offer a large number of poker games but, due to lack of traffic, it greatly scaled back their variety of games. Nowadays it only offers live room poker and video poker, so if you are looking for a more “traditional” online poker experience you should look at other options on the list. If you’re looking for a more interactive experience, however, than we suggest you have a look at Fortune Jack.
Nitrobetting
Nitrobetting is a sports betting platform with some casino games and a great poker room. The software is browser-based and has a great user interface. In terms of the games, they offer a low variety of both tournaments and cash games, but they include an exquisite variation called Crazy Hold’em. The rake is extremely low (4% for tournaments and 1-4% for cash games) and the rakeback is excellent. The withdrawals are the fastest out of the whole list and although player traffic is low, it is currently the second most used Bitcoin poker room so getting some hands in shouldn’t be a problem.
Bitcasino
The last option of our list, BitCasino, has a stellar reputation among the crypto community. It was launched in 2014 and has since strived to improve both their interface and variety of games. From the multitude of games offered, including sports betting, you can find quite a surprising variety of poker games. BitCasino has many variants of Video Poker, Pai Gow Poker (chinese variant played with dominoes), Caribbean Poker, Oasis Poker, Poker3 Heads Up Hold’em (you play heads up against a computer-generated opponent), Triple Edge Poker, and Ride’m Poker (which is the closest to Texas Hold’em). BitCasino is reliable and one of the greatest Bitcoin casinos, the only problem is that all of these poker games are played against the house and are, therefore, only alternatives to the “real” game of poker.
Additional Options
More and more rooms are now accepting Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. Ignition Casino, BetOnline/Sportsbetting, Americas Cardroom/BlackChip/True Poker, Carbon, Bovada, Intertops, and Grand Poker are some of the most well known poker rooms that are currently accepting Bitcoin. Some of them have even started accepting Litecoin, as is the case for BetOnline/Sportsbetting. These fiat-based casinos offer a greater player pool but the rake/rakeback structures are not as good as the ones usually offered by Bitcoin-only poker sites.
Conclusion
Seals with Clubs was a thriving poker room until authorities closed down the site in 2015. It went back up again and even returned funds to players, but never reached the peak it once had. However, a new kind of gambling platform is presently being developed, one where such a situation couldn’t have happened. Decentralized, smart contract based casinos promise to offer a more transparent and cheaper gambling experience to players. Will this new breed of casinos take over the poker and gambling industry? Only the future will tell, but we certainly hope so.