4.7 /5

PokerKing Review: Games, Tournaments, Rakeback & Deposits

PokerKing is the flagship room on the Winning Poker Network, launched in 2011. Today, it’s one of the biggest poker sites that accepts players from the United States. An additional influx of recreational players is driven by the site’s online casino and sportsbook. PokerKing has games for players of any skill level. Beginners will appreciate the 100% first-deposit welcome bonus and cash-prize freerolls, while regulars will like the soft North American competition, up to 65% rakeback, and high buy-in tournaments.

This PokerKing review covers the full playing experience, including the cash-game and tournament formats available on the site, how rakeback works and what’s required to earn it, and which promotions are most relevant for both new players and regular grinders. It also breaks down the key client features, explains the room’s approach to game integrity, and outlines deposit options, limits, and the exact steps for downloading the software and accessing the platform.

What cash-game formats are available on PokerKing?

PokerKing undoubtedly offers its users an array of choices with regard to NLHE and PLO cash games. Players have access to:

• Heads-up, 4-max, 6-max, 8-max, and 9-max tables
• Ranging from NL2 to NL20,000
• Short games (50 BB max buy-in)
• Cap games (stack limited to 30 BB)

PLO enthusiasts also have the opportunity to play PLO5 and Hi/Lo. 7 Card Stud games are also available if mixed games are your preference.

Additionally, if you prefer deep-stacked games, there are seven-day rathole tables. Ratholing is frowned upon in poker and refers to players who leave a table after winning, intending to later join the same stakes without those profits. For example, if a player sat at a table with $100, and left the table with $300, normally they would be able to rejoin the same stakes later on with only their initial $100. However, with seven-day rathole tables, users are prevented from doing so until seven days have elapsed. As a result, this creates very deep-stacked games.

All-in insurance is available at Hold’em and Omaha cash tables. The Play it Safe feature lets you lock in a payout based on your equity in the hand.

Payout = (pot − rake) × win probability × 99%

You can disable this option in the poker client settings.

Another cash-game feature on PokerKing is Bomb Pots. In these hands, preflop is skipped: before cards are dealt, every player posts a forced bet — 2 big blinds at 9-max tables and 5 big blinds at 6-max tables — and the action starts from the flop. Bomb Pot hands are triggered randomly up to four times per hour on designated tables (marked with a bomb icon in the lobby).

Does PokerKing offer a wide range of tournaments and sit-and-gos?

The current lobby of PokerKing has tournaments to suit all bankrolls. There are hundreds of tournaments in Hold’em, Omaha (PLO and PLO8), and Stud that cost as little as $0.10 to participate, while on the opposite end of the spectrum, users can enter high-stakes tournaments that cost several thousand dollars. These tournaments are available for both NLHE and PLO players, with a variety of blind structures, formats, and stack depths.

Along with the daily online schedule, which has been adjusted to be considerate of European players, PokerKing has several tournament series running throughout the year. The most famous are the Online Super Series with a record $50,000,000 prize pool and The Venom with guarantees of up to $10,000,000. Entry to the Venom will set players back $2,650, although there are free satellites which aim to allow all users to play.

For players who prefer faster formats, PokerKing offers SPINZ, a 3-max jackpot Sit & Go format in which the prize pool is determined randomly before the game begins and the winner takes all. At the moment, SPINZ is available in seven buy-ins: $0.25, $1, $5, $10, $25, $50, and $100. The advertised jackpots range from $12,000 to $1,200,000, with a fixed 6% rake. The overall structure is the same across all limits, while the starting stack ranges from 300 to 500 chips and blind levels run from 1 to 5 minutes depending on the multiplier.

How can potential users download and gain access to PokerKing?

Getting started on PokerKing is very simple. You can either register directly on the official website by clicking Sign Up, or first download the client for your device (Windows/macOS/mobile) and complete registration inside the app — the steps are essentially the same.

In the sign-up form, enter your nickname (username), email address, and password, then click Send Code. PokerKing will email you a verification code — paste it into the form to confirm your email and finish creating your account. 

Installing the client on PC and Android is just as easy as with most poker rooms: download the file, run the installer, and follow the on-screen instructions. With iOS, you’ll need to complete a few extra steps:

1. Click “Download for iOS.”
2. Fill out the form and receive a link to the installer.
3. Install the app.
4. Adjust your iPhone settings.

The Windows and macOS software supports up to 24 tables at once, while the mobile apps support up to 4 tables simultaneously.

From that point, users can log in and make their initial deposit. Alternatively, if you are new to poker or prefer to test the software of the platform first, there are many freerolls to select, where winners may receive either cash prizes or satellite seats to PokerKing’s flagship tournaments.

What rake system does PokerKing use?

Tournament rake is around 10%, while in spins it’s a fixed 6%. In cash games, rake is taken from every hand that reaches the flop. The room uses a Weight Contributed system, where your share of the rake depends on how much you contributed to the pot. Rake structure for limit and no-limit games:

No-Limit and Pot-Limit:

Fixed Limit:

At No-Limit and Pot-Limit cash tables, rake is taken as a percentage of the pot at the end of each hand. The exact rake depends on the number of players in the hand and the pot size. The rake is 5%, capped at $3.

How can players achieve high rakeback percentages?

PokerKing has introduced The Royal Club which allows the most committed poker grinders to be rewarded with a maximum of sixty-five percent rakeback. To achieve this, users must advance their way through the six levels of the club by making contributions to the rake. For each $1 in rake contributions, users are given 5.5 Status Points (SP), with each level in The Royal Club requiring a set amount of SP to advance to. This is demonstrated by the table below:

Additionally, as a player's club level increases, the faster they can gain Royalty Points (RP). For instance, a user at the platinum level will acquire two and a half times more RP than a bronze-level user. RP can be traded for cash prizes, with the value of the prize correlating with the club level.

Additional Royal Club Rewards

For reaching a certain number of Status Points, players can receive extra rewards (paid out once per year). To claim an additional reward, go to Rewards → Loyalty → Achievements.

Alongside Status Points, you also earn Royalty Points (RP), which can be exchanged for real money. The higher your VIP status, the better the exchange rate. You can exchange Royalty Points (RP) for cash in your account under Points Exchange.

Does PokerKing offer any deposit bonuses and promotions?

On top of the rakeback for club-level members, PokerKing offers to match all initial deposits of new customers up to deposits of $2,000. This bonus is awarded $1 at a time when a user is able to accumulate 27.5 award points by taking part in the real money poker on offer. According to the provisions and guidelines of this promotion, users have 60 days to complete this promotion, while a minimum of $25 is necessary to deposit to be eligible.

In addition to its VIP program, PokerKing runs weekly promotions for different types of players. The Beast is the room’s cash-game leaderboard and applies only to 6-max and 9-max tables, with no extra rake charged beyond the normal game commission. The race starts every Saturday at 00:00 ET and runs until the following Friday at 23:59 ET. Scoring is based on weighted contributed rake, with players earning 1 point for every $0.02 in contributed rake. To build the promotional prize pool, the room sets aside part of the rake already paid in eligible hands: at 2-player tables, $0.02 out of a $0.06 rake goes to the promotion, capped at $0.04 per hand; at 3-player tables, the promotional cap is $0.08 per hand; and at tables with 4 or more players, it can reach $0.24 per hand. 

Sit & Crush, meanwhile, is the weekly promotion for Sit & Gos, On Demand tournaments, and Jackpots, while heads-up Sit & Gos are excluded. The schedule is the same, running from Saturday 00:00 ET through Friday 23:59 ET. Here, 25% of the rake from each eligible tournament goes into the promotional prize pool. Players earn 5 points for every $1 contributed to that pool. In the official $50 Jackpot example, $47 goes to the regular prize pool, the rake is $3, and $0.75 of that rake is allocated to Sit & Crush, giving the player 3.75 points. In both promotions, payouts scale in blocks: for every $3,500 added to the prize pool, 1 prize of $500, 2 prizes of $250, 5 prizes of $125, and 12 prizes of $50 are added, while the remaining $875 carries over into the prize race.

Does PokerKing have any impressive features?

A stand-out feature on PokerKing is known as The Railbird. This feature provides users with a URL to their table which can be shared with friends across several poker sites, without the need for the receiver to download the PokerKing client. This allows friends to experience the thrill and excitement of a deep tournament run alongside you.

What’s more, PokerKing offers a range of options to customise your online poker experience:

• With regards to table design, there are thirty-five backgrounds to choose from, along with eight betting button designs and colours
• Users have the choice of a two-colour, four-colour, or full-colour deck with nine front designs, and thirteen rear designs
• Players can decide whether emojis used by other players, animations, avatars, and final table graphics are displayed
• Users can choose the sounds that are heard for several actions, such as when chips are gathered, as well as upload their own sounds if they wish to do so

In terms of gameplay, PokerKing allows users to display their chip count in big blinds, configure their bet-sizing buttons, along with implement hotkeys that can noticeably improve the volume of hands that can be played. Moreover, players have the option to observe the basic statistics of their opponents. But if you require a more in-depth analysis of your opponent, PokerKing supports the use of heads-up displays (HUDs) such as Hand2Note and Hold’em Manager. However, if you are on the fence about purchasing a HUD, PokerKing stores your hand histories for up to thirty days which can be analysed using the hand replayer tool. 

What procedures are in place to ensure gaming integrity and trustworthiness?

PokerKing states that it uses identity verification, security checks, and published game-integrity procedures. According to the room’s terms, withdrawals above $500 cannot be processed until the player’s identity, age, and residential address have been verified. In general, payouts are sent back through the same route used for the original deposit whenever that option is available. The room also states that cashout requests are usually processed within up to 3 business days, although some cases may require additional review.

To further ensure gaming integrity, the random number generator (RNG) being used by PokerKing has been tested and approved by a reputable third party. In addition to this, the security team at PokerKing is actively banning accounts that violate their terms of service, including bots and reimbursing users that have fallen victim to these accounts.

Which payment methods can be used to make deposits to PokerKing?

PokerKing offers users a range of payment methods to deposit and withdraw real money to and from the online client. However, it is important to note that deposit and withdrawal methods may vary depending on the region of the user. Minimal deposit amount is $10, though it may change over time.

Available deposit methods include:

• Luxon Pay
• Crypto (BTC, LTC, ETH, USDT)
• P2P

Withdrawals are only allowed back to the same wallet you used for your deposit. Cashout requests are typically processed within 24 hours, but in rare cases it can take up to several days.

You get one free cashout per month up to $2,500. After that, the room charges a 5% fee on all additional withdrawals. Withdrawals of up to $500 can be made without verification. For larger amounts, you’ll need to confirm your identity and proof of address.

In addition to this, player-to-player transfers (P2P) are available between Poker King users. However, it is important to note that both users must verify their accounts beforehand and wait twenty-four hours after registering their accounts. Furthermore, money transferred from another user cannot be withdrawn until the receiver has contributed rake which equates to ten percent of the money transferred. For example, if user A transfers $100 to user B, user B must generate $10 in rake before they can withdraw those funds.

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