Ignition Poker Bankroll Challenge
A bankroll challenge offers you a number of advantages from standard play. I struggle to find purpose when I play other than the obvious enjoyment of making tough decisions and (wherever possible) winning, so having a bankroll target helps me play with a goal in mind and gives my poker play structure. Building A Bankroll From Zero-The Chris Ferguson Challenge. Poker is a great equalizer. Anyone with the skills can be successful, man or woman, young or old, sedentary or athletic. Some would argue that poker discriminates against those without a lot of money - that without a big bankroll, you cannot be successful in poker.
What is Freeroll Poker?
As the name implies, freerolls are free to play. That’s what makes them the best way for new players to learn poker, get a feel for the game and start building a bankroll of their own. While the tournaments are free to enter, they offer small cash prizes for the top finishers. This makes it possible to start building millions for free. Luckily, nearly all the best online poker sites off some kind of freeroll.
A lot of players have gotten their start playing on free poker sites and a few pros have even tried to challenge themselves by building up a bankroll from nothing. The path is there, it can be done, it just takes time, dedication and practice. Since they’re free to enter, you aren’t limited by your bankroll, only by the number of tournaments and time you want to put into improving your poker skills. Once you’ve mastered your skills in the free game and have built up a small bankroll, then you can jump to the more lucrative cash games with tons of experience under your belt.
There are all different kinds of freerolls too. You can play in tournaments or ring games. They’re also offered across the spectrum of poker games. You can play freeroll Texas No-Limit Hold’em or a number of other poker variants like Omaha, Seven-Card Stud or Razz.
Pros who Started out Playing Freerolls
Annette Obrestad famously won the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe a day before her 19th birthday for £1 million and has won millions of dollars in tournament poker since. But before she got to that WSOP final table, Obrestead, from Norway, had built up a ton of experience playing freerolls. Obrestad started playing poker as a teenager, when she wasn’t even old enough to deposit money on a poker site. That’s why she started playing freerolls and slowly started building experience and a bankroll.
Eventually, Obrestad kept moving up the stakes and making more money. Obrestad is said to have cashed out nearly $500,000 on PokerStars and hundreds of thousands of dollars on other sites. When she finally did deposit, there’s no doubt that a few poker bonuses helped push her bankroll up a bit.
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, a co-founder of Full Tilt Poker and the 2000 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, is a bit too old to have started out with freerolls, but he did show that it’s possible to build a roll from nothing.
In 2006, Ferguson took on a challenge to build a $10,000 bankroll from scratch. He started out by playing freerolls and it took him a few weeks to build up his first $2. After that, Ferguson built it up to $22 and started playing micro-stakes cash games and $1 tournaments. Little by little, Ferguson kept building and completed the challenge a year later in 2007.
Disciplined Bankroll Management
Ferguson wouldn’t have complete his challenge if he didn’t have strict bankroll management. Nearly all to high stakes pros have gotten to where they are by using disciplined bankroll management and making sure to only play higher stakes as their skills improved. Part of disciplined bankroll management is patience and knowing your skill level. Playing in games where you’re severely out skilled isn’t great for your bankroll management. That’s why discipline and patience are also essential in becoming a successful poker pro.
You’ll see the shift in skills every time you move up or down stakes. People in freerolls play very differently than real money players. And midstakes players play very different than microstakes player. So don’t jump in too deep at first. Start out slow and learn the new stakes as you jump up.
US Poker Sites with Great Freerolls
Freerolls are a bit tougher to find in 2020, but all the major sites still offer some kind of freeroll. PokerStars still hosts several freerolls throughout the day. Some sites in New Jersey and Nevada have freerolls peppered throughout their schedules. Lots of offshore sites have stopped offering them since demand was so high it would sometimes crash their servers.
BetOnline stopped offering freerolls in 2018, but they do have deposit bonuses for new players. If you sign up for an account there, you qualify for the New Player Freeroll bonus that offers up to $10,000 in prizes. The tournament runs on the second Sunday of each month and new players are given a free ticket to enter. The site also offers a Happy Hour Freeroll every Monday, but those winnings can only be used on the site’s live casino.
If you want more frequent freerolls, then 888 poker offers daily freeroll tournaments. 888 poker offers nearly $50,000 in freeroll prizes every week.
These are just some of the bonuses and freerolls out there. There are plenty of other sites that offer more if you start looking around. You can use any of these promotions to jumpstart your poker career with a minimal investment. You can start building your way towards your poker goals today.
Legal Poker Rooms and States
If you’re in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, PokerStars is a great option to get started with freerolls. They’re almost always available, just log on and check the lobby for tournaments in brown lettering.
Players in New Jersey and Nevada can also find freerolls on the WSOP site. They have a daily $100 freeroll bonus with a maximum capacity of 600 players. So be sure to sign up early. If you’re a member of the US Armed Forces, a police department or fire department, you can also qualify in the site’s monthly Hero Freeroll bonus.
If these don’t suit you, then there are plenty of alternative online poker options out there.
US Poker Sites with the “Best Value” Freerolls
If you’re in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or outside the US, PokerStars has the best freerolls. After that, BetOnline and Ignition Poker have some pretty solid offerings.
If you agree, disagree, or just want to chime in, then make your voice heard with an online poker site review.
These sites want to keep their customers and your reviews can help them gauge what they’re doing well (like freerolls) and what they can do better (like more freerolls). You can also contact customer service or go on social media to let these rooms know how you feel.
Author:Cliff Spiller
Copyright: 2020 uspokersites.us
Ignition Poker is the US-exclusive “skin” of the Pai Wang Luo Network (formerly the Bodog Poker Network) – a worldwide network that has a particularly strong following in United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Far East. The Network is the third-largest online poker network in the world, and – through Ignition Poker – the largest network on which U.S. players can play Texas Holdem Poker online.
Ignition Poker Recent History
In the summer of 2016, Ignition Poker appeared as an option on the Ignition Casino website – a website that had only been launched in March that year. The Ignition Casino had many similarities to Bodog-related online casinos such as bovada.lv and slots.lv. In August 2016, it was announced Bovada Poker was to close and that players should transfer their balances to Ignition Poker – reinforcing the theory that Ignition Poker was about to become the new name for Bovada Poker.
At the time of writing this Ignition Poker review, the migration of accounts has happened quickly and smoothly. This is mostly due to a series of promotions offered to former Bovada players to encourage them to transfer their accounts prior to the deadline. Players who failed to meet the deadline can still withdraw funds from their Bovada accounts, manually create a new account with Ignition Poker and make a fresh deposit.
Ignition Poker Download
If you are a new player – or a player who did not complete the migration process from Bovada Poker before the deadline – the first thing you need to do before you can start playing at the site is to download the Ignition Poker software. In order to do this, follow our links to the site and click on the button to the right of the screen that reads “Download Now”.
The download of the software will start automatically and, once completed, there is a simple installation process to complete. A Set-Up Wizard will guide you through the installation process, at the end of which the poker client will load onto your screen and you will be invited to create your account. The Ignition Poker download is available for Windows and Mac operating systems that meet the following minimum system requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7/Mac OS X 10.7 or later.
- Processor: Equivalent to Intel Core Duo or later.
- Memory: 1Gb RAM or greater.
- Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768.
- Free Space: Minimum of 200Mb
- Flash Player: Version 16 or higher
Ignition Poker also has an excellent mobile platform players can access via their iPhones or Android Smartphones. The mobile platform has superb functionality and provides access to the whole portfolio of poker games, plus a limited selection of casino games. The Ignition Poker mobile site currently only allows you to play one table at a time, but you can conduct banking transactions and contact customer support as well.
Creating Your Ignition Account
When you create an Ignition account, it serves both Ignition Poker and Ignition Casino. The account creation process consist of completing a single page with your personal details and reading the terms and conditions of using the site. You can leave the optional field “How Did You Hear About Us” blank, as there is no Ignition Poker bonus code required to take advantage of the site´s Welcome Package.
Please ensure you complete your personal details as they appear on any documents you will use to verify your account in the future. You will need to verify your account before being able to make a withdrawal. Unfortunately, if you live in New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, Pennsylvania, or Maryland, you will be barred from creating an account.
Ignition Banking Options
It is important that you understand the banking options at Ignition Poker, because charges apply to every deposit and every withdrawal you make unless you use Bitcoin for your financial transactions. These fees can significantly affect the profitability of playing at the site. Bitcoin deposits are free, but deposits made by methods other than Bitcoin attract the following fees:
- Visa: 5.9%.
- MasterCard: 7.9%.
- Discover: 7.9%.
- American Express: 9.9%.
- Rapid Transfer: $12.00 flat fee.
Withdrawals made by Bitcoin are also free and processed much quicker than the alternate withdrawal options of Rapid Transfer, Visa, or check by courier. One free withdrawal by Rapid Transfer, Visa or check is allowed every four months. Additional withdrawals are charged at $50.00 (Rapid Transfer) and $75.00 (Visa or check) per withdrawal. Basically, get yourself some Bitcoin if you intend playing at Ignition Poker.
Ignition Poker Interface
One of Ignition Poker´s features that has obviously had a lot of thought put into it is its interface. The poker client and the mobile platform are simple to navigate and, when you arrive at your game of choice, the action is seamless. There are multiple settings players can take advantage of to customize their experience, plus a comprehensive admin section.
Recent positively-received updates to the Ignition Poker interface mean that players can now increase the rate at which they earn Ignition Miles towards the clearing the Ignition Poker bonus and the site´s Rewards Program by multitabling up to 20 tables at a time. It is also possible to have a mix of cash games, Sit & Go games, Zone Poker games and MTTs underway at the same time.
Games on Ignition Poker
The selection of games at Ignition is fairly standard, but at least you will find a cash game of Texas Holdem, Omaha or Omaha Hi/Lo running most of the time at stakes from $0.02/$0.05 upwards. Ignition has its own fast-fold poker game – “Zone Poker” – although players are limited to competing at two tables at a time. Most other sites offering a fast-fold option allow players to play at up to four tables simultaneously.
The tournament schedule at Ignition is excellent. A good range of tournaments at varied disciplines, formats and buy-ins is available for players of all calibers, and the weekly feature $100,000 guaranteed tournament has one of the lowest buy-ins of all the US-friendly poker sites (considering the prize to buy-in ratio). Qualifying routes for big feature tournaments start at just $1.10; and, you will be in the money in the target tournament if you finish within the top 20% of players.
Ignition Poker Review – Level of Competition
Although Ignition Poker attracts the type of player who prefers anonymous poker, it does not mean the games are soft or easy to beat. Some recreational players are highly skilled; and, because of the perception that Ignition Poker is a soft site to play at, you will find a lot of skillful players at the tables who don´t necessarily need software aids to enjoy winning sessions.
The best advice I can give anybody playing at Ignition Poker is to follow careful bankroll management. It´s not a sexy subject to discuss, but it is the most practical way to approach playing anonymously when you don´t know the skill level of the players you are playing against. In this respect, it is important to be conscious of how often you are using the “Add Chips” button at the tables.
Ignition Poker Review 2021 – Cool Features and UnCool Features
The coolest features at Ignition Poker are the software and the traffic. The software is not quite up to Full Tilt Poker at its prime, but certainly better than other options available to U.S.-based players. The volume of traffic always ensures that there is a game available, and anonymous tables keep players away that would use poker tracking software to take advantage of inexperienced players.
What certainly is not cool are the fess attached to deposits and withdrawals that can seriously affect your profitability. These fees are necessary because of high payment processing fees and if Ignition was to assume the cost themselves, it would mean a reduction of benefits elsewhere across the site. Inasmuch as the fees are understandable – and not Ignition Poker´s fault – they are still uncool.
Ignition Poker 2021 Review – New Player Bonus
The Ignition Poker bonus for new players is a 100% like-for-like match on your first deposit up to $1,000. There is also a similar 100% match bonus of first deposits at the casino. The poker bonus is cleared by earning “Ignition Miles” when you pay an entry fee to play in a Sit n Go game or multi table poker tournament, or contribute to the rake deducted from cash game pots.
Building A Poker Bankroll
The bonus is cleared in $5 increments for every 150 Ignition Miles you collect; and, as Ignition Miles are awarded at the rate of 15 per $1.00 paid in entry fees or contributed to the rake, this equates to a very good rate of rakeback. However, you cannot hang around when clearing the Ignition Poker first deposit bonus, as the offer is only valid for thirty days, after which any uncleared bonus is forfeited.
Ignition Poker Review – Conclusion
Ignition Poker Bankroll Challenge Games
The team at Texas Holdem Poker Online are divided between whether Ignition Poker justifies its position as the most popular US-facing online poker site or not. The fact that there is good software, a mobile poker product, and that players´ funds are secure is good enough for some; whereas others will pick at the limited number of promotions and the costs associated with getting your money on and off the site.
Two factors swing our conclusion that players should at least give this site a try – the anonymous tables and the volume of traffic. These factors create a level playing field around the clock so that players playing ABC poker should turn in more profitable sessions than losing ones. If you are making money at the tables on a regular basis, the difficulty in clearing the full Ignition Poker bonus within the allotted time and the limited number of promotions should not matter to you – especially if you fund your account with Bitcoin.