Carbon Poker Review
Carbon Poker is relatively new to the online poker industry, and they have quickly grown to become a respectable mid-sized establishment. The action stays pretty consistent with a couple thousand players and they offer a solid game selection. New players are rewarded with an incentive sign-on bonus and existing players are able to take advantage of an extensive loyalty program. The software for Carbon Poker is simple and extremely user-friendly. Carbon Poker came into existence after the 2006 US legislation concerning online gambling. However, they do accept US players and they are based out of Kahnawake, Canada.
- Online Since: 2007
- Carbon Rake %: 5% on ring games with varying caps depending on table size and stake level.
- US Players Accepted At Carbon Poker? Yes.
- Excluded Countries: None
- Currencies: US Dollars
- Software Provider: Merge Network
- Specialty: Poker, Side Games
- Deposit Bonus: 200%
- Signup Code: CR30
- Rakeback: VIP
- Network: Merge Gaming
- Mac Friendly: No
Carbon Poker Bonus
New players at Carbon Poker will get a 200% deposit match bonus on their first deposit. The bonus is capped at $1,000 with $500 being the optimal deposit to take full advantage of the bonus. The bonus is released in $10 increments. As you play at Carbon Poker, you earn comp points. For every 2500 comp points earned, a $10 bonus increment is released. One dollar equals 250 comp points. Keep in mind that players can be rewarded up to 10 comp points for one hand. Cash games will yield more comp points for players than tournaments. This is due to rake being collected every single hand versus a flat tournament buy-in fee.
Existing players can also receive a reload bonus at Carbon Poker. The reload bonus gives a 100% deposit match bonus on deposits up to $500. Go ahead and use the current coupon code and get carbon rakeback while you are at it.
Carbon Poker Deposit Options
Deposit Methods:
- Visa
- NETELLER
- MasterCard
- Moneybookers
- EcoCard
- PIC-club
- eWalletXpress
- ClickandBuy
- Click2Pay
- EntroPay
- Wire Transfer
- iBankG
Withdrawal Methods:
- EcoCard
- Moneybookers
- NETELLER
- Check
- eWalletXpress
- Click2Pay
Carbon Poker Software And Game Selection
The software used by Carbon Poker is software that is shared by the Merge Gaming Network. The player base is also shared within the network, which greatly improves the playing field for Carbon Poker players. The Carbon Poker software is available for download at http://www.carbonpoker.com. The graphics are rich and solid stats are provided within the Carbon Poker software. Unfortunately, it is only available for the Windows platform. Mac and Linux have the option of running a Windows emulator. This can be any number of things such as Parallels, Cross-Over, Boot Camp (Mac users) or VMFusion.
The software is downloaded as an .exe file. The installation and account registration process comes with simple instructions and should only take 10 or 15 minutes. Exporting your hand history can only be done in xml file format, which requires an additional program to read the file. However, the function to view your hand history within the Carbon Poker client works perfectly. The crispness of the graphics makes multi-tabling very feasible. However, with any poker client, as you get more than four to six tables going the buttons become difficult to read. This will decrease with the use of a monitor larger than 22" or by using double monitors.
Carbon Poker also provides players with the ability to customize the deck color, attach trophies to avatars (showing tourney wins) and customize their seat position. There are other unique views such as mini-view, rabbit hunt and expose one card. Rabbit hunt allows players with folded hands to see the next card in the deck.
Game Selection:
- Seven Card Stud Hi
- Omaha Hi
- Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
- Omaha Hi-Lo
- Texas Holdem
- H.O.R.S.E
- A-5 Lowball
- Badugi
- 2-7 Lowball (Triple Draw)
- Five Card Draw
- Razz
- Five Card Stud
The dominant games are Texas Holdem and Omaha, but Carbon Poker offers a variety of mixed games as well. Texas Holdem and Omaha are offered as ring games (full and 6-max), sit n go's, and tourneys. Texas Holdem is also offered heads-up. The stakes go as low as $.01/$.02 in ring games and go all the way up to a $1,000 a hand. Carbon Poker offers games in fixed-limit, no-limit and pot-limit formats. Omaha is normally only offered in limit (fixed) and pot-limit. There are a few tournaments offered for Draw poker and Badugi but the majority of the tournament selection is for Texas Holdem and Omaha.
Online Poker Tournaments At Carbon Poker
Carbon Poker hosts over $1,000,000 in guaranteed tournaments every month. The $50K guaranteed every Sunday has a $100 + $9 buy-in. The Saturday guarantee is a $5K guaranteed with a buy-in of only $30 + $3. Every Saturday, Carbon also has a $1K guaranteed heads-up tourney. The heads-up tourney is also $30 + $3. In addition to the weekly guarantees, players can play in the $3,750 Deep Stack, $2,500, $3K or $1K Midnight daily guarantees.
Carbon Poker has satellite tournaments to enter into live events and larger buy-in Carbon tourneys. For instance, you can play in a satellite for a few dollars to win a seat into the weekly $50K guaranteed. Other tournament formats at Carbon Poker include freerolls, shootout tournaments, bounty tournaments, turbo tournaments and deep stack tourneys. One unique tournament at Carbon Poker is the Ladies Only guarantee.
Real Money Promotions At Carbon Poker
Carbon Poker uses comp points as part of their loyalty program. The loyalty program allows players to use their comp points as entry into real-money tournaments. Comp points are also the basis of bonuses, exclusive offers and special tournaments. In other words, they determine eligibility.
Carbon Poker offers a $100K freeroll. There are a number of ways in which players can take advantage of this opportunity. For more details, visit http://www.carbonpoker.com and click on Promotions. Carbon Poker offers the Money Tree where players can earn money depending on how much they play. Satellites are available for entries to represent Carbon Poker at the 2012 WSOP. Carbon Poker also has a monthly charity tournament. Currently, the monthly charity tournament is benefiting the Haitian relief cause.
Carbon Poker Player Support
Players at Carbon Poker can reach the customer support staff through e-mail or live chat. Live chat is available 24 hours a day. E-mails can be directed to support@carbonpoker.com. The live chat feature can be found within the downloaded poker client or by visiting the support section of http://www.carbonpoker.com. Carbon Poker also offers a categorized frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. The FAQ is located within the support section of Carbon Poker's website. The customer support staff strives to respond to every e-mail submission within 48 hours or less.
Poker Player's Opinion Of The CarbonPoker.com Website
The competition at Carbon Poker is fairly weak and the low to midrange stake levels will steadily stay full with new poker players. The tournament schedule caters to new players as well. The largest guaranteed weekly is the $50K and there may be a few sharks but the majority of the players are relatively new poker players. The shared player base within the Merge Gaming Network greatly benefits Carbon Poker players. The graphics are crisp and the software functions smoothly. However, dual monitors are definitely recommended for intense multi-tabling. The lack of traffic eliminates any consistency in the high stake levels.
