One of the great things of being tasked by ITH in handling the research and review process of their affiliate online poker sites, is that I get to look at a lot of aspects of each poker site I review. This allows me to form an educated opinion about the myriad differences of each site. This, in turn, affords me the opportunity as a bonus chaser to pick the right bonuses and games.

The review process requires that I open an account with the pokersite in question, as many will not give access to their tables or cashiering services, for instance, without an account. I have roughly 70 accounts [6 funded] on my computer, constantly updated as I review and maintain them for fresh information. I currently know there are over 450 online pokersites. Some are very small. Most are skins.

My pick this week: Action Poker.

Recently I had the opportunity to re-evaluate Action Poker, the name-site for the Action Poker Network. They recently changed management and decided that the former management’s policy on disallowing Americans was short-sighted and are welcoming Americans with open arms. This was the impetus for re-evaluating them.

This site is a diamond in the rough. Traffic is very low, unfortunately. At peak hours [noon – 9PM Eastern], traffic reaches it’s zenith at 2000-3000 players, most playing NL Holdem, MTTs or SnGs. They offer other games, including Guts, Chinese Poker and Pan, but do not have the traffic.

Their table software is excellent. I should know. One of the things I do when I evaluate a site is to sit at a table. I can’t afford to set up real money accounts at each site I review and, in the aftermath of the UIGA, off-limit sites wouldn’t let me anyway. So, if the site allows it, like Action Poker does, I generally will register for a freeroll. This gives me ample opportunity to see how the table mechanics and software reacts. Taking notes, changing options, betting with their slider/apparatus, checking hand histories, you get the idea. I managed 5th out of 200. I now have a dollar at Action Poker. Getting back to their table software. Excellent. In my opinion they have better software than many of the big name sites. The only two drawbacks at the table level is that the notes function doesn’t have an auto-wrap feature and the software is incompatible with Poker Tracker.

Their MTTs are limited to between $1+$0.10 through $20+$2 and they currently only have 10 MTTs per day. SnGs run around the clock. They allow cashiering through NETeller, Credit Card, FirePay and Citadel.

Their current bonus is 100% up to $2500 for NETeller and 100% up to $200 [initial non-NETeller deposits restricted to $200] for their other funding options. Players have 45 days to clear the lump sum bonus, which requires 12 POP per $1 in bonus. As it is a contributed rake site, players will receive 1 POP per $0.10 in contributed rake. They also will receive 10 POP per $1 in MTT/SnG fees. This basically means that pending bonuses clear at the equivalent of an 83% rakeback structure.

Overall, if you can afford the time and effort to play here, I’d greatly suggest it. If I lose my dollar, I’ll most likely fund an account there.

Visit my Action Poker Bonus & Review Section to find out more about Action Poker