Americas Cardroom Review
Playing in any game that requires skill to win is the best method of real money gaming, simply because you’re going to get the best chances of doing well. You’ll be using your own ability instead of playing against a machine, which gives you more influence over outcomes.
That’s assuming you’re good of course, and we know that poker is one of those games where being good enough to compete gives you advantages over many other players.
So given poker is well up on the skill games list, it’s a short step to realizing that you’ll want to be playing it at respected, trusted, good value poker rooms with plenty on offer at their tables. Especially if it’s skill gaming in a tournament setting that you believe will work best for you.
Enter Americas Cardroom, an online poker site that’s generally recognized within the industry as one of the best options for players, and delivers a number of benefits.
There are a whole bunch of reasons for that, not least the fact that Americas Cardroom is also positioned as one of the leaders in online poker tournaments alongside good cash games options too. Multi table tournaments and sit and gos both make the list of what’s on offer. All great reasons to get some cards and blinds action.
In fact, as an added bonus they hold some big prize competitions each year that any avid tournament player will not want to be missing. Plus their Elite Benefits VIP program looks to offer good value to players.
They’ve certainly bounced back from the times of Black Friday and the United States v. Scheinberg case.
Let’s review some of the good points of having a player account at ACR, starting with one of their major contests.
This is a tournament super series that’s already been held successfully once already in 2020 with a massive prize pool and is now lined up for a second appearance in 2021. Hopefully the second of many along the way to the end of the year…..
Americas Cardroom – Venom Online Poker Tournament
In summer of 2020 Americas Cardroom ran a big tournament known as the Venom – a $7 million guaranteed prize pool contest that attracted close to 4000 entries. This number of entrants pushed the pool up in value to a jackpot-sized $9 million plus, with the winner landing a first prize of just over one and a half million dollars at the tables.
Clearly a resounding success and testament to the popularity of the poker room, so you won’t be surprised to hear there are more planned in 2021 – the first of which are to be held in late January and early February.
This time the guarantee kicks off at $8 million.
Now this is a $2650 buy-in event, which may be out of reach for many players. But there are satellite events and other qualifiers running via which you can qualify for the final.
These qualifiers take different forms, some of which are known as Venom Blitz Steps – fast-paced satellites with buy-ins from only $0.11. You can also win a free step ticket in one of the 7 daily freerolls.
The full schedule is here and more info on the satellites here.
There’s also Venom Fever, with a guarantee of hundreds of seats via daily satellites. Buy-ins for these start from a reasonable $30 giving you a shot at a Venom ticket at least four times daily.
If you’re a new player you can sign up and get a very useful 100% matched sign up bonus of up to $1000.
Plenty of reasons already then to take a look at what Americas Cardroom has to offer. But there’s more, as we shall see in our review…..
Software
FAQ – Is Black Chip Poker the same as ACR? | Who owns Americas Cardroom?
All online poker room run on software and are often members of networks that all use that same software. ACR is a member of the Winning Poker Network.
The Winning Poker Network has been operating since 2001 and accepts players worldwide, including from the United States.
Other poker rooms on the same network include YaPoker.com, BlackChipPoker.eu, TruePoker.eu and PokerKing.com.
It’s the software of course that runs the whole platform. If it’s good, then promotions, payment processing for deposits and withdrawals, Customer support, and the way all of the games work will all run smoothly…..
…..and the Winning Poker Network software is good.
Promotions & Bonuses
Getting extra money in bankrolls or other stuff on top is always valuable. ACR are up there with all the other poker rooms in this respect and the Americas Cardroom bonus values seem to offer a good deal.
First Deposit Bonus
Nice and simple, it’s a 100% up to $1,000 offer, with the clearing set at 27.5 Award Points for every dollar wagered, and getting released in $1 increments.
You can earn 5.5 Award Points for every $1 in rake paid, the equivalent of a 20% rakeback.
You’ll need to have cleared the bonus fully within 40 days, and as a new player you’ll also have got an entry into a $250 value freeroll tourney along with an instant win scratchcard worth up to $50 for the first 20 days following the initial deposit.
Americas Cardroom VIP Program
The ACR VIP program is known as Elite Benefits.
There are a number of plus points including up to 35% rakeback. Obviously regular players will get the most out of it, particularly as much of the return is based on dealt rake rather than actual pot bets.
Leaderboard Contests
Americas Cardroom offers leaderboards, usually taking place weekly. Two worthy of note are The Beast and Sit & Crush.
Game Variants
As you probably know, most poker room have Texas Holdem limit (LHE) or no limit holdem as the mainstay of their games list. Same here with Americas Cardroom as you would expect.
Other variants you can play include:
- 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud High/Low
- Omaha/Omaha High/Low
- Pot Limit Omaha/Pot Limit Omaha High/Low
Tournaments
…and now we’re on to my favorite real money gaming subject (and hopefully yours too)….online tournaments. Whether it’s poker competitions or video gaming battles they’re the best way to win at real money games.
The great news is that Americas Cardroom is well up there when it comes to these type of contests.
We already mentioned above the highly valuable Venom series, but of course there are plenty of more regular daily and weekly events. The largest of which is the $150k guaranteed tournament held on Sundays. You’ll need $215 to buy-in, but as usual there are satellites throughout the week some of which have ultra-low buy-ins.
Getting Money In & Out
Deposits and withdrawals are always a consideration in any form of gambling. It’s always good to have different options for putting cash in, and definitely for getting it out when you want it.
Poker rooms know this and it’s rare to find any real limitations in options, especially among the bigger operators.
The best Americas Cardroom options vary dependent on where you live, but include:
For US Players
Players from the USA can choose between Debit, Bitcoin and cash transfer solutions such as Moneygram or Western Union.
The problem with those last two is there will be a fee, which might be in the region of 10 percent of the transfer transaction. Not a problem if you’re working with deposits of over $300 as ACR will cover the fee. Maybe the best idea (certainly if you’re a new player) would be to go for the $300 and get the best bonus you can if you have to go for the cash transfer option.
If none of these will work for you then maybe a green dot prepaid debit card is another potential option.
Outside the US
Of course the same options of debit and bitcoin are available, but you also may be able to use money wallets like Skrill or Neteller.
Bitcoin
Using Bitcoin and other forms of altcoins as a deposit method for gambling is becoming increasingly popular for multiple reasons, and especially for US players of all types of gambling or sports betting. Bitcoin is high on the list of cash transfer methods at ACR.
Note there’s a $25k limit if you decide that Bitcoin is the way you want to go. Other methods all have limits which you’ll find clearly noted on the ACR website.
The Americas Cardroom debit card
This seems to be a good option, although there are costs to consider. It’ll set you back $40 to get one, a $4.95 fee each time you transfer, and monthly fees of $4.95 monthly to keep it running. Additional fees will apply if you use it elsewhere to pay for something other than funding a poker account.
Safety & Trust
There are no known reported issues with withdrawals or arguments over deposit amounts, which suggests you can at least trust the operator from a financial perspective. In fact the firm has strong financial backing so it would be a surprise to see any issues.
The long history – in operation since 2001 with a couple of gaps – is also a good sign.
When the site did close when the bans on playing were implemented in 2007, all players got their money.
One point worth noting – Americas Cardroom is not licensed. Now this might normally be a red flag, but it hasn’t stopped many poker players signing up and playing without obvious problems.
Legality Questions
Is Americas Cardroom Legit? | Is America’s cardroom legal?
As I said above, Americas Cardroom doesn’t hold a gaming licence. However it’s been in operation for some time with no major reports of player financial issues, and regularly holds high prize value tournaments.
All the signs are it’s as legit as they come.
Of course for US players you could argue they’re in a unique position, as we shall see……
Who Can Play
FAQ – Does Americas Cardroom accept U.S. players? | Can US players play on Americas Cardroom?
So in the US there are a handful of US states where online poker is regulated, a number that is steadily growing.
So your first thought might be that ACR would definitely welcome players from those states. That’s not so…and the reason is ACR have no licence, and poker operators in those regulated states need to have one.
The situation is that Americas Cardroom does not accept players from Delaware, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, and Washington State. Players in any other states are welcome to play.
Outside of the US normal rules apply. If online poker is legal for you as a resident of any particular country, then you can play.
Pros
There are a number of good points about this poker room that we’ve covered in some way already and an bullet point:
- Strong reputation in the industry
- Good deposit and payout options
- High quality software
- Reasonable range of games
- High prize value tournaments
- Excellent VIP program
Cons
If you’re in one of the US states that can’t play, that’s obviously a drawback. But you have other options.
Aside from that, there are times when player numbers are low and I’ve seen some reports that suggest there are a higher than expected number of disconnection problems.
You’ll need to take into account some player comments which we’ll see below.
Real Player Comments/Reviews
One interesting fact is that if you read industry website reviews of ACR they’re almost all positive. Normally a good sign, although some of those sites may have a vested interest in talking them up.
But if you look at general review sites like Trustpilot, most comments are highly negative. They definitely are on their Americas Cardroom review pages.
Now we have to take both with a pinch of salt. The industry sites may as I said be offering misleading info for their own benefit, although actually that’s highly unlikely and most of them you can take positive notice of.
Sites like Trustpilot are a different game, and you have to understand human nature in posters on these. Remember that these types of sites will naturally be attracting negative comments, because who wants to waste their time posting positive ones. In other words, you’re more likely to be seeing negative stuff rather than positive.
Just go take a look at the reviews of other poker sites and you’ll get the point.
That said, if you do read through the Trustpilot ACR reviews, they seem to have a consistent theme……
…and that centers around the potential that ACR are somehow manipulating hands in order to get more rake. You can see the background to this if you accept those reports of an unusually high number of bad beats.
Personally I don’t buy it, but it’s certainly something you should be aware of and keep an eye out for. Other poker industry websites (see resources below) don’t seem to have picked up on this.
Getting Support
FAQ – How do I contact Americas Cardroom support?
Americas Cardroom’s phone number is 001- 877-314-4195.
You can get live chat support via the website 24 x 7.
Resources
As you’d expect for a company that’s been around as long as Americas Cardroom there is no shortage of info online. They even have a dedicated Wikipedia page.
Aside from that, most of what you’ll find on the internet are descriptions of how ACR operates, in fact very similar to this page.
Here are a couple of the highest rated pages:
- ProfessionalRakeBack have a well presented and in depth review
- The WorldPokerDeals ACR review is one of the most valuable you’ll find
Summary
Well we’ve seen plenty of obvious good reasons to play at America Cardroom in this review, with just the obvious amber flag from those questionable reviews which indicate there may be a problem. They are questionable though for the reasons I mentioned.
On a personal level it’s the Venom tournaments that really grab my interest, although clearly there are a good range of daily and weekly contests to choose from too.
All things considered, there don’t seem too many reasons not to give Americas Cardroom a thumbs up. Perhaps you’d see it differently in your own review, so feel free to let me know if you do and I’ll be happy to post your comments here.