Full Review of AmericasCardroom

Sit n Go Game Variety at Americas Cardroom

Right off the bat the buy-ins and game variety indicate that Americas Cardroom is not for serious sit n go grinders on the surface.  However, they have massiely revamped their marketing efforts towards sit and go players, mainly with their monthly SnG leaderboard promotions, also known as “The Beast.”

 

The buy-ins range from $1.50 to $100 and the games available include holdem and omaha. Despite being listed, stud and draw poker games are not available.

 

There are a handful of variations — bounties, re-buys, add-ons and shootouts. Only single table sit n go’s are offered, and can be played using the normal, turbo and super turbo structures. The fact that there are no multi-table sit n go’s is a big disappointment. I don’t understand why Americas Cardroom wouldn’t offer multi-table sit n go’s since they’re so popular elsewhere.

 

On the bright side, I think the game filter is excellent. It reminds me of the one that PokerStars has. There are many radio buttons so that you can quickly filter down and find the games that you want to play.

Traffic at Americas Cardroom

When I took the notes for this review, it was 5:30 PM PST (8:30 EST). So most of the US is at home from work (during the weekdays) at this time. Depending on when you like to play that kind of time frame is perfect for your average Joe player, but those who do it for living can be found on the site at all hours, with PokerScout.com showing they have over 2,000 real money players online.

 

With that in mind, I was extremely pleased to see how much they’ve improved their SnG game selections and promotions for them in general. The Beast and Sit N Crush is a mainstay at the website and they’ve only added to its notoriety with ACR’s specific catering to SnG and MTT grinders.

Software: Download, Table Resizing and Other Options

Americas Cardroom’s software was very slow and buggy for me from the start. After I downloaded the software, it took a couple of minutes before I could press any buttons in the lobby. The tournament lobby is also a separate (popup) screen, which I found to be annoying.

 

My experience got worse when I tried to open a couple of tables up. They took forever to load. Once they did load, a few of them would just show blank tables with no players sitting at them, even though the lobby showed players sitting down. After a few tries a couple of tables decided to work.

 

Once I took my seat, I took a look around. All the standard table options were available. You can resize the tables to tiles, or cascade them, as well as resize them manually to whatever size you’d like. There is also the 4-color deck option, as well as the ability to turn off and detach the chat box.

 

I also found the option to change the deck color, which I don’t recommend you do. All of the colors are bright (like a highlighter), and the only colors available were yellow, green or orange. There are 4 table backgrounds that you can choose from – those looked ok.

 

The sound effects were bad. They reminded me of a bad Nintendo or Sega video game.

Americas Cardroom VIP Program

The VIP program uses a military-theme. There are 6 ranks in all, ranging from Lieutenant to 5-Star General. The top two ranks, General and 5-Star General, are yearly ranks. Once you earn them you have them for the year.

 

The benefits to the VIP program include things like points multipliers, live tournament packages, cash, store access and freerolls. The more points you earn, the more you receive and have access to.

 

Earning points to move up in ranks is simple enough. You earn 5.5 rank points (RP) for every $1 that you pay in tournament fees. Fractional points are awarded too, so even if you play the micro stakes sit n go’s you’ll still earn RPs. The first rank that you earn will be Captain, which is 750 points.

 

The VIP program might be kind of cool if you could actually play enough to benefit from it. But there isn’t enough sit n go volume.

$1,000 Deposit Bonus

America’s Cardroom offers a generous bonus for players signing up and depositing for the first time. It’s a 100% match on your first deposit up to $1,000. The minimum deposit is $50.

 

Your bonus is earned and paid out at the rate of $1 for every 55 RPs ($10 rake). The bonus doesn’t appear to have an expiration date, although I would double check your cashier to be sure.

 

New depositors will also gain entry to the $250 new depositor freeroll, which is held once per week.