Australian Cryptocurrency Poker Guide
Since the introduction of Australia’s Interactive Gambling Amendment Act in September of 2017, the landscape of online poker in the country has dramatically changed. The majority of sites – including PokerStars, PartyPoker and 888 Poker – have stopped offering their services for Aussie players in order to comply with these legislative changes.
If you’re based Down Under and still want to take a seat at the virtual felt, there’s some good news. Players are still able to play at certain online poker rooms – specifically those which use cryptocurrency exclusively. The reason? Well, it’s thanks to the anonymous nature of crypto transactions – which run through peer-to-peer exchanges, circumventing the need for reliance on national financial institutions. Under this anonymity, Australian players can deposit and withdraw from supported sites and still enjoy real money poker.
Below, we look at the three best crypto card rooms out there which are open to Australians: Ignition Casino, Americas Cardroom and Nitrogen Sports. We’ll give an overview of each site so you can find which best suits you. CloudBet is the best crypto sportsbook for Australians but unfortunately, they don't have a poker room.
If you’re based Down Under and still want to take a seat at the virtual felt, there’s some good news. Players are still able to play at certain online poker rooms – specifically those which use cryptocurrency exclusively. The reason? Well, it’s thanks to the anonymous nature of crypto transactions – which run through peer-to-peer exchanges, circumventing the need for reliance on national financial institutions. Under this anonymity, Australian players can deposit and withdraw from supported sites and still enjoy real money poker.
Below, we look at the three best crypto card rooms out there which are open to Australians: Ignition Casino, Americas Cardroom and Nitrogen Sports. We’ll give an overview of each site so you can find which best suits you. CloudBet is the best crypto sportsbook for Australians but unfortunately, they don't have a poker room.
IGNITION CASINO & POKER ROOM - AUSTRALIAN & USA PLAYERS ONLY
Play Ignition Poker In Australia For Real Money
A major player in the world of crypto poker, Ignition Casino is one of the most active sites out there. It shares its player pool with Bovada (US players) and Bodog (Canadian users), meaning that there’s always a ton of action going.
This healthy player pool means you can find a game whether you want to wet your feet at the micro-stakes or test your mettle at the highest ones. Cash games start from $0.02/$0.05 and run all the way up to $10/$20. If fast-fold tables are your thing, Ignition have you covered there. Branded as Zone Poker, these games run across all stakes and are great if you want to spend more time playing hands, and less time waiting for them. It should be noted that you can only play up to two tables at any one stake, and a maximum of four tables in total. This is good news for the softness of the games, since it keeps pros that want to grind dozens of tables away from the site.
For sit & go/tournament players, Ignition run games 24/7 with a variety of buy-ins and structures. There are dozens of multi-table tournaments running daily, with a massive $250,000 GTD for their weekly Sunday event.
If you’re an Australian player familiar with, or missing, PokerStars Spin & Go’s, Ignition now have their own answer to them. Labelled the ‘Jackpot Sit & Go’, these 3-person hyper-turbos offer players a potentially HUGE return on their investment. At the lowest buy-in of $2, participants compete for a prize of up to $2,400 – and the largest jackpot extends to $72,000 for the $60 buy-in version.
If you’re into Omaha – Hold’em’s exciting 4-card sibling – Ignition run both cash games and tournaments for this fun poker variant. Well worth a try if you like big pots and big action.
When you make your first deposit, you can earn up to 100% of it back on amounts up to $1,000. You’ll collect poker points by playing which can be exchanged for cash bonuses, and also be redeemed for tournament tickets and other games. And great news for you Aussies: you’ll receive a 25% bonus on amounts up to $1,000 which can be wagered on Ignition’s casino games.
The table graphics are customisable, can be tiled for easy viewing and there’s emoji support with in-game chat. Call down your opponent’s bluff? Chuck ‘em a smug, smiley face to send them on tilt!
Deposits and withdrawals can be made with either bitcoin or bitcoin cash.
This healthy player pool means you can find a game whether you want to wet your feet at the micro-stakes or test your mettle at the highest ones. Cash games start from $0.02/$0.05 and run all the way up to $10/$20. If fast-fold tables are your thing, Ignition have you covered there. Branded as Zone Poker, these games run across all stakes and are great if you want to spend more time playing hands, and less time waiting for them. It should be noted that you can only play up to two tables at any one stake, and a maximum of four tables in total. This is good news for the softness of the games, since it keeps pros that want to grind dozens of tables away from the site.
For sit & go/tournament players, Ignition run games 24/7 with a variety of buy-ins and structures. There are dozens of multi-table tournaments running daily, with a massive $250,000 GTD for their weekly Sunday event.
If you’re an Australian player familiar with, or missing, PokerStars Spin & Go’s, Ignition now have their own answer to them. Labelled the ‘Jackpot Sit & Go’, these 3-person hyper-turbos offer players a potentially HUGE return on their investment. At the lowest buy-in of $2, participants compete for a prize of up to $2,400 – and the largest jackpot extends to $72,000 for the $60 buy-in version.
If you’re into Omaha – Hold’em’s exciting 4-card sibling – Ignition run both cash games and tournaments for this fun poker variant. Well worth a try if you like big pots and big action.
When you make your first deposit, you can earn up to 100% of it back on amounts up to $1,000. You’ll collect poker points by playing which can be exchanged for cash bonuses, and also be redeemed for tournament tickets and other games. And great news for you Aussies: you’ll receive a 25% bonus on amounts up to $1,000 which can be wagered on Ignition’s casino games.
The table graphics are customisable, can be tiled for easy viewing and there’s emoji support with in-game chat. Call down your opponent’s bluff? Chuck ‘em a smug, smiley face to send them on tilt!
Deposits and withdrawals can be made with either bitcoin or bitcoin cash.
VISIT: WWW.IGNITIONCASINO.EU
NITROGEN SPORTS POKER - CLOSED
Play Cryptocurrency Poker In Australia At Nitrogen Sports Poker
Although this site is lesser known for its poker than the others mentioned here, it has a number of positives that make it a deserving alternative. Best of all, there’s no need to download a program or app to play – you can fire up tables straight from your browser by heading to the Nitrogen Poker room.
Another perk is that you don’t need to give away any personal details in the sign-up process, since the site runs exclusively using crypto. You only need to create a username and password for login purposes. With this procedure taking 30 seconds and the fast nature of bitcoin deposits, you can go from registering for an account to registering for a tournament within minutes. You can also login using two-factor authentication (2FA) which ensures that your account is kept as secure as possible.
Since poker at Nitrogen Sports doesn’t share its player pool with any other online cardrooms, it’s to be expected that traffic is lower than that on Ignition or Americas Cardroom. That said, there’s still cash games, sit & go’s and tourneys running daily with variants like Omaha to boot. Throw in the options for custom avatars, a four-colour deck along with achievements and rewards, and it’s fair to say that Nitrogen holds its own against the bigger sites out there.
As the name suggests, Nitrogen Sports is best-known for its extensive sportsbook. So if you’re someone that enjoys sports betting alongside poker, the site lets you keep all of your money in one place and can be waged on either at any time. Whether its Aussie Rules, NFL, MMA or even eSports, there are competitive odds and more markets available than at any other crypto betting site.
Another perk is that you don’t need to give away any personal details in the sign-up process, since the site runs exclusively using crypto. You only need to create a username and password for login purposes. With this procedure taking 30 seconds and the fast nature of bitcoin deposits, you can go from registering for an account to registering for a tournament within minutes. You can also login using two-factor authentication (2FA) which ensures that your account is kept as secure as possible.
Since poker at Nitrogen Sports doesn’t share its player pool with any other online cardrooms, it’s to be expected that traffic is lower than that on Ignition or Americas Cardroom. That said, there’s still cash games, sit & go’s and tourneys running daily with variants like Omaha to boot. Throw in the options for custom avatars, a four-colour deck along with achievements and rewards, and it’s fair to say that Nitrogen holds its own against the bigger sites out there.
As the name suggests, Nitrogen Sports is best-known for its extensive sportsbook. So if you’re someone that enjoys sports betting alongside poker, the site lets you keep all of your money in one place and can be waged on either at any time. Whether its Aussie Rules, NFL, MMA or even eSports, there are competitive odds and more markets available than at any other crypto betting site.
AMERICAS CARDROOM - NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA
Americas Cardroom Is Still Available In Australia
Part of the Winning Poker Network – a large collection of trusted online poker rooms that has been around since 2001 – Americas Cardroom is another worthy option for Australian players. The benefit of being part of this network is that it shares its player pool with a bunch of other sites, so games run all day, every day.
When it comes to table availability, Americas Cardroom has the biggest selection of any crypto poker room. Cash games start from $0.01/$0.02 and run as high as $50/$100. One drawback is that the site does not offer fast-fold games, but this is made up for by no cap on the number of tables that you can play. If you’re a serious grinder, Americas Cardroom might be preferable to Ignition Casino for this reason.
The same variety applies to the number of poker variants on offer. In addition to regular Hold’em, you can try out Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7-Card Stud, and 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo.
Like Ignition, Americas Cardroom also runs jackpot sit & go’s – with an even bigger top prize. With buy-ins ranging from $2 to $40, the latter has a six-figure, $100,000 jackpot up for grabs. Once again, the site proves its wide coverage by offering this format for pot-limit Omaha fans as well.
In terms of tournaments, the site caters for high-rollers and newcomers alike. There are daily freerolls where you can literally win money for nothing, and massive weekly tournaments with a particularly attractive Sunday schedule. Boasting over 50 tournaments, the list includes the Sunday Special which promises a $100,000 prize pool every week.
The gameplay within the client is unique in a couple of ways. First off, cash game players get the opportunity to straddle – something which is pretty rare in the online world! It brings that live game feel to the virtual tables, and helps to keep the action dynamic. There’s also some in-game stats tracked for each table you’re at, telling you how many hands you’ve played, how many you’ve won and your raise/call ratio.
There’s a neat loyalty system which rewards regular players. Earn Rank Points and level up from Lieutenant to 5-Star General – where your commitment is handsomely rewarded with block sums of up to $10,000 in rakeback. ‘The Beast’ promotion further pays back cash game grinders with weekly real-money prizes and tournament tickets. Earn points for every hand you play, and the more points you have at the end of the week, the more you get back.
Americas Cardroom also gives a 100% deposit bonus on amounts up to $1,000. Minimum deposit with bitcoin is $50 and transfers usually take less than an hour.
When it comes to table availability, Americas Cardroom has the biggest selection of any crypto poker room. Cash games start from $0.01/$0.02 and run as high as $50/$100. One drawback is that the site does not offer fast-fold games, but this is made up for by no cap on the number of tables that you can play. If you’re a serious grinder, Americas Cardroom might be preferable to Ignition Casino for this reason.
The same variety applies to the number of poker variants on offer. In addition to regular Hold’em, you can try out Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7-Card Stud, and 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo.
Like Ignition, Americas Cardroom also runs jackpot sit & go’s – with an even bigger top prize. With buy-ins ranging from $2 to $40, the latter has a six-figure, $100,000 jackpot up for grabs. Once again, the site proves its wide coverage by offering this format for pot-limit Omaha fans as well.
In terms of tournaments, the site caters for high-rollers and newcomers alike. There are daily freerolls where you can literally win money for nothing, and massive weekly tournaments with a particularly attractive Sunday schedule. Boasting over 50 tournaments, the list includes the Sunday Special which promises a $100,000 prize pool every week.
The gameplay within the client is unique in a couple of ways. First off, cash game players get the opportunity to straddle – something which is pretty rare in the online world! It brings that live game feel to the virtual tables, and helps to keep the action dynamic. There’s also some in-game stats tracked for each table you’re at, telling you how many hands you’ve played, how many you’ve won and your raise/call ratio.
There’s a neat loyalty system which rewards regular players. Earn Rank Points and level up from Lieutenant to 5-Star General – where your commitment is handsomely rewarded with block sums of up to $10,000 in rakeback. ‘The Beast’ promotion further pays back cash game grinders with weekly real-money prizes and tournament tickets. Earn points for every hand you play, and the more points you have at the end of the week, the more you get back.
Americas Cardroom also gives a 100% deposit bonus on amounts up to $1,000. Minimum deposit with bitcoin is $50 and transfers usually take less than an hour.
Thanks to Bitcoin, the online poker scene in Australia isn’t in jeopardy after all. If you’re a keen poker player who is new to crypto, don’t worry – it’s actually very easy to buy. Exchanges like Coinbase, CoinJar and CoinSpot allow Australians to instantly purchase bitcoin which can then be deposited to your poker room of choice in a flash. Good luck at the tables!
