Mermaid Poker Overview
The Mermaid Gaming Network is one of the many online poker companies who operate on the highly successful International Poker Network. The Malta-based firm provides their own stylish and straightforward online poker skin to thousands of willing players. They are licensed and regulated by the Lotteries & Gaming Authority of Malta, so you can ensure that their standards of safety and integrity are held to account. is one of the most welcoming sites for players from around the world. They accept multiple currencies and multiple chat languages in order to cater to the widest possible audience.
The International Poker Network, on which Mermaid Poker resides, is owned and operated by the Boss Media company. Boss also provides the software on which Mermaid operates. Based in Sweden, they are also listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The IPN is a relatively old network that has come to particular prominence in the last few years. Over 30 different skins make their home on the network, including well-known names like InterPoker and ParadisePoker. The International Poker Network is currently among the top 10 most popular in the world. Boss Media was recently purchased by GEMed.
When scanning the Mermaid Poker table list you will instantly recognize that there are three different currencies to choose from. Most cash tables are in the multi-national Euro currency, but there are plenty of games that use Dollars and Pounds as well. No-limit Hold‘em blinds start almost as low as it gets at $0.02/$0.04 and progress up to the moderately large €300/€600 level. As you might expect, most of the players on Mermaid can be found at these cash tables. Off-peak there are plenty of full tables all the way up to the €5/€10 mid-stakes games.
Although the $0.10/$0.20 limit Hold‘em starting stakes are unlikely to break the bank, they are a little higher than you might expect. However, their £1,000/£2,000 upper limits looks high enough to cater to almost every kind of limit player. Strangely, the limit games on Mermaid Poker are not very well attended. The traffic pales in comparison with the hordes at the no-limit tables. In fact, some of the less popular games even have more tables running than the limit section. Limit, pot-limit, and no-limit Omaha games are fairly popular, while 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, and SOKO are relatively quiet. Oddly, I came a across quite a large number of 5 Card Draw players - making it significantly busier than the limit section.
The tournaments on Mermaid Poker don’t really compete with the cash games and this is reflected in the number of players. Sit & Go’s start at a modest €1 + €0.10 but reach their cap at a massive €10,000 + €500. There are a fair number of tournaments running at any one time so you shouldn’t have to wait long at all for a low-mid stakes table to start.
The Multi-Table Tournament selection at Mermaid is probably the weakest part of the whole package. Most tournaments cater to a few hundred players, although the daily €100 freerolls usually stuff in the full 5000. Freerolls and guarantees are generally well supplied by Mermaid Poker, but the regular tournament offering isn’t up to par with the rest of the site. Regular no-limit Hold‘em buy-ins only go as high as €100 + €9, not nearly enough to cater to the profitable high-stakes tournament pros. Regular cash game players have a good excuse to head over to the tournament area every month. If you play at least 1,500 raked hands over a 30 day period then you qualify for a great €10,000 freeroll. The selection of guaranteed events isn’t quite as great as some other sites, but still provides a decent shot of extra value. There are daily €3k, €10k, €25k tournaments, as well as a weekly €100k guarantee. There’s also an elusive €250,000 guaranteed tournament that Mermaid runs from time to time.
Mermaid Poker used to offer players Frequent Player Points, or FPPs. However, they have recently decided to discontinue these. They were mostly only used to buy-in to freeroll tournaments anyway. The FPP information will be taken off their website soon.
Mermaid Poker Software Interface/ Usability
The software is nothing spectacular to look at, but it does its job very well. The client window is dominated by the table list, which displays all of the standard information you’d expect. Player/Flop percentages, Hands per Hour, and Average Pot statistics give you all the information you need to find the juiciest table. Although, if you’re on the lookout for a specific fish or two then you can use the helpful ‘Find Player’ tab to hunt them down.
Tabs across the top of the client allow you to navigate to a number of different areas. The Quick Play tab brings you to a screen where you can input your variables and instantly be transported to a suitable table. Tables brings up the table list, Profile allows you to edit your info, Find Player does as it states, and Support allows you to contact the Mermaid helpdesk. There’s also a Settings tab where you can fiddle with a few different options, although there aren’t many things to change. Switching to a four color deck, turning the sound effects on and off, and enabling a full screen view are all the options you are afforded.
You’ll spend most of your time with the ‘Tables’ tab selected. Here you can use buttons to filter between the game type and then a smaller row to select the stakes. If you’re looking to refine the table list even further then you should make use of the solid Filter option. All of the tables are manually resizable and can all be opened in a mini-view. Coupled with the fact that there is no limit on the number of tables you can have open at once, this makes Mermaid a great site for serious multi-tablers.
Mermaid Poker Room Action
The International Poker Network currently sits in 8th place in the world, so you can be sure that they’ll always be plenty of people online at every hour. shares its player base with the likes of ParadisePoker and InterPoker, two sites with big reputations.
The cash games are always bustling, particularly those of the no-limit Hold ‘em variety. Limit Hold ‘em games, while still running, are much less popular. Omaha’s growing popularity is reflected on Mermaid, with a decent number of tables open at every hour. Although the stud tables are almost completely vacated off-peak, 5 Card Draw appears to be undergoing some kind of strange renaissance. At one point there were even more 5 Card tables running than there were limit Hold ‘em.
Tournaments are less popular, which is not surprising given that they are less varied. The freerolls and guarantees are predictably popular, but otherwise the MTTs and SnGs are less well attended compared to the cash games.
Mermaid Poker Ease of Game, Ease of Making Money, Fish Rating
The IPN has long had a reputation for being one of the fishiest networks in existence. Although the departure of betting giant bwin and the blocking of US accounts has lessened that reputation to a degree, there are still hordes of bad players cluttering up the tables. With over 30 different skins to choose from, you’re likely to find a profitable kind of loose-passive player on , via the International Poker Network.
Mermaid Poker Bonus Referral Codes and Promotions
See our Mermaid Poker Bonus page for details on clearing your bonus.
Bonus deals and other promotions are one of Mermaid Poker’s strongest suits. They provide a dizzying array of special tournaments and challenges to entertain even the most bonus hungry player. If you have a decent bankroll and the time and willingness to grind then the bonus could turn out to be an excellent deal. Their first deposit bonus will repay you 200% up to a total of €1000. Make sure you use the links on this page and enter the Mermaid Poker bonus code FTR if prompted when creating your account. So long as you deposit at least €20 the deal should automatically activate.
Also, when you sign up through FlopTurnRiver, you will start receiving 30% rakeback on your account! All you need to do to receive rakeback is rake at least €100 for the month and 30% rakeback will automatically be paid into your account on the 1st of each following month.
Mermaid Poker makes it simple to clear bonuses. It’s simply a matter of how much you contribute in rake. You’ll need to pay the site €25 in rake for every €5 of bonus cash you wish to unlock. This would be the same as getting 20% rakeback - on top of the 30% rakeback you're already getting! This means that for a €50 deposit you would need to contribute €500 in rake before you see your whole deposit. This amounts to €10,000 worth of pots at the €0.25/€0.50 level, a target low-stakes players are very unlikely to reach within the 31-day time limit. Thankfully, the bonus is released in €5 increments, so even low stakes players should be able to get some free money.
Alongside this generous but tricky bonus are a long list of other ways to earn extra cash. In addition to the standard Bad Beat jackpots and freerolls, there are S&G and MTT leaderboards with up to €60k in prizes. Mermaid Poker also runs special 3 week rake races. The top 50 players who can rake the most each period win a share of €60,000. According to the payouts on the website, if you were to win each period you would be awarded €15,000! That's a huge amount of money just for playing.
Mermaid Poker Rakeback Review
Receiving your rakeback on couldn't be easier. Just sign up through FlopTurnRiver and you will automatically be enrolled in their rakeback program. From there it's just a matter of playing poker. Rake at least €100 each month and the following month Mermaid Poker will return 30% of your rake directly to your account. Remember that 30% rakeback is the highest amount allowed by Boss Media on the International Poker Network. There are still some sites on the network that don't offer rakeback at all, so if you like the software and the network in general you might as well get rakeback while playing!
Mermaid Poker Rakeback Calculations
Tournament Rake Calculations:
Every cent in tournament fees will count towards your rakeback. For example if you play a $10 + $1 SnG, $.30 (30 cents) of your tournament fee will go towards your monthly rakeback.
Ring Game Rake Calculations:
Rakeback is earned whenever a player is dealt cards in a raked pot, regardless of whether or not the player actually plays their hand. If rake is generated in a hand, then this is split equally among all players that are dealt cards (even if they simply fold preflop). Each player then receives 30% of their part of the rake.
For example, if the rake paid in a pot is $1 and ten people are dealt cards, this rake is divided by the ten players, which equals $0.10 each. You then receive 30% of this amount, which is $0.03.
Mermaid Poker Customer and Technical Support
If you’re looking for the support information then make sure you search through the client first. Their website is habitually sketchy and finding the info you’re after can quickly turn into a hassle. The ‘Support’ tab in the software, on the other hand, links you straight to a plethora of helpful options. You can skip straight to a live support desk for an immediate response, open up your email client with the address ready to go, examine your latest hand histories, or check up on the status of your bonus deals. There doesn’t appear to be a support phone number listed, but given the labyrinthine nature of their website that doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist.
Email: mermaidpoker@pokerresponse.com
Mermaid by givememyleg on 07 Oct 2009
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