True Poker.com Overview
is a unique website, mainly because of its software. It has its advantages and disadvantages but, for the most part, is pretty fun to play. True Poker is completely 3D and was one of the first sites to use this online. There are quite a few sites now that try to attract people with this, but True Poker was one of the first. When they launched they decided to go as their own standalone network, and because of this growth was pretty slow. However, they now have a pretty decent player base during peak hours and still accept US players from all locations. Their software has also improved dramatically over time, along with much needed additions. When they launched they didn't even offer tournaments!
At True Poker, you will find no-limit, pot-limit, and limit hold'em ranging from $.10 - $.20 up to $15 - $30. They also offer Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, but good luck getting a game running. Around 95% of the players are playing hold'em, and most no-limit. However, if you're looking to get a game going in the morning/afternoon during ET you're better off playing elsewhere. I saw on average 4 active tables during these times, but the number can grow to about 40+ in the evenings. It still would be nice to have tables running 24/7 like other larger sites.
Sit & Go and Multi-Table Tournaments definitely aren't True Poker's strong point. Their SnG's range from $1 + $.25 up to $100 + $7, and their micro stakes rake is insanely high at 25% where as their high staked games are slightly lower than the average at 7%. They offer 10 player, 6 max, and heads up; also games such as winner take all and turbos. Just make sure you notice a game is winner take all before you register! If you like playing SnGs, just plainly stay away. Traffic is very very slim, and mainly around the $10 - $20, and rarely higher than that. MTTs are better than when they initially launched but that isn't saying much since they didn't even have a MTT schedule! They offer various tournaments throughout the day, with buy-ins ranging from $3 + $.5 up to $50 + $5. This is very small compared to other online poker rooms and their largest tournament is their weekly $6,000 guaranteed with a $55 buy-in every Sunday. Another bad thing about their MTTs is they aren't even really MTTs! Most tournaments have a max capacity of only 100 players, and their largest tournaments have a max of 400 players. Some other poker rooms have sit and goes that are larger than that!
Deposit Options: Fortunately True Poker offers their players a nice
variety of deposit methods. Here is a list of their options: Neteller,
FirePay, Prepaid ATM, Credit Card, Use My Bank, Bank Draft, and My
Citadel. True Poker limits deposits to $600 per day, $1800 per week.
Installation Guidelines: All Rakeback is controlled though links and
cookies. So be sure to clear your cookies before following the link
for rakeback. The link is at the bottom of this page as a banner. Once
you have followed the link it will take you to True Poker's home page.
Download the software - the link to the download is on a column at the left of the page. There is a link which says “Download software” that offers both the 2D and the 3D version.
It's easy to over look the
link and click on a different link. If you accidentally click on a
different link please use the rakeback link again to get back to the
site before downloading. Once you leave the home page you will no
longer be tracked by FTR. You must go straight to download after
following the rakeback link. Once you have downloaded the site you
must register a screen name and register your real information to make
a real money deposit. If you have done the steps correctly, after
registering you personal information you should receive an e-mail from
True Poker telling you about you rakeback and where to view your
stats.
True Poker.com Software Interface/Usability
As mentioned earlier,
's software is unique as it offers a complete 3D environment. If you're used to other online poker rooms, switching over to True Poker can be pretty challenging. As you can see from the screen shots, its table layout is kind of awkward and there is no way to change the view. It is always looking at it from the side in your point of view. You can choose between some built in avatars, which basically serve no point as they aren't animated and have their names and chip stacks plastered right over them. Some preferences couldn't be adjusted and I'm not sure why. We tried to enable the 4 color deck but it wouldn't let us. You also can not change the deck style, table layout, background or resize tables. However, if you have a smaller monitor you should be able to 4 table without a problem as they are smaller than the standard for most rooms.
The lobby is quite a mess at first glance, but you can get use to it. Instead of having the games built in, it instead has its own tab attached to the lobby (same with the chat window). You can then select which game you want to play based on the tabs. I found a few annoyances with this, for one when you select a tab you can't just scroll through with the mouse wheel. You have to actually use the scroll bar (minor yet frustrating). Also, when you left click on a table, it acts as a right click. Not sure why it does this. Also tournaments don't have their own lobby - you can only left click and select properties to find out some information on it. Some of the stuff listed even says "see website for details" but doesn't provide a link.
While playing, you need a decent machine. One tabling isn't very rough, but once you start 4 tabling you will use a lot of RAM and CPU. If you have an older computer, I wouldn't even bother at True Poker. The resources used will make it choppy and freeze up for a few seconds. It never crashed for me while playing, but then again I have a decent up to date computer. I did experience some minor glitching though. The audio is highly annoying and will most likely be one of the first things you disable, at least the dealer voice! There isn't a low quality version to adjust to if your computer can't handle it, so be warned!
The 3D aspect can be kind of fun, but to be honest it is very hard to 4 table with this. It is hard to keep track of the action, even though they add features like players "glowing" when it is on them. We prefer the standard 2D flat tables you find at most rooms today. Some other poker rooms today (such as PKR) have 3D tables but run much better software, making it easier to play. The 3D can attract more fish who just want to have fun, but since it is hard to play more tables the trade off may not be worth it.
Hand histories CANNOT be saved on your computer either. You need to request them manually. This is highly annoying and should be standard for all rooms today. These files are also not compatible with Poker Tracker, so using HUDs or PT to track your progress is out of the question.
TruePoker.com Poker Room Action
Action at the low levels is great. At the 1/2 LHE game it is almost too good. It gets to the point where you have absolutely no added benefit from the fish at your table; the more there is, the more you have to gamble. Moving up to 2/4 we didn't see much improvement in the players from the 1/2 game. In 3/6 we found a gold mine of a table.
Overall, Truepoker.com has ok action. It's still a bit of a small site, but it has plenty of potential. A few questions we asked were:
How quickly do the Sit and Gos fill up?
Unfortunately, it
depends on the time of day that you plan to play the SnGs. At 1am EST
there are few SnGs running and they are all 10+1. Given the size of
the site, SnGs would fill up slower then stars or party by around 2 to 5x.
The number of full NL tables throughout the day? Given the site is small,
the action during the day is slim you'd have to be willing to play
many levels what ever game is running basically during the day. Action
is a bit dry during the day. Make sure you play during evenings to get the most action, which isn't much. You're luck to have 1500 players connected at any one time.
Number of full Limit tables throughout the day?
It is very hard to find full limit tables running during the day. If you do find one it is probably a bit on the rocky side, however there are a couple
horrible players that play during the day. The games here during the
day are like party, less people and bit tighter.
Is there action outside of Hold'em?
They only offer Omaha H/L and
Omaha. Both of these don't have as many tables running as hold'em does.
For some reason True Poker decided not to offer 7cs/ 7cs H/L or 5cd.
The Omaha HI didn't have action at all when we were there. However, you might find other games running. Even so, True Poker isn't the place to play if you are looking for Omaha action.
TruePoker's Ease of Game, Ease of Making Money, Fish Rating
It is easy to make money with the fish that were at the 1/2 to 3/6 tables, but variance is high. If you can play for the long run then your pay offs can be huge. The average player here plays poorly to absolutely horrible. There are some sharks, but they stick out like a sore thumb! The whole 3D software does attract more fish, so you will find some very odd plays throughout all limits. While railing their highest stake game offer, $5 - $10 nl, we considered taking a shot because the players were so bad! If you are a good player you should be able to just crush the tables here. Our fish rating on a 1 to 5 scale, 5 being the best, is a 4.
TruePoker.com Bonuses and Promotions
See our True Poker Bonus page for details on clearing your bonus.
Besides the rakeback offered (described above), offers a 100% to $200 initial deposit bonus! Unfortunately, we have yet to see them do any reloads. However with 27% of your rake and 5% of players you sign up to rakeback programs rake you can well make up for reloads. If you sign up 10 players you are getting a combined 50% rakeback PLUS your own 27% for a total of 77% rakeback (50% from friends and 27% of your own)! This is quite the deal, so get your friends going too!
The bonus is one of the best in terms of how it is earned. Simply play real money cash tables and you will earn $10 of the bonus for every 100 raked hands you play. So in just 2000 raked hands, you will earn an extra $200; plus any rakeback during this period! This can be earned in just a few days, depending on the stakes and how many tables you play. The action isn't as great on other sites, but you have 40 days to earn it which is plenty of time.
Click here to join !
True Poker Rakeback Review
True Poker offers 27% plus 5% for players you sign up to the program. I don't know many better deals available! Customer service for the rakeback program is swift and a response is given to any questions you have in a reasonable amount of time. Payments are made smoothly into your account. No matter how much you have made that month it will be deposited to your account, which is also a plus given that some places you have to make over $50 that month for them to make payments.
Why FTR Recommends THIS Rakeback Program
FTR has done a great deal of research on the subject of rakeback programs. We have seen other sites offer it and then take it away. This is one reason we have been very careful with this type of
project. Even if FTR comes crashing down next week, you will still get your rake back every month.
We also did not want to get involved in a shady rakeback program that was prohibited by the poker room.
For example, Party Poker DOES NOT ALLOW RAKEBACKS, whether on their site or one of their "skins". These skins
include Party Poker, Empire Poker, PokerNow, Eurobet, and Intertops Poker. None of these poker rooms
can offer their players any rakeback.
We don't want to offer something only to take it back.
Players have logins to a console on a TruePoker server where they
can check stats and see how much rake they have generated.
You also can ADD to your rakeback amount! This is a great opportunity for you to get 5% of the rakes from people who sign up under you!
TruePoker Rakeback Structure
27% to player
5% to player's children
Click here to join
!
True Poker.com Customer and Technical Support
Outside of rakeback, we haven't had any experience with the True Poker Customer or Technical support because we never needed to. That says a lot. If we don't have to complain to costumer service or Technical support about something then it rates decently high in our books. We have talked to the rakeback technical support and they were extremely helpful and responded relatively quickly given it was a weekend. We e-mailed them and got a response back quickly on a Monday. You can also call a Host at anytime at the tables or lobby, which is helpful. Live support is available 24 hours a day and E-mails are usually answered within 24 hours:
E-mail: support@truepoker.com