GGPoker Review – Get The Honest Feedback From The Pros
Launched in 2016, GGPoker may not be one of the oldest poker sites, but it’s certainly one of the biggest and most reputable ones.
Featuring a top-quality online platform and many local and international licenses, GGPoker has risen through the ranks of the online poker world, becoming a serious competitor for the title of the number one poker room.
The operator has forged a partnership with the World Series of Poker, becoming the first poker site outside of the US to give players a chance to compete for coveted WSOP bracelets on the virtual felt.
On top of that, many big-name players represent GGPoker, with Daniel Negreanu being their main ambassador.
This detailed GGPoker review will tell you all you need to know before signing up. We look at every important aspect of this poker room, from the welcome bonus, over the game selection, to banking options.
GGPoker Sign Up Bonus Review: Pick You Welcome Bonus
As a new player, you’ll have a choice between two GGPoker welcome bonus offers. One is targeted more at recreational players, while the other one is more in line with top poker bonuses out there.
You’re free to take your pick, and both bonuses are quite valuable. It really boils down to where you’re at on your poker journey and what option makes more sense for your bankroll.
Get up to $100 in Rewards
The first option gives you a chance to claim up to $100 worth of rewards when you deposit $20 or more. The rewards are issued as a mix of tournament tickets and cash game dollars (C$) over the first six days of play.
You’ll receive $52.50 worth of All-In or Fold SNG tickets by simply logging in every day to claim your rewards.
On top of this, there is a new challenge awaiting every day, where you need to play a certain number of hands at All-In or Fold cash tables to receive C$.
- Three AoF challenges requiring you to play 100 hands & awarding C$2.50 each
- Two AoF challenges requiring you to play 500 hands & awarding C$10 each
- The final challenge requires you to play 1,000 hands & awards C$10
If you manage to complete all six challenges, you’ll receive an additional C$10, bringing the total value of this GGPoker welcome package to $100.
Standard 100% up to $600 Deposit Bonus
If you already have a solid bankroll and are looking for more straightforward value, GGPoker offers a fairly standard 100% deposit boost up to $600.
Once you’re ready to deposit, visit the cashier and select this bonus option. Make a deposit, and you’ll receive a full match in your bonus account.
To move bonus funds to your real balance, you’ll need to play cash games and tournaments and generate rake.
For every $5 in rake paid, $1 of your bonus will be unlocked. GGPoker gives you 90 days to clear the entire bonus, so you’ll be in no rush and can take your time.
How to Claim GGPoker Bonus?
Claiming your welcome bonus is easy. The good news is that you don’t need a special GGPoker bonus code, which is one less headache to worry about.
The first step is registering your account with the operator, which is a fairly straightforward process that you can do by clicking this link.
Once registered, log in and go to the cashier section. There, you’ll find a “Choose your bonus” dropdown menu. Select the option you prefer.
After that, the last step is to make a deposit using one of the supported payment options, and you’ll be good to go. Your preferred bonus will be automatically activated.
GGPoker Review: Player Rewards
GGPoker features a rewarding and rather unique loyalty program called Fish Buffet. It may take you a little while to figure out how it all works, but the good news is that you can get up to 60% of your rake back.
This is a multi-tiered loyalty scheme where you need to collect points to maintain your status and move up the ranks to get access to better rewards.
There are eight main tiers and several sub-tiers within these.
We have to give it to GGPoker for coming up with funny names for these different levels, as all of them are named after sea creatures:
- Plankton: starting level, 15% rakeback
- Gold fish (two sub-tiers): 17% – 20% rakeback
- Shrimp (three sub-tiers): 22% – 24% rakeback
- Crab (three sub-tiers): 36% – 28% rakeback
- Octopus (four sub-tiers): 30% – 35% rakeback
- Whale (ten sub-tiers): 41% – 50% rakeback
- Shark: 55% rakeback
- GGPlatinum: 60% rakeback
For most tiers, you’ll receive your rakeback via the rewards wheel found in the “My Fish Buffet” section. However, all Platinum ranks (octopus, whale, and shark) and the highest tier, GGPlatinum, receive flat weekly payouts, so you know exactly how much you’re getting back.
If you prefer flat payouts instead of surprise ones from the wheel, GGPoker gives you an option to always drop down to the first lowest platinum rank below your current level.
For example, if you make Bronze Whale 2, you can always opt in to drop down to Platinum Octopus.
This may sound a bit confusing, and it’s definitely one of the more elaborate loyalty systems available in real money online poker rooms. That said, you’ll quickly pick up on how things work when you get in the action.
GGPoker Review: One of the Best Online Poker Platforms
One of the reasons why GGPoker was able to gain so much popularity so quickly is the operator’s top-notch software that easily compares to and even surpasses the competition in many aspects.
From a visual standpoint, everything was done just right.
The main lobbies are very easy to navigate, while the tables themselves look nice, and all elements are in the right places, reducing any unfortunate misclicks.
But that’s just a small segment of the whole.
The GGPoker platform also offers a host of unique and useful features that players have simply fallen in love with.
One such feature is their Smart HUD, which was the operator’s answer to the HUD problem. You don’t need any poker software to keep track of your opponents, as the room offers an integrated basic HUD with all the important stats on your opponents.
GGPoker also offers neat in-game features to make games more action-packed.
This includes all-in insurance and the ability to straddle from any position at cash game tables.
There is also an integrated staking platform that allows you to safely buy shares in other players’ action or sell action yourself without fear of being scammed in any way.
The team behind this poker room has shown a deep understanding of poker players’ needs and came up with a top-quality platform that doesn’t disappoint in any way.
GGPoker Game Selection: Something for Everyone
Whether you’re an MTT specialist, are on the lookout for juicy cash game action, or have a taste for quirky poker formats, GGPoker delivers.
Just like with their software, the operator has listened to the pulse of the online poker community and came up with an excellent variety of games across different stakes and formats.
The only small downside is that you won’t find any lesser popular variations like Razz or Stud here. GGPoker focuses on:
Cash Game Action at GGPoker
GGPoker is one of the biggest poker sites around, and their player traffic is comparable only to that of PokerStars. This means you’ll find plenty of cash tables running at all times and across all stakes.
When it comes to Texas Hold’em, GGPoker features a wide range of stakes, starting at just $0.01/0.02 and going up to $5/10.
There are almost always at least a few hundred active players up to NL100.
While higher stakes are not as active, you’ll still find at least a few tables going around the clock.
As for PLO, the spread of stakes is identical, but traffic is naturally not as good. That said, you’ll always find a few tables across all levels.
If this isn’t high enough for you, there is also the VIP section, where blinds go all the way up to $500/1,000.
Not surprisingly, these tables are usually populated by sharks waiting for their prey, and games don’t go off that often.
GGPoker also features the All-In or Fold (AoF) format, where you can buy in for 5 – 10 big blinds and only have two options at a start of a hand: fold or move all-in.
Multi-table Tournaments (MTTs)
If MTTs are more your niche, you’ll find plenty to stay busy on GGPoker no matter what your average buy-in.
The room features one of the richest daily schedules, coupled with several major weekly events and many regular series with big guarantees.
Various daily majors feature buy-ins from just a few bucks to a few hundred dollars, with guarantees going from $1,000 to six figures, which is more than you can find in other great rooms like 888poker.
Not surprisingly, the best action happens on weekends, especially Sundays. This is when several six-figure events take place regularly, including:
- $250 Sunday Monster Stack ($150,000 GTD)
- $300 Sunday Marathon ($100,000 GTD)
- $250 Sunday Main Event ($250,000 GTD)
If you’re not bankrolled for these, there is still plenty of great action to be had, with tournaments like $3.30, $10, and $25 Sunday Special, $25 Sunday Monster Stack ($70K GTD), $2.50 Monster Stack ($10K GTD), and much more.
GGPoker is also home to many great series.
The one that really stands out is GGMasters, featuring various events, affordable buy-ins, and truly massive prize pools.
The bottom line is that the GGPoker tournament schedule provides you with as much action as you can handle, no matter what stakes you play.
GGPoker Review 2023: Banking Options
When it comes to deposits and withdrawals, GGPoker offers a solid selection of payment methods across the board. What options are available to you will depend on the country you’re playing from, but, in general, the operator supports methods like:
- MasterCard
- Skrill
- NETELLER
- Visa
- Interac
- Bank withdrawals
The best way to know for sure, beyond reading this GGPoker review, is to register with the site and see what options are available at your cashier.
What’s important to know is that the operator handles all withdrawals promptly and with no delays. As one of the leading poker sites out there, GGPoker makes sure players receive their winnings as quickly as possible.
Why Choose GGPoker?
If you’re still not sure if you should sign up, let’s summarize some of the major points of this GGPoker review to give you a clearer picture.
First of all, the welcome bonus is very flexible, and you can go for an option that works better for you, be it a standard match offer or some free cash and tournament tickets to get you started.
Secondly, this is one of the best poker platforms, offering an amazing desktop experience and one of the best poker apps.
You’ll definitely enjoy every moment spent playing there.
Player traffic is great, which means there is plenty of cash game action across all stakes, and the tournament schedule is jam-packed with events featuring great guarantees across all buy-in levels.
All in all, there is hardly a reason not to sign up with GGPoker if you love online poker.
If there is one thing that we’d like to see introduced, that would be some sort of a no deposit bonus for new players to give them a chance to get the taste of the action. Other than that, GGPoker passes all the tests with flying colors.
