Carbon Poker Review

Bonus:200% up to $5000
Code: CARBONPK
No Limit Holdem
Pot Limit Omaha
Stud and Others
Sit N Go
US Players
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 -Soft Games        -Good Software    -Good VIP Deals    -Secure Site        -Great Tourneys
Software 8/10
Bonus and Promotions 10/10
Soft Opposition 9/10
Traffic 7/10
Game Variety 10/10
Overall 8.5/10

Carbon Poker Overview

Welcome to our Carbon Poker Review. Carbon poker who operate on the Merge Network are one of the few rooms that currently serve players in the US. At the moment we would put them at the top of the pile alongside Bovada in terms of what room American players should choose.

We used to recommend Lock Poker to our visitors but they have gone through some very bad PR lately and it looks like they might be in some financial trouble so whatever you do, don’t open an account at Lock for the moment!

Carbon have been around since 2006 and have a very good reputation in the online poker community and are known for their good customer service and fast payouts and there have been no scandals around them whatsoever.

Carbon Bonuses and Promotions

First Deposit bonus:

The first deposit bonus at Carbon is 200% up to $5,000 which dollar for dollar is one of the biggest bonuses you’re going to find online. Looking behind the numbers a bit, you’ll see that the bonus is released in $5 increments for every 750 VIP points you earn, and you get 150 points per dollar of rake paid. You can see then that the bonus represents 20% of your rake back which is a little lower than some sites offer, but worth it in our opinion due to the peace of mind that goes with playing at a good, secure site.

Promotions:

From time to time Carbon also offer reload bonuses, which typically offer 75% of your deposit up to $375 and clear at the same rate as the first deposit bonus.

Beyond that they offer promotions like ‘The Equalizer’ which is basically a $50k rake race, free poker training in association with well known training site Drag the Bar (You need to earn 10 points in your first month and 5,000 points each additional month), and other smaller promotions like a Sit n Go leaderboard and the Tourney King promotion for MTT players.

VIP Scheme:

The VIP scheme at Carbon follows the typical tiered format with levels going from Earth to Wind, Fire, Water, and up to Carbon depending on how much you pay and how much rake you generate. ‘Carbon’ level players need to accrue 20,000 points per month and if you get there you can cash in your VIP points at a rate which equates to 35% cash back.

>>Visit Carbon Poker

Carbon Poker Games and Tournaments

As a member of the Merge Network, Carbon has access to a player pool that’s in the top 20 in the world and at peak times there are about 1,000 cash game players online. As with most sites the majority of the traffic is at Hold’Em and Omaha tables but there are several other unusual games available including 7 Card Stud (Hi and Hi/Lo), Razz, 5 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw, Triple Draw and Badugi.

Shorthanded games remain a little more popular than full ring as is common on most sites, but there are several full ring games going at most levels up to $0.50/$1.00 and$1/$2 (where most of the tables are bad beat jackpot tables).

Carbon has a good range of guaranteed prize pool tournaments, the biggest of which is the $50k guarantee which takes place on Sunday afternoons and has a $100 buy-in. They also run re-entry tournies, satellites to major live events like the WSOP, bounty tournaments, shootout tournaments, and even ladies only events!

Carbon Poker Software and Graphics

The default layout is styled in mostly black and bluebut the ability to change the colors of pretty much everything on the table means you can set it up to suit you. Features like default buy-ins, auto-rebuy, preferred seating,the ability to take notes and mark players make the game playing experience smooth and enjoyable. They even have the ‘run it twice’ feature, where you can deal two boards when all-in, if the other player agrees.

The software performs pretty well and the two major tracking software packages (Hold’Em Manager and Poker Tracker) are both supported making multi-tabling simple.

Standard of Competition at Carbon Poker

Carbon used to be one of the softest US facing rooms before PokerStars and Full Tilt were forcibly removed. Since then the increase in American players on the network has caused the games to get a little tougher. There are still plenty of fish to be found though thanks to several sports books and casinos having their poker rooms on the network.

Carbon Poker Support

Carbon offer a 24/7 support service over email. Their support staff are very good and will respond to most queries in just a couple of hours. You can contact them at [email protected]