Overview

ChanPoker is the exclusive online poker room for Johnny Chan, one of Poker's most influential and flamboyant figures. He has two WSOP titles and ten bracelets to back his claim. ChanPoker gives an opportunity for his fans to interact online with the great master. ChanPoker, which was established in 2006, has been licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission of Canada, which is the licensor for over 60% of online gaming sites. The poker room has been certified as a secure one by Thawte. The software is provided by the OnGame network. Currently ChanPoker does not allow U.S. players in real money games and tournaments because of the adverse laws, but U.S. players are welcome to play for free at ChanPoker.

Games

At ChanPoker players can play Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw in a variety of poker cash games and tournaments. Johnny Chan participates in some of these. The tournaments run round the clock and there is a new one starting every five or ten minutes. Hence ChanPoker is a convenient poker room for players from different parts of the world. Majority of the buy ins range between $1 and $30, but for the highrollers there are tournaments with buy ins of $50 and $100. There are tournaments with Pot Limit, Limit and No Limit and tournaments with and without rebuys. The Turbo and Mad Tilt tournaments hold a special attraction for the pros. In the Turbo tournaments the blinds increase at a fast face and the Mad Tilt tournaments have high blinds to begin with.

ChanPoker offers both Instant Play games that can be player directly in the player's browser or Download games that can be played by downloading the software. The Instant Play software runs on Windows, Mac and Linux machines with any of the popular browsers. The downloadable software runs only on Windows. The following versions of Windows, Vista, XP, 2000, ME and 98, are compatible. The downloadable version has extra features like game chat, player notes, hand histories, find a friend, pre-select buttons, table stats from lobby and multi table support with active window toggle. However both the Instant Play and Download formats have the same games and tournaments.

ChanPoker has an excellent poker school, which is divided into 3 sections. "Basics" provides a study of the rules and hand rankings. "Strategy" teaches how to play the game in different situations and has tips from Johnny Chan himself. "Essentials" is crucial to beginners with topics like money management and a poker glossary. Some of the highlights of the poker school are the interactive tools and video clips.

Bonuses & Promotions

ChanPoker has excellent bonuses and promotions. The first time deposit bonus is really hefty. It offers 100% of the first time deposit bonus with an upper limit of $1000. The wagering requirements for this bonus are 10 times the amount of the bonus in player points within 60 days of the first deposit. The reload bonus offers 100% bonus with an upper limit of $500. A $20+2 tournament ticket is given to the player on completion of the bonus. To receive the bonus players need to obtain 8 times the amount of the bonus in player points within 60 days of the deposit. There are freeroll tournaments on offer at ChanPoker. One is the Weekly $200 Red Orange Freeroll that starts every Saturday at 13:00 EST. The entry requirement to this tournament is only 1 player point in the past month. There is also a $50 Daily Freeroll tournament that starts at 6:30 PM ET. There are no entry requirements but the tournament is limited to the first 200 players who register. ChanPoker is a WSOP satellite location with two packages, one for the Main Event and the other for a side event. Both include buy ins, hotel accommodations at the Venetian and traveling and spending cash.

The loyalty program at ChanPoker is known as Orange, based on Johnny Chan's penchant for eating oranges at the poker table. The program awards player points to all players who play real money games and tournaments based on the rake in the cash games and the buy in in the tournaments. As soon as a player earns his first player point he is enrolled at the Red Orange level and is eligible for participation in the weekly Red Orange Freeroll. Once the player accumulates 5,000 player points in a month he is moved to the Gold Orange level where he gets a free entry to a$30 buy in tournament. Once the player accumulates 10,000 player points in a month he is moved to the Platinum Orange level where he gets a free entry to a$100 buy in tournament. The highest level is the Black Orange to which the highest rollers are invited. The benefits at the Black Orange level are customized to suit the player.

ChanPoker sells its branded merchandise such as men's and women's apparel and poker accessories. These can be paid for in cash or through accumulated player points.

Banking

Deposits can be made at ChanPoker after the player registers as a real money player. Currently Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Click2Pay and WebMoney are offered as deposit options. ChanPoker does not charge any deposit fees to play at ChanPoker.

Cash outs can be made only to accounts that have been verified via a valid deposit in order to ensure the safety of all ChanPoker members. Cash outs requested in any given 24 hour period are processed together and can take up to 3 working days depending on the selected method. Cash outs can be made by requesting a check from ChanPoker, but can take up to 10 working days.

Support

ChanPoker has a comprehensive FAQs section that discusses various issues such as registration, bonuses, banking and security. If a player needs to contact customer support urgently it is recommended that they use live chat or telephone. Otherwise players can fill up the online support form and a member of the customer support will get in touch. Customer support at ChanPoker operates 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.