This site was created specifically for people from Canada, for quick acquaintance with the gambling industry online. In today's article, you can know all about Is Black Chip Poker Worth the Hype? in Canada. Our Canadian visitors have asked us so many times to write the review of "Black Chip Poker Sit n Go Review, Is Black Chip Poker Worth the Hype? in Canada" because of high interest in this topic. Well, the thorough investigation by our gambling expert had been already finished and we have collected here all useful information about Is Black Chip Poker Worth the Hype? in Canada in one review. You may read it now!

Top casino offers tonight

Black Chip Poker Sit n Go Review, Is Black Chip Poker Worth the Hype? in Canada

Is Black Chip Poker Worth the Hype? in Canada

Of that 8,000 only 1168 players were playing sit n go’s. Even taking into account that the west coast hasn’t gotten off work yet, I think 1200 players is definitely on the low end. It’s not too bad if you’re playing for fun or even to make a couple hundred dollars per month. Another downside to the VIP program is that if you don’t play within 60 days you start to lose (lifetime) points. If you lose enough points you’ll drop down in status. The upside is that they look at the points you’ve generated over your lifetime, so as long as you generate a few dollars in rake every few weeks you should be able to maintain your current VIP status.

Black Chip Poker Sit n Go Review

Our Most Recommended Poker Sites for Sit & Go's

Black Chip Poker is a USA-friendly poker site on the Merge Network. They launched their room in late 2011 and have been one of the more trusted online poker options for sit and go players today. Read our Black Chip Poker review for more information below.

Considering that they’re on a reputable network and they are seeing relatively high levels of traffic, that makes them a prime candidate to be reviewed.

Since our focus is on sit n go tournaments, Black Chip Poker will be reviewed with that perspective in mind. My goal is to determine whether or not they’re a good site for sit n go players.

Read on to see what I think.

Sit n Go Game Variety at Black Chip Poker

The first thing I checked out was the games and buy-ins that Black Chip has available.

The overall stakes range from $.10 up to $650. The single table tournaments have buy-ins within the entire range. However, the multi-table tournaments cap out at $54. Given that there isn’t that much traffic (overall) to the sit n go portion of the site, I think $54 is high enough. Players can also buy into tournaments using points, but the option is not available for every game.

Being on the Merge Network, Black Chip Poker is naturally going to have several game types, structures and variations. The game types range from heads up to 180-man tournaments, which can be played in the normal, turbo and super turbo blind structures. Many of these sit n go’s (18s, 27s, 45s, 90s and 180s) mirror the ones that you’d find on PokerStars or Full Tilt, with maybe a few tweaks to make them “unique.” I like these games and structures, so that’s a big plus for me.

Holdem is the most popular sit n go (obviously), but you can also play omaha and stud. Although listed, I didn’t see any games running for razz or draw. Game variations include deep stack, bounty, shootout, satellite and double or nothings, just to name a few.

Overall, I couldn’t find anything to complain about.

Sit n Go Traffic

When I reviewed the site , there were nearly 8,000 players online at Black Chip. The time was 4pm PST (7pm EST).

Black Chip Poker (Merge) Software

The software is identical to all Merge sites. If you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. For those who haven’t though, here’s a rundown of the most important features.

Up to 18 tables can be played at once, which will be enough for most sit n go players. Tables can be tiled, cascaded or stacked.

The interface is what you’d expect from a poker site. You have all the (auto) options including mucking, posting blinds and sitting out. For betting, you can use the 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, pot and x2, x4, x6 and x8 betting buttons. I don’t particularly care for these myself; I just use the scroll bar or the window that allows you to type in custom amounts. But whatever you prefer, it’s there.

There are several options for customizing your table too. I counted 40 table, 23 rail, 14 carpet, 22 card and 10 interface color options. You’re also able to color your opponents avatar / seat with any color, as well as label them with icons. You can take notes too.

All in all, the software is standard.

Not so standard is the fact that you can use 3rd party software such as Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager. After talking to support, you are allowed to use these programs, so long as PT3 and HM have been updated to be compatible with Merge’s recent software updates.

VIP Program & Rewards

Ace-High VIP Program is the name of the rewards program at Black Chip. Each tier is a card in the deck, starting with 2 and the ace being the highest. There are 13 tiers in all.

The first 6 tiers offer nothing other than an entry into a freeroll. The amount of the prize pool starts at $250 and ends at $750 (tier 6). Once you hit tier 7 you’ll be able to exchange points for cash, in addition to being able to play in the monthly freerolls.

That’s all there is to the VIP program. It’s a good thing that you can use points to buy stuff in Black Chip’s store, or to buy into tournaments. Otherwise, I would’ve felt as if awarding points would’ve been a waste of time, as the VIP program is so thin.

Another downside to the VIP program is that if you don’t play within 60 days you start to lose (lifetime) points. If you lose enough points you’ll drop down in status. The upside is that they look at the points you’ve generated over your lifetime, so as long as you generate a few dollars in rake every few weeks you should be able to maintain your current VIP status.

150% Bonus Up to $750

Black Chip Poker offers all new players a deposit bonus on their first deposit. It’s a match bonus — 150% up to $750. What that means for you is that for every $1 that you deposit, you’ll be given $1.50 from Black Chip.

To receive your bonus you’ll need to play real money games, pay rake and earn points. For every 75 points that you earn, you’ll unlock $1 of your bonus. Your bonus will be released to you in $5 increments. The bonus will end either when you earn the entire amount, or after 90 days, whichever comes first.

New depositors are also awarded with a 10% boost on their first deposit up to $30. This bonus is awarded right away.

Banking Options at BlackChipPoker.eu

There are several banking options at Black Chip. Keep in mind that the options available to you will depend on where you live. There are 17 options in all:

Click2Pay

Visa

MasterCard

PaySafeCard

QuickPay

NETeller

Moneybookers

Entropay

Giropay

QIWI

Ukash

iDeal

Online Bank Transfer

ECOcard

WebMoney

ClickandBuy

INSTADEBIT

Withdrawal options include checks. Checks can take up to 7 weeks to make it from your account to your mailbox.

How to Get in Touch With Support

Support is available 24/7 by email or contact form.

I contacted support to ask about their availability in my state (Washington) and found that I’m not allowed to play there for real money. In fact, the following states cannot play at Black Chip Poker: New York, Kentucky, Washington DC, Maryland, Missouri and Louisiana. These states can’t play on any Merge site for real money. Play money is ok, though.

The level of support I received was solid. They even used my name in the email (unlike Carbon Poker). They answered my question and was polite. I don’t think you can ask for more than that.

Conclusion: Should Sit n Go Players Signup to Black Chip Poker?

Black Chip Poker is the same as Carbon Poker, with the exception of the weaker VIP program. So if you don’t already have an account at Carbon Poker, I’d sign up there first before playing at Black Chip.

That said, if you do have an account at Carbon Poker, then I’d go ahead and sign up to Black Chip to at least take advantage of the deposit bonus. The VIP program and small levels of traffic aside, Black Chip Poker looks like a solid enough site to play sit n go’s at, so long as you’re not a professional.

The Honest Black Chip Poker Review

BY JOSH H, OWNER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Review Summary

100% up to $2,000 using any deposit method

I reviewed the real money games at Black Chip Poker, which is on the Winning Poker Network, over the past year. The Black Chip bonus is average, but the poker room has massive tournaments and strong cash traffic. It's a solid poker site, but the lack of mobile or Mac software is a big negative.

Software

Banking

Games

Underneath an unassuming website lies Black Chip Poker , part of arguably the most successful US poker network. They're have about as much original personality as a box of oatmeal, serving as a very simple rebrand of the flagship site America's Cardroom.

Both Black Chip Poker and America's Cardroom are on the Winning Poker Network , sharing every table and tournament with each other like an old married couple eating early bird. Poker players should thank their stars, because Black Chip Poker and Winning have been killing it for years now.

Every year, Black Chip Poker has gained players, ideas, and promotions. They're in a good spot. In fact, Black Chip Poker is one of only 3 US poker networks I think will be shuffling up and dealing long-term.

I'm loving the ambition of Black Chip Poker

One of the weirder things Black Chip Poker is trying out is this roulette-like gamble offer when you're down in a cash game and exit the table.

Black Chip Poker and the Winning network are throwing pots of spaghetti against the wall and I love the ambition. They’re doing things like:

Hybrid tournament/cash games

Instant tournament payouts

Double lottery Sit and Go’s

Built-in straddle option in cash games

Some of it seems plain wacky for the sake of exposure, but, hey, Blackchip is trying in a sea of stagnation.

I first played at and reviewed the roots of Black Chip Poker in 2004. At that time it was a me-too third-rate site (remember Yatahay anyone) fighting a war against superpowers. These days? I fully trust Black Chip Poker with my bankroll, and they’re one of the biggest US poker sites overall you can play at.

Aside from the foolish software fails on Mac and mobile, Black Chip Poker reviews very well across the board.

Is Black Chip Poker legit?

They don't do a whole lot to stand out, but it's Black Chip Poker's wide-ranging solidness that earns it a favorable review. Solid traffic is a big selling point, taking up permanent residence as #2 in the US poker scene.

I love Black Chip Poker's no-nonsense payouts, sending my Bitcoin within 24-36 hours. Surprisingly, some of the largest tournaments online, albeit with my pet peeve of crazy rebuys.

Perhaps best of all? Black Chip Poker and the Winning Network are innovating online poker more than almost any other poker room.

Blackchip has been a slow but persistent burn over the past several years. You’ll probably enjoy the heat.

The biggest flaws of Black Chip Poker

Black Chip Poker certainly isn't without its flaws, however. The most egregious to me is the baffling lack of a Mac software version or any kind of Black Chip mobile app. That's inexcusable and just feels tone deaf at this point.

Also, this is going to polarize players, but I don't support Black Chip Poker's pandering to the HUD base. They take no steps to anonymize tables or protect recreational players. In fact, they openly support HUDs like PokerTracker and Hold'em Manager, which may appease grinders, but will probably kill the Black Chip Poker game quality over time.

Black Chip Poker displays your deposit bonus progress very nicely and you can claim it every time you earn $1. Be sure to click this Redeem button to transfer money from your bonus account to your real money balance.

Is Black Chip Poker legit?

Although I prefer larger US poker sites such as Global Poker and Bovada Poker, Black Chip Poker is still a legitimate source for real-money online poker. I've always been paid on time by them. Black Chip Poker is run by the same licensed group that owns Americas Cardroom, which is the oldest US poker site still in operation.

Does Black Chip Poker accept US players?

Yes, as do all poker sites on the Winning Poker Network. In fact, Black Chip Poker specifically markets to American real-money players. There may be some states that they do not accept, however, so check this review for the current list.

Does Black Chip Poker have a mobile app?

No, there is currently no way to play on any mobile device. Black Chip Poker is severely behind the times in terms of mobile poker. The only way to play is by downloading software on a Windows or Mac desktop.

Is there a bonus code for Black Chip Poker?

The current bonus code is BCPBTF for Black Chip Poker. That gives new depositing players a full 100% bonus, good up to $2,000, in addition to 4 private freeroll tickets.

The Black Chip Poker Bonus

Black Chip Poker has a 100% bonus , or what I call the "GPS" of poker bonuses. The car salesman says even the base model has GPS? Sure, it's nice to have, but it's just expected because everyone has them these days.

The 100% deposit bonus can be used up to $2,000. Just like everywhere else, you have to play and rake to earn it. You'll also need to use the BCPBTF Black Chip Poker referral code at signup to guarantee you get the full bonus.

On review, I found Black Chip Poker awards it at an average to slightly below-average rate, about $.75-1 per $.50/1 table per hour . It's glorified rakeback for 60 days, which is the same bonus structure as sister site Americas Cardroom.

Black Chip Poker has a decent promotional offering, without that one standout feature to put it over the top. It’s what you’d expect, and, with the games being the quality they are, it seems to be enough to keep attracting new players.

Busy grinders will earn a lot. Microstakes grinders and noobs will see very little. It's the classic problem with online poker bonuses. The Black Chip Poker bonus is no different.

Depositor freeroll

The other promotion that Black Chip Poker likes to list with its deposit bonus is the private depositors freeroll, which runs every Saturday. The prize pool is quite modest at $250 per event , but because it’s limited to new depositors you usually won’t see more than 100 players there.

It’s a quick and dirty way to win a few bucks and try out the Black Chip Poker tournament system. You do get to play in every one of these for the month you deposit in, which is a nice bonus.

The Beast

The Beast is one of the best Black Chip Poker promotions, since it’s basically a rake race that gives about 60-70 players cash prizes every week of up to $2,500. The best part about this is Black Chip Poker doesn’t take extra rake to fund it , which is unlike anything similar I’ve seen at other poker sites.

The only issue is, with it all based on how much you “feed the beast” in rake, Black Chip Poker is really only going to be giving this to top grinders. If that’s you, however, it’s one of the best promos of its kind.

Elite rewards system

Rounding out the promotions is what Black Chip Poker calls “Elite”. It’s just like every other rewards program you’ve seen. Earn Player Points at Black Chip Poker with cash game rake and tournament fees and use them for merchandise or tournament tickers.

It’s nice to have, although I don’t like that Black Chip Poker followed the old PokerStars model of making players earn points each and every month to maintain their Elite level.

I like the Achievement Reward better, which Black Chip Poker uses to give flat cash rewards as soon as you reach different milestones.

On-demand freerolls are a clever idea

Black Chip Poker came up with a clever idea to run on-demand freerolls rather than going by a convoluted schedule. Bankroll-challenged players will like it because you literally can play these at Black Chip Poker around the clock if your mental health is up to it. The prizes are a paltry $10, but they start once or twice an hour once enough players fill in. You’ll usually be up against around 500 players per Black Chip Poker freeroll, which is manageable.

The Black Chip Poker rewards section is very nice and the tables look sharp, but the lack of Mac an/or mobile software is bafflingly stupid.

Black Chip Poker Software Review

For all the caterwauling that escapes online poker player’s fingertips, I think the significance of software is overstated. Black Chip Poker is a good example.

It’s solid if unspectacular , with sharp graphics, lots of customizations, pretty backgrounds, and a huge 20-table max for multi-tabling. The Jackpot and Sit and Go 2.0 interfaces were done especially well.

Black Chip Poker also recently added some nice small touches like player avatars.

The Rewards section is especially well done, allowing Black Chip Poker players to track their bonus release progress down to the fraction and easily see progress for medals and achievements.

Black Chip Poker Mobile

So what about Black Chip Poker’s mobile app software or no-download option? After all, citizens of the world are now surgically attached to their smartphones so there’s no way a poker site would actually ignore… Cue the fail horn. Seriously - Black Chip Poker and the rest of the Winning Poker Network have n othing for smartp hones or tablets .

The Blackchip website isn’t even mobile responsive for crying out loud. Here’s hoping that Black Chip Poker gets their head out of the sand with mobile soon. Whatever it costs to develop, they need to do it.

Black Chip Poker on Mac

Okay, mobile is one thing, but surely Black Chip Poker isn’t going to ignore the roughly 25% (and growing) market share Mac has. This isn’t 2005! Oops, they did it again. Black Chip Poker works great on Windows machines, but they literally don’t support Mac players. It’s a boneheaded move that should have heads rolling on the development team (does Blackchip even have one?)

Playing at Black Chip Poker? I hope you like re-buys, re-entries, add-ons, and even lottery spins in your tournament schedule. It's how the poker room achieves such massive tournament numbers.

Black Chip Poker Tournaments

Black Chip Poker wins my David Copperfield award for poker tournaments. The results are very impressive, but it’s done with a lot of smoke and mirrors.

First of all, give Black Chip Poker credit for spreading out big daily guarantees throughout the week.

You’ll see numerous tournaments at Black Chip Poker with guarantees of $1,000-5,000 almost every hour, but they go all the way up to things like $50,000 every Wednesday for the uncommonly low buy-in of $100.

Black Chip Poker has respectable tournament numbers even if you aren’t in the US. If you are, they’re the highest you’ll find.

The largest tournament guarantees on the schedule

Every Sunday brings a $150,000 guarantee , again with a very reasonable $200 buy-in . No one else open to Americans but Black Chip Poker can touch that, especially at that buy-in. What’s more is Black Chip Poker occasionally runs “Million Dollar Sundays” for $540 , which is just what it sounds like.

Black Chip Poker only does this a handful of times per year, but they’re the only poker site other than PokerStars with tournaments this size.

Black Chip Poker has been growing in traffic for the past 5 years, so, short of Ignition Poker, they’re the only ones in the US that can offer large guarantees. They’ve got the player base that will show up, usually about 300-1,000 players for routine tournaments, which is very good.

So, bravo certainly Black Chip Poker, you’ve made the Statue of Liberty disappear and sawed me in half.

Black Chip Poker and the Winning Network are the only poker sites open to the USA offering hyper-turbo winner-take-all Sit and Go's with random prizes. Blackchip calls it Jackpot Poker.

Behind the curtain of Black Chip Poker's gaudy tournament numbers?

Perhaps this is a “get off my lawn” rant from a grizzled online poker vet, but Black Chip Poker fakes a lot of their tournament numbers. How?

Some quick math review tells me that 88-90% of Black Chip Poker tournaments allow re-buys! Contrast that with a US site like Ignition, where those numbers are flip-flopped.

I understand that re-buys and lotteries and spins and add-ons and the thin translucent line between luck and skill in online poker tournaments is just part of the modern game. I get that, but I still don’t like it.

Black Chip Poker can offer such nice guarantees because they have donks throwing money from their mouse fingers over and over again until they go on a heater or go bust. Sensible Black Chip Poker players still “have to” take a re-buy and/or add-on to be competitive. The result is deceptive buy-in numbers and inflated guarantees.

If you don’t mind (or even like) re-buys then you’ll love the tournaments at Black Chip Poker. They’re busy, big, and wild. Just keep in mind that you’ll probably spend 2-3x the listed buy-in at every Black Chip Poker tournament.

If you have my sensibilities and prefer slow methodical tournaments, you’ll have to stick with cash games at Black Chip Poker or the once-in-a-blue-moon freezeout listings.

The Cage and The Playpen

One big praise I have for Black Chip Poker in my review is how many new concepts they’re putting out. One underrated invention from Black Chip Poker is the hybrid cash game/tournament, which I love. With these, Black Chip Poker has players pay a set buy-in like a tournament and there are escalating blind levels.

The beauty is that the chips have real cash value. You have to play until the end, there is no re-entry, and then you’re credited in money with however many chips you’re left with. It’s really unique, and Black Chip Poker is the only site doing this.The only drawback is its rare appearance and range of buy-ins.

The Cage costs $1,050 and only takes place on Wednesdays, with The Playpen costing $10.50 on Fridays.

One factor that may help loosen Black Chip Poker cash games is the fact that bonuses and player points are based on rake you personally contribute to each hand.

Black Chip Poker Fish Rating

Calculating a hard Fish Rating review on stats these days isn’t an easy task. As we’ve entered the anti-HUD era (of which I’m a full supporter), poker sites don’t make many stats available to players.

Black Chip Poker is an exception, publishing all player names, flop percentages, and average pots right there in the lobby for all to see.

The problem, as I’ve been witnessing at Black Chip Poker and the Winning Poker Network for years, is that they aren’t accurate.

This is a legacy issue for Black Chip Poker. You’ll literally see 100% flop percentages combined with 0 hands per hour. 100x big blind average pots with 5% flop numbers. The Blackchip software calculations are broken, which should have been fixed ages ago.

The bottom line on the fish at Black Chip Poker

All that aside, Black Chip Poker does play fairly loose with above-average metrics. My averages show about 25-30% as typical flop numbers for 9-seated tables and 30-40% for 6-seated tables. That puts Black Chip Poker in a pretty nice spot, probably only lagging behind Ignition for the loosest tables in the US.

Anecdotally, I’ve also found the Black Chip Poker network player base to be beatable overall and happily include them in my cash game rotation.

As I mentioned in the tournament section review, Black Chip Poker tournaments often play like a birthday party full of sugared-up 5-year-olds, with re-buys galore and all-in fests in hyper-turbo donkaments. It can feel like too much, but, really, if you can withstand the early rounds, the tournaments especially can be some of the most profitable online.

Poker chip values – How Much Each Color Is Worth

Phillip Overbeck April 19, 2020 Poker Comments Off on Poker chip values – How Much Each Color Is Worth

Chips used for poker are among the most iconic parts of gambling overall. One complete basic set of poker chips usually consists of red, white, blue, green, and black chips. In addition, other larger high stakes tournaments also use other chipsets with more colors. For the most popular types of games like Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, or any other that uses chips as currency, you simply have to know how much each color is worth. It is important to remember that no set rules are in place for the values and that these are rather are common standards at poker events. In this article, we will go over the usual ways poker chips are valued during games.

source: jackspoker.com.au

Basic Poker Chips

Pink – $2.50 (This is rare in poker, and it is sometimes used in black-jack)

Full Poker Chips

Yellow – $2 (Again, rarely used)

Grey – $20 (Sometimes green)

Yellow – $1000 (These are sometimes burgundy or gray)

Are You Hosting a Poker Event?

If you want to host a game of poker with a maximum of 10 players, the experts suggest you should have around 500 chips in three or four colors. If you plan to hold a much larger game with up to 30 people, an around 1,000 chips in four or five colors is what you will need. Regarding sets of chips for your own games, you should keep the number of different colors low and have the most chips of the lowest value. Then, you should have progressively smaller numbers of chips as they climb in value. One example of this is a 4:3:2:1 ratio for $1, $5, $10, and $25 chips. For 500 poker chips, totals of 200, 150, 100, and 50 chips in white, red, blue and green is the common practice.

Casino Chips

Casinos tend to have their own custom-designed chips that have monetary value and the name of the casino printed either printed or engraved on the sides. These are also often multi-colored, stylized, and have patterns. The color-coding in the casinos often follows the values listed above, but many casinos make up their own systems.

Atlanta casinos mostly follow the basic practice of white, pink, red, green, and black chips. They also add yellow chips for $20 and blue chips for $10.

Las Vegas casinos are arguably the most popular in the world, and they also follow the primary system. They too, however, add $20 chips. The Wynn casino also has brown $2 chips and peach $3 chips.

California has no legal laws for chip colors in California, but a common color coding method is as follows:

$100 is white and sometimes larger

$500 is brown or gray and often larger

High-Value Chips

source: squirrelpoker.co.uk

A chip that is worth more than $5,000 is rarely available at the public in casinos, because high-stakes games are mostly held privately. At these events, casinos sometimes use rectangular plaques that are around the same size as playing cards. Casinos that allow high-stakes gambling in public areas have plaques of $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, and even higher. Only Nevada and Atlantic City have these casinos.

This all will be unnecessary if you are going to an online casino because the chips are already counted for you. However, not all online casinos are user friendly, to say it like this. Some of them have the Gamstop tool that prevents players with gambling issues to approach the site. To avoid such sites, you can check the list of non Gamstop casinos at sites such as freespins.monster.

History

Most of the gambling games through history used some sort of cash marker for the currency. However, the first use of chips dates back at the early 1800s when the saloons and gaming houses in the Wild West started using engraved bones, ivory, or clay as chips. These were quite easy to copy however, so by the 1880s, several commercial companies manufactured customized clay chips for the use in saloons and gaming houses. They were carefully detailed and hard to forge.

In contemporary casinos, chips are custom and manufactured, still containing a percentage of clay. Some can also be ceramic. The weight, texture, design, and color are carefully observed and controlled, and some high-end casinos even have microchips in them, which means they are impossible to copy.

Black Chip Poker Review

Black Chip Poker is a nice looking internet card room that focuses on players from the United States and from Canada. It is on the Winning Poker Network so it has pretty good traffic for casual poker without having to worry about sharks at the tables. If you are looking for a place to enjoy low stakes poker online, Black Chip is a solid contender for the best choice.

Being on the large network means that it has access to promotions and special races. The very popular weekly event The Beast is very exciting and the action will start with a welcome bonus on the first deposit. There are a handful of banking options for Canadians to make payments and cash out with ease.

Sleek design for the lobby and tables

Casual players make for soft competition

The customer support team is always on call

Software and Features Available

Like the other skins on the Winning Poker Network, BlackChip uses software from Yatahay and it has been styled to fit the design. The software is available only by download and is limited to Windows as the only compatible operating system. This does limit players a bit but users from Canada should have no issues enjoying their time here. Special features include resizable tables, displaying different avatars, changing the details at the tables and taking part in special jackpot games, such as The Beast. This progressive race is hosted by the operator and awards a growing prize pool at the end of the week to the top users. The graphics at Black Chip Poker are well made and make for a great looking environment.

Good action for Texas Hold'em at low stakes

The welcome bonus is easy to claim

It is part of the WPN and has its special races

Mobile

Mobile play at Black Chip Poker is not available. The software is limited to Windows computers and since there is no instant play version of the card room, there is no way to get the action going on other operating systems or devices. However, we expect this to change given the popularity of mobile poker in Canada and in the United States.

Bonuses and Promotions for Players from PokerSites.ca

Black Chip Poker and PokerSites.ca are offering some nice bonuses to new players. Joining the poker room through this website will result in a welcome bonus of 100% on the first deposit. The offer can go all the way up to $1,000 and not only are you entitled to the monthly progressive rake race called The Beast, but you also get other rewards as well. The bonus funds will be released at a rate of $1 for 27.5 Award Points racked up by playing poker. Players from Canada will also get a free seat on the remaining New Depositor Freerolls of the month and each one has a prize pool of $250. Sit & Crush is another special promotion on the network and while it is similar to The Beast, it is available every week for designated Sit & Go tournaments. Elite Benefits add to the rewards with benefits across six levels.

Black Chip Poker Images

Deposit Options

Black Chip Poker may not have as many deposit options as other online poker rooms but it does offer fast processing to make sure that players from Canada get the money in their online accounts very fast. As for the actual methods to choose from, there are cards from Visa, e-wallets like Skrill and NETELLER and even Bitcoin. It is also possible to send a cheque to the online card room but this can take a while to reach by mail. Most players prefer the following deposit options at BlackChip:

Visa: $10 minimum

Skrill: $10 minimum

Bitcoin: $20 minimum

Cheque: $100 minimum

Game Selection at BlackChipPoker.eu

While most of the cash tables and tournaments at Black Chip Poker are for Texas Hold'em, there are also games for 7 Card Stud, Omaha and 32 Card Draw. Hi/Lo variants are included as well and they make for nice alternatives although it can sometimes be difficult to find action at some of the stakes. These formats can come in different shapes and sizes, such as No Limit, Fixed Limit, Pot Limit, Short Handed and more. You can easily find what you are looking for by selecting the preferred filtering options in the lobby to display only the games you want. Stakes start at the micro range and go up to the mid and even high levels.

Customer Service/Security

Even before you decide to join Black Chip Poker, you can use the customer service to talk to the team and maybe learn more about the different aspects of the poker room. This is usually a great way to get the details for promotions and the lines are open 24/7. The toll free phone number can be used from Canada but live chat is usually the go-to option nowadays. There is also a web form for email customer support. The operator has a good presence on social media networks as well. For security, SSL encryption is used for the registration and banking pages, while the downloadable app is safe to use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Despite its name, Black Chip Poker is not designed for high rollers and instead is a place where beginners can learn how to play and have fun doing it. Those who already have some experience with the game will also find it to be a good choice but it is best to get some questions out of the way before downloading the application and registering. Here are the ones we get asked most often:

Is Black Chip Poker legit?

It was founded in 2008 and although it doesn’t get as much traffic as other poker rooms, Black Chip Poker is very reliable and completely legit. It operates in the United States but is licensed in Costa Rica, which also makes it great for those from Canada who want to join.

What poker variations do they offer?

The big four are Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 32 Draw Poker and 7 Card Stud. BlackChip also adds Hi/Lo versions for Omaha and 7 Card Stud to make sure that it covers its bases when it comes to the most popular poker variations on the internet. With that being said, only Texas Hold'em has good traffic around the clock.

Do I need to download any software?

Yes, you need to download the Black Chip Poker software from the website. The app is pretty small and it has an installation guide to set things up very easily. Keep in mind that it only works on Windows.

Do they support mobile or tablet play?

Not at this time, no. The online poker room is not mobile-friendly and this is bad news for fans from Canada who like betting from smartphones but the casual experience is good on personal computers.

Can I play in Canadian Dollars?

Black Chip Poker uses USD and it doesn’t have the option to change currencies based on location. As a result, you will not be able to play in Canadian Dollars here but getting used to United States Dollars should be very easy.

How fast do they payout?

Payouts are generally very fast and it doesn’t take more than a few days to get the money out of the poker account and into your wallet. Cashing out using Skrill, NETELLER or Bitcoin will take between one and two days, while an extra day may be required for Western Union and MoneyGram. The withdrawal option that takes the most time is by cheque and it can take up to two weeks for the mailing service to deliver it in Canada.

Can I trial their platform for free?

Black Chip Poker offers freerolls on demand so when enough players have registered, the tournament will begin. These events don’t have any fees and can thus be played for free. There is also a tab for Play Money in the lobby which is perfect for a trial run of the platform.

Do they offer tournament play?

Yes, there are tournaments of different types and they take place very often. Sit & Go, Re-buy, Bounty, Re-entry, All in or Fold, flip and Satellites are just some of the tournament types available at Black Chip Poker and they can attract a good amount of players, especially during the weekends.

Poker Chip Values & Colors That Real Casinos Use

Many live poker rooms use a similar system of assigning colors to chip value, especially in cash games. Red chips, for example, are worth $5 in most live poker rooms and casinos.

Tournament chip sets tend to vary colors more than cash games, but some common themes can still be found across many poker rooms.

In this article, we’ll cover:

Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used colors and their respective poker chip values.

(Note: If you want advice for distributing chips in your home game, read How to Distribute Chips in a Poker Home Game.)

Cash Game Poker Chip Values and Colors

The four most common chip colors and their values are:

White or Blue: $1
Red: $5 (some casinos use yellow instead)
Green: $25
Black: $100

You will find that these four values are by far the most used by casinos.

Less common chip colors and their values:

Pink: $2.50 (very rare, usually just used in blackjack)
Brown: $10 (some casinos use blue instead)
Purple: $500
Yellow: $1,000 (some casinos use grey or burgundy instead)
Dark Brown: $5,000 (some casinos use red-white-and-blue instead, which are known as “flags”)

$1 Chips – White or Blue

Low-stakes limit hold’em cash games are often identifiable by the endless piles of blue or white chips at the table. These are the colors most commonly applied to $1 chips in live poker rooms.

Cash game players should often have at least a few of these at their disposal. Posting blinds in low stakes games, as well as tipping, requires the $1 chip.

$5 Chips – Red

As cash game veterans know, $5 chips are almost universally red. Live poker rooms will deviate from standard colors for other chip values, but red $5 poker chips are a staple in almost all casinos.

These red chips are at the heart of No-Limit Hold’em games from $1/$2 up to $5/$10.

Note that some casinos, specifically in California, use yellow chips as $5s.

$25 Chips – Green

The $25 green chips usually start appearing in $2/$5 cash games and higher. Much like the red $5 chips, green $25 chips are used at many casinos.

Las Vegas poker rooms like Bellagio, Aria, and many others use green to signify a $25 poker chip value.

Aria uses a standard color code for cash game poker chip values.

Note that some casinos, specifically in California, use purple chips as $25s.

$100 Chips – Black

Black chips at a poker cash game table are usually an indication that the stakes, or at least the maximum buy-in, are getting higher.

Live poker rooms often use black for $100 chips. These chips can sometimes be solid black, but are often striped with other colors. Other poker rooms use large white chips as $100s.

Note: Want to upgrade your poker skills? Get free preflop charts and start playing like a pro before the flop. Download now!

$500 Chips – Purple

You’re starting to sit in on some high-stakes cash games when stacks of the purple chips are at the table. Purple is often an indicator of $500 chips, and a standard 20-chip column of these is a $10,000 stack.

$1,000 Chips – Yellow

The next level up from the purples, the $1,000 cash games chips are often yellow across poker rooms that spread high-stakes games.

Tournament Poker Chip Values and Colors

The poker chip values and colors assigned to tournament chips ets vary much more from casino to casino.

Let’s take a look at some of the commonly-used colors for poker tournament chip sets. Note that these are the same values used by the World Series of Poker during their Main Event:

Green: 25 chips
Black: 100 chips
Purple: 500 chips (some casinos use pink or blue instead)
Yellow: 1,000 chips (some casinos use chips that are more like gold than yellow)
Orange: 5,000 chips (some casinos use grey or a different color)
Dark Green: 25,000 (this chip color varies from casino to casino)

25 Chips – Green

Like cash games, tournaments often featured green chips that are worth 25. Don’t get too attached, though, these chips are usually removed from the table during a “color-up” after a few levels of play.

100 Chips – Black

Much like the $100 cash game counterpart, black is often used for 100 value chips. These chips are generally seen in the early stages of a tournament and are the first to be taken out of play as the blinds increase.

500 Chips – Pink/Purple/Blue

Again often matching its $500 cash game equivalent, 500 chips commonly display pink, purple or blue in their color schemes.

The World Series of Poker uses several different chipsets across multiple tournaments each year. In many of those sets, the 500 chips have the signature pink, purple or blue colors.

1,000 Chips – Yellow/Gold

Poker rooms widely use yellow or gold as the color for 1,000 chips. This color is used for 1,000 chips in several of the WSOP chip sets, and is also commonly seen in live poker rooms around the globe.

Tournament poker chips from Wynn Las Vegas.

5,000 Chips – Orange

Colors used for 5,000 tournament chips and higher start to vary much more from different poker rooms. Orange is used often for 5,000, including multiple WSOP chipsets.

25,000 Chips and Higher

Tournament poker chips at 25,000 and higher vary widely from casino to casino. Even the WSOP uses vastly different colors for high-denomination tournament chips across its multiple chipsets.

The WSOP Main Event chipset uses forest green for 25,000 chips, and lavender for 100,000 chips. For 500,000 and above, bigger chips are used. These chips are often referred to as “mini-frisbees” by WSOP announcer Lon McEachern due to their larger physical size.

Chips from the World Series of Poker Main Event set.

Final Thoughts

It’s critically important to know what color is assigned to each poker chip value. This can get tricky when playing tournaments in particular, as so many different colors are used, and the denominations go much bigger than in a cash game.

For more on how to distribute chips in your own home poker game, check out the article below:

Note: Want to upgrade your poker skills? Get free preflop charts and start playing like a pro before the flop. Download now!

Poker Chip Values | Poker Chip Colors and Values (Chart)

The value of a poker chip means the number of units it represents. Poker chip values vary as per colours of chips.

Poker chips are standard units for playing poker professionally, worldwide.

Here’s a quick guide to poker chip values. This will apprise of how much value each colour of poker chip holds.

What is the value of a poker chip?

The value of a poker chip means the number of units it represents. The value or denomination varies as per the colour of the chip.

There are standard definitions of the value of poker chips, with a few variations. We will cover three sets of poker chips that are played with, in general. These are followed by casinos and poker rooms throughout the world.

Standard poker chip values

Here is a 'Poker chip colors and values' Chart:

Blue chip: 10 units or $10

Green chip: 25 units or $25

Black chip: 100 units or $100

It is suggested to play with three or four basic chips if there are up to 10 players in the game. For more number of players, you can get a bigger chipset with more colours and more chips in each colour.

Full set of chips: Values of poker chips in all colours

Yellow chip: 2 units or $2

Pink chip: 2.5 units or $2.5

Blue chip: 10 units or $10

Grey chip: 20 units or $20

Green chip: 25 units or $25

Orange chip: 50 units or $50

Black chip: 100 units or $100

Pink chip: 250 units or $250

Purple chip: 500 units or $500

Yellow/Burgundy: 1000 units or $1000

Light blue chip: 2000 units or $2000

Brown chip: 5000 units or $5000

At times, yellow chips of two units or $2 are also used, and, similarly, there may be other variations in values of chips, as per the discretion of game organizers.

If you’re using a set of five chip colours, then the number of chips in each colour should be in the ratio 5:4:3:2:1, from the lowest to highest units.

Casino Chip Sets

Most casinos follow the standard chip colour values with some variations.

Casinos customise their chips in order to avoid duplication of chips, therefore, they sometimes use colours different than those of standard chips.

Usually, chips made of clay or clay mixtures are produced commercially with specific designs for casinos. They are hard to copy and hence maintain the integrity of games in casinos and even save casinos from loses.

If you’re planning to buy a poker chip set for yourself, then you can read my article on what to look for while buying poker chips.

Black Chip Poker Review

Black Chip Poker is a member of the upstart Winning Poker Network that continues to surprise players with a robust platform that still serves the US market.

Black Chip (and sister skin America’s Cardroom) have been amongst the most dominant US-serving sites since 2011 and US players continue to flock to them. The network also serves many players from Canada and a number of other countries. The network offers big sign-up bonuses, solid traffic, reliable software and a variety of games to keep poker players busy for years.

One major draw for Black Chip Poker is that the average skill level of players on the site is quite low. It’s hard to get exact metrics on skill levels for poker sites on a whole (or impossible) but most players immediately notice a steep decline in talent when logging onto Black Chip Poker. That’s excellent for new players as their bankrolls will likely stretch further as they learn the game.

Black Chip Poker is also known for its fast payouts and acceptable of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is actually a remarkable way to get money on and off the site quickly. If you’re looking for downsides to Black Chip Poker you should know that the site still doesn’t offer a mobile client. In this day and age it’s pretty indefensible the site doesn’t offer something for mobile devices. There’s also no support for MacOS, which is surprising.

In addition some players prefer the America’s Cardroom skin of the WPN network and complain about the dull looks of Black Chip. It’s a fair argument but there are also plenty of players who prefer the “less is more” aesthetic of Black Chip. Regardless Black Chip Poker is a legit option for any American players who have grown sick and tired of waiting for other sites to come on board.

Games Offered

Black Chip Poker has one of the most interesting portfolios of games on the internet.

The site’s bread and butter is No-Limit Hold’em but there are also some more obscure games like Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo and 6+ Hold’em and even 32-Card Draw.

6+ Hold’em has gained a considerable amount of popularity lately thanks to some of the biggest games in the world running the variant. It’s still not found on many online poker sites so it’s a major selling point for Black Chip Poker that they offer the game. Black Chip Poker also has a vibrant Pot-Limit Omaha community and there are plenty good spots for players who enjoy having four hole cards over two.

The WPN Network in general is unafraid of experimenting with new games and Black Chip Poker also offers Jackpot Poker, cash game/tournament poker hybrid and Sit & Go 2.0. You simply aren’t going to find a more diverse lineup of games on many other sites.

Here’s a look at every game on Black Chip Poker:

No-Limit Hold’em

Pot-Limit Omaha

PLO Hi-Lo

Seven-Card Stud

Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo

32-Card Draw

6+ Hold’em

Jackpot Poker

Sit & Go

Sit & Go 2.0

Tournaments

Cash Game + Tournament Hybrid

Mobile App Support

Black Chip Poker doesn’t currently offer a mobile platform of any kind.

It’s an unfortunate distinction of the WPN network, which is currently restricted to Windows-only devices. That means MacOS users are out of luck unless they use Boot Camp. You could potentially run Black Chip Poker with Virtual Machine software on a mobile device but it would be challenging and the resulting experience would be somewhat clunky.

It’s a major downside for all sites on the WPN network and the site is hopeful they’ll have something for mobile players in the near future. You simply can’t discount the value of mobile options in this day and age.

Check back on this space in the future.

Loyalty Programs & Promotions

Black Chip Poker may be missing out on mobile support of any kind but the site makes up for it with a truckload of promotions and bonus offers for players.

Most poker sites award a 100% sign-up bonus, which matches whatever amount you deposit. For instance you put in $100 and you get another $100 thanks to the 100% deposit match. Of course there’s a catch: You have to play a certain number of real-money hands to unlock the bonus.

Black Chip Poker goes one step farther, however, and occasionally offers an insane 200% bonus match if you deposit using cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin). Bitcoin is actually a fantastic way to handle deposits and withdrawals on Black Chip Poker because of the quick turnaround times.

You can unlock your sing-up bonus at the rate of $1 per 27.5 Award Points. Award Points are generated at an incremental level every time you play real-money poker on the site. Black Chip Poker also has an exceptional loyalty program called Elite Benefits for players who stick with the site on a long-term basis.

Elite Benefits offers six different tiers of perks including:

Player

Rounder

Grinder

Veteran

Legend

Icon

Players automatically gain the “Player” tier as soon as they start playing real-money games on BCP. The real rewards start at Rounder, which is quite achievable at 750 points.

Players who achieve Rounder will get access to a number of perks including freerolls and $50 cash available for purchase using points. Rounders also earn points faster at 1.5X. That scales all the way up to the Icon tier where players get a 5X point multiplier and a staggering $10,000 in cold, hard cash available for purchase using points.

Tournaments

Black Chip Poker has been rapidly expanding its tournament offerings over the last couple years and the site now offers some serious prize pools for big-time players. The WPN network now has over $3.8 million in guaranteed tournaments in guaranteed prize pools every single week.

The tournament schedule is anchored by impressive $150,000-GTD and $200,000-GTD events every Sunday. These tournaments are considered to be softer than some of the ones offered by competitors and you will certainly find some weak players in the midst of the competitions.

The crown jewel of the new Black Chip Poker tournament schedule, however, is the weekly $1,000,000-GTD Sunday Venom. The Sunday Venom offers a prize pool that’s virtually unheard of for US-facing gray market sites like BCP. The direct buy-in is a lofty $2,650 but there are plenty of ways to win your seat on Black Chip Poker for as little as $1.

Black Chip Poker recently announced a mega-sized one-time Sunday Venom that will offer an astounding guaranteed prize pool of $5 million with $1 million set aside for the winner. That’s life-changing money and music to the ears of any poker player that loves to chase huge prizes.

Why Choose BlackChip Poker

Fast payouts Safe playing environment

Accepts players from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Brazil and Australia

Weekly progressive rake races

Multiple deposits options

Yearly tournaments with millions of dollars in prize pools guaranteed

Are Poker Chips Worth Money?

If you are interested to get the best rakeback deals and private promotions on poker sites head on to PokerPro website (PS: there are plenty of options to choose from also for the USA players).

Can you imagine yourself playing poker without chips? Those small, round tokens that come in different colors and sizes are a significant part of any poker game. We exchange them with cash, then use these chips as ante whenever we play at a casino.

Poker chips only have value when you’re inside the issuing casino. Casinos aren’t allowed to accept chips from another casino, which is a part of their protocols. Players need to exchange these with cash to start playing, but you have to cash it out for real money before leaving the premises.

Let’s cover everything about poker chips in great detail to help you learn more about it. We’ll even cover some of the reasons why casinos require poker players to use these instead of real money.

Poker chips have value when you are inside of a casino. That value is based on trust. The value of chips is 1:1 for the currency you are using.

The Economy of Poker Chips in Casinos

Whenever you hit the felt, you always need poker chips. It’s a crucial part of playing poker, and the biggest casinos have millions of it in circulation every night. Since it’s the currency that players use when playing poker, and they trade it for cash before and after playing, a casino should remain solvent with equal parts of chips and real money.

The value of chips is 1:1 for the currency that you’re using, regardless of how much you buy. Your $10,000 worth of chips will always be $10,000 as long as you are inside the issuing casino’s premises. If you move to another casino, you won’t get the same value for it. It’ll only be worth the chips of the same color from the same casino.

The only reason why poker chips have their value when you’re inside a casino is trust. When you’re within their premises, you know that every chip in circulation has value because a player exchanged it for real cash. So, when you cash your chips out, you know that the casino has enough money to buy it from you. Without trust, a poker chip loses its value.

When a $500 chip is in circulation, you know that another player funded it before hitting the felt. There’s no way a casino will release a chip, of any value, without another player paying for it. That’s where trust comes in and is the reason why poker chips have a monetary value.

Even if you leave a casino’s premises, a casino poker chip will retain its value as soon as you return, unless they decommission their chips due to fraud or theft.

Poker Chips in Casual Games

You can play casual poker games: non-monetized or with real money, both of which are better with chips. However, each chip’s value depends on the type of game that you’re playing and could, sometimes, even affect the way we play games.

Poker chips with no values printed on them are best for home games.

When playing poker with friends, and there’s no real money involved, we use chips of the same color to place our bets. If you plan to have non-monetized games, we recommend the Fat Cat poker set because it doesn’t have any value printed on the chips. It includes 500 chips with five different colors that you use to assign different values according to your liking.

500 chips are enough for a home game with friends. If you are unsure how much poker chips do you need, then read more in this article.

Since poker chip doesn’t have any monetary value, you have to establish a rule on how much each chip is worth. Here is a table that you can use as a guide to assign each color a value:

Non-Monetary Value Guide for Chips

Chip Color*	Value	Chip Color*	Value
White	1	Green	25
Red	5	Black	100
Blue	10

Values of chips in home games.

*The colors are based on the chips included in the Fat Cat poker set. Different sets may have different colors for their chips, and some may even have their value printed on them.

Different colors of poker chips for different values.

White chips are usually associated with lowest value. Contrary, black ones are worth the most.

White is usually the base color for poker sets, so it’ll always have a value of 1 when playing non-monetized poker games. The rest of the chips from red to black will depend on the value that you assign them. We always recommend using non-marked chips when playing casual games because it gives you the flexibility in assigning values on each poker chip.

Assigning Monetary Value to Chips

Trust still plays an important role when playing poker with friends using real money. If you and your friends agree to monetize your game, each poker chip will only have a value that you and your friends agree. You trust each other that the chips will retain their respective value by the end of the game.

For example, if you agree that every white chip is worth $0.50, and every blue chip is worth $5, then it’ll have that exact value when you cash out your chips. It won’t change throughout the game, and it stands until every player surrenders their chips.

Assigning monetary value on chips depends on the blinds that you’re using for the game. If you’re playing with $1/$2 blinds, your white chips should always have a value of $1. You have to adjust the red, blue, green, and black values, depending on the number of players and chips. Remember, when playing monetized poker, the number of chips in play should be equal to the amount of money paid by the players.

The reason why we recommend the Fat Cat poker set is because it has enough chips to support up to 9 players, as long as you place a value on each chip correctly. Since it doesn’t have a predetermined value printed on the chips, you can assign any number to it to support the number of players that you have and the money in play.

Poker chips with values printed on them are more suitable for casinos and poker rooms.

Why Do We Use Poker Chips Instead of Money?

It’s hard to imagine a poker game without chips, but have you ever wondered why we’re using chips instead of real money? After all, it’s easier to reach into your pocket and grab whatever cash you have to start playing, right?

Here are three reasons why casinos and casual games use poker chips:

The psychological effect of not betting with real money. The biggest reason behind using poker chips is the same reason we use credit cards; chips make it easier for players to bet. There’s too much friction if you’re using real money to play poker, which can affect your decisions. The use of chips makes it easier for you to bet, allowing you to focus on your game.

Chips are more convenient to use than real money. The issuing entity of the chips can determine each chip’s value, making it easier for players to use. Since each color has a value that often exceeds that of real cash, it also takes up less space when on the table.

It gives casinos better control over the security of their chips. Today, most casino chips have RFID tags, which provide the casino several advantages over the use of real money. It includes the monitoring of each player’s activities and everything that’s happening on the floor. Aside from this, it also helps the casino prevent any attempt to commit fraud or theft.

Conclusion

Poker chips are worth money, but only when there’s trust. When you’re in a casino, you know that a $500 chip will always be worth $500 because an establishment guarantees its value. The casino will always have enough money to fund the chips because a chip won’t be in circulation unless a player pays for it.

Without trust, a red chip will only be worth one red chip, five white chips, or whatever value you assign to it. You can’t use it to pay for anything, and even if a chip is from a recognized casino, it still doesn’t have any value if you’re using it outside their premises.

Who Are the Top 15 Online Poker Players in the World?

Sean Chaffin

Some of the world’s best online poker players usually have a few things in common:

A lack of fear for playing at the highest stakes

Unbelievable stamina to stare at a screen for hours

The ability to multitask and play numerous tables at once

These players possess incredible skills at the poker table. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the top online poker players in the world.

One essential note to consider, however, is that many online poker players toil away without ever making themselves known to the wider poker world. This list of players is relatively well-known because they’ve revealed themselves also in live games and media appearances.

As always, ranking them is purely subjective and up to interpretation.

Best 15 online poker players are:

Viktor Blom

Tom Dwan

Dan “Jungleman12” Cates

Phil Ivey

Patrik Antonius

Ben Tollerene

Fedor Holz

Phil Galfond

Di Dang

Ben Sulsky

Bertrand Grospellier

Chris Moorman

Mike McDonald

Martin Jacobson

David Benefield

1 – Viktor Blom

“Isildur1” won millions of dollars playing online before his real identity was even known. This Swedish poker superstar played at the biggest stakes in the world beginning in the late 2000s – often against other names mentioned on this list.

That has included being part of some of the biggest hands in online poker history. A few ofBlom'sfrequent opponents in six-figure pots have included Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Brian Hastings, and numerous others.

By 2009, Blom had been part of the ten largest online poker pots up to that time. Blom was playing at the highest stakes against some of the best players in the game.

Blom, 29, began playing poker as a teenager and by age 15 had built up a bankroll of more than $275,000. Eventually, all that was gone, and he worked to rebuild. At one point in his online poker career, he won $1.7 million in two weeks. His online resumé also includes some of the biggest tournaments in online poker.

After embracing live poker, Blom went on to some sweet success as well even though he doesn’t play as many events as other poker professionals. That run included the PCA High Roller in 2012 for $1.3 million, and his live poker winnings now sits at almost $3 million.

Blom remains a legend in online poker.

2 – Tom Dwan

After battling it out online at some of the highest stakes imaginable for years, the player known as “durrrr” online then went on to success at live cash games and tournaments. Dwan, 33, is originally from Edison, New Jersey, and attended Boston University before leaving to play poker professionally.

Durrrr became one of the most feared players online. His exploits at the table made him one of the online poker pros featured in the excellent book Ship It Holla Ballas! by Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback.

During the poker boom, Dwan would play for hours, multi-tabling several high-stakes cash games. Some of his foes regularly included Phil Ivey, Guy Laliberte, Patrik Antonius, Viktor Blom, and numerous others.

Dwan, 33, now has $3.4 million in live tournament winnings but has made much more in cash games, both live and online. He remains active in poker and regularly plays in Southeast Asia, including Macau.

Dwan’s skills and massive wins have made him an online poker legend.

3 – Dan “Jungleman12” Cates

After graduating from micro stakes online, this 30-year-old player originally from Maryland went on to a massive career online and in live events. By 2014, Cates is reported to have topped $11 million in online winnings. That is believed to include an extraordinary $5 million alone in 2010, and some of his online high-stakes adversaries have included Viktor Blom and Tom Dwan.

He began playing poker as a teenager and later studied economics at the University of Maryland. However, like several players here, he left college to pursue poker full time.
That decision paid off and his skills at the online tables transferred to live poker rooms as well.

That included two WPT high roller titles in 2013 and 2014 with more high-stakes tournament scores followed those wins. In 2016 he won a Triton Super High Roller for $359,229 and notched a third-place finish in a Triton event a year later for $1 million. Cates added another Triton title for $500,682 and now has $7.4 million in live tournament winnings.

Cates has become one of the most successful players in the game.

4– Phil Ivey

There’s not much that hasn’t been said about this long-time poker pro. Originally from New Jersey, Ivey is one of the biggest names in the game, and that has included online. At the virtual tables, Ivey was a regular in high stakes cash games during the poker boom.

Some sources estimate his online winnings as high as $20 million. Even if that’s half right, it’s an impressive number. He has also been a regular in televised poker shows and played in some of the biggest cash games in the world in Asia.

Along with that online total, Ivey now has more than $30 million in live tournament winnings, ten WSOP bracelets, and one WPT title. He remains active in events around the world and, in recent years, has begun playing more high roller tournaments. In 2020, that success included a win and runner-up in two $50,000 events in Sochi, Russia, for a total of $1.4 million.

Ivey has proven he can win on any poker stage.

5 – Patrik Antonius

This Finnish pro has become one of the best-known players thanks to his frequent appearances on numerous televised poker shows such as Poker After Dark. Antonius has a long history of poker success online as well as at the live tables. A regular in nosebleed stakes online cash games, it’s believed he’s won more than $11 million playing online and has been involved in some of the biggest pots in history.

At one time, Antonius was a sponsored online pro, and he has massive finishes in some of the game’s biggest events. That has included some massive online tournaments as well. In 2008, he finished second in a $25,000 buy-in Heads-Up PLO tournament for $320,000.

His poker record includes three WPT final table appearances, one WPT title, and more than $12 million in live tournament winnings.

Antonius was a key figure throughout the poker boom and recognised by many in the game.

6 – Ben Tollerene

After a $500 online deposit, there seemed to be no looking back for this poker pro from Fort Worth, Texas. Tollerene continued advancing his game – eventually transitioning from $25/$50 No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha to some of the biggest stakes online. He regularly mixed it up with Viktor Blom for millions of dollars in big cash PLO games. Estimates put his winnings during the early 2010s to more than $10 million.

Along with cash game scores, Tollerene has considerable winnings from major online tournaments – believed to be more than $3.5 million. After Black Friday, Tollerene spent much of his time travelling the globe so he could play more online poker and spends much of his time in Canada playing online.

He’s also a regular live cash game and tournament player. That live tournament career includes $9.5 million in winnings. A high roller faithful, he has numerous six and seven-figure scores.

The latest came in September 2019, when he took down a £103,000 event at the British Poker Open for just over $1 million.

7 – Fedor Holz

This 26-year-old German made plenty of waves at the online tables as “CrownUpGuy” in the mid-2010s including a massive score of $1.3 million by winning a single tournament. Holz’s skills at the tables have also translated to the live poker felt as well. In 2015, he finished 25th in the WSOP Main Event for $262,574.

High roller tournaments have also been good to Holz. He won the Triton Super High Roller in 2018 for $3.5 million in 2016 and followed that up the same year with a runner-up finish in the Super High Roller Bowl for another $3.5 million.

Numerous six- and seven-figure scores bullet point Holz’s resumé and he now has almost $33 million in live tournament winnings.

In recent years, Holz has moved on a bit from poker and entered the business world. He announced in 2017 that he was mostly retiring from poker. That same year he helped launch a mindset coaching, meditation, and training app called Primed Mind.

With his prowess at the tables, Holz knows plenty about having his own primed mind.

8 – Phil Galfond

The Galfond Challenge became one of the most significant events in poker during 2019 and 2020 as this high-stakes online player took on challengers in Pot Limit Omaha at some of the biggest stakes, heads up.

Some of his adversaries included Bill Perkins, Brandon Adams, Chance Kornuth, Dan “Jungleman” Cates, and some online specialists. Not only does Galfond play big, but he’s also quite the poker entrepreneur. Along with a popular training site, he parlayed that into a real-money online poker site as well, where he is also a regular player.

Known online as “OMGClayAiken” and “MrSweets28,” Galfond has played online at some of the biggest stakes and is believed to have made more than $10 million playing at the virtual tables.

Originally from Canada, he now spends much of his time in Canada so he can legally play online. Beyond online poker, Galfond is also successful at the real poker felt with almost $3 million in winnings. That record also includes three WSOP gold bracelets.

Playing at high limits isn’t easy, and in April 2020, Galfond let poker fans in on the pressure of playing at such stakes against stiff competition. He had just come back from almost a €1 million deficit against a Galfond Challenge opponent to secure a win, and a €100,000 side bet win.

He noted on Twitter: “While it's fun to battle against a great opponent day in and day out, it can be truly exhausting. I like to push myself, but it's important to know your limits.”

9 – Di Dang

While he may not be as recognisable as some of the names on this list, Dang had more than $8 million in online winnings by the late 2010s. Dang is originally from Springfield, Virginia, and his username “Urindanger” epitomised the situation many faced when up against him online. He began playing online while studying engineering at the University of Virginia. After blowing through an initial $200 online deposit, he followed that up with another $200 and began rolling from there.

Dang was mostly a cash game player and has only three live tournament cashes for $618,320. After amassing such huge winnings online, he chose to take the money and run – retiring from poker in 2012 to open a small chain of restaurants in Virginia.

After Black Friday, the move seemed well-timed, and Dang said at the time he believed he was making the right move as the edge between good and poor or mediocre players was thinning.

10 – Ben Sulsky

While he may not have the name recognition of many on the list, Sulsky is considered one of the best online cash game players around. The 32-year-old from Durham, New Hampshire, had an interesting start early in his career. He made use of online freerolls to build his bankroll up to $3,000 then cashed out after a loss of more than $1,000.

After returning to the tables a couple of years later, he gradually progressed up the cash game ranks from $0.10/$0.25 to high stakes action playing under the name “Sauce123.”

Less than a year later, he’d topped $1 million in winnings. Beyond playing at the tables, Sulsky has also produced poker training videos for Run It Once. It’s believed he has more than $6 million in poker winnings and remains active.

Unlike some on this list, Sulsky hasn’t transitioned as much to live tournaments. He has $1.7 million in limited events, most of that coming at the WSOP.

11 – Bertrand Grospellier

This Frenchman is one of the most popular players in the game and successfully made the transition from online poker phenomenon to live event superstar. Along with millions of dollars won online, “ElkY” also has several major online tournament wins to his name with several six-figure scores. In 2009, he won two big online titles for more than $500,000. That same year in Monte Carlo, Grospellier set a record by playing 62 sit and go tournaments in only one hour for a profit of $23.90.

His live tournament career has also been pretty successful. With almost $15 million in live tournament winnings, Grospellier has several decent titles. In 2008 he won the PCA for $2 million and also took down the $15,000 WPT Festa al Lago for $1.4 million.

He added a WSOP title in 2011 and a WSOP Europe in 2019 for his second bracelet. One of the most successful players in poker, ElkY remains one active both on the live tournament scene and online.

12 – Chris Moorman

This 888poker ambassador is no stranger to success from simply clicking a mouse. Moorman is obviously one of the most successful online poker players in history with more than $14 million in winnings. Growing up in the UK, he excelled at maths and studied economics in college. Those skills carried over to the poker tables – both live and online.

Eventually, Moorman left college during his sophomore year. By 2008, he was crushing online poker by putting in 70 hours a week. His skills at the virtual tables also began to carry over to live tournaments including big scores at the Aussie Millions, World Series of Poker, WSOP, and WPT.

On the live tournament felt, Moorman now has $5.9 million in winnings and remains a force at the tables – both online and live.

“Online has always been my bread and butter,” he says. “So, to be able to adapt to the constantly changing playing styles and still come out on top is something I’m incredibly proud of.”

13 – Mike McDonald

Yet another young poker phenomenon, McDonald began playing online before he was even 18 (not advised) and had already racked up six-figure scores. Like many players, McDonald excelled in maths growing up and was also a highly competitive chess player. A native of Ontario, Canada, McDonald studied business at Wilfrid Laurier University.

His first major live win came in 2008 in the EPT German Open Main Event for $1.38 million. Numerous big finishes followed including at the WSOP, Epic Poker League, EPT, and others.

McDonald now has live tournament winnings of more than $13 million, and much of that success began by grinding it out online. In 2017, he turned his interest in poker into a business by founding PokerShares. The site allows the public to wager on poker players in events worldwide.

He remains one of the top online players in history and a regular at the tables.

14 – Martin Jacobson

While this Swede may be known more for winning the WSOP Main Event in 2014 for $10 million, Jacobson has also excelled at the online tables. A member of Team 888poker, he remains an active online player and student of the game. Jacobson’s love of poker came while he was studying to be a chef, and he began playing online.

By 2008, Jacobson found success winning online qualifiers to major tournaments around the world and several six-figure scores followed. When he became a member of the November Nine, Jacobson studied 500 hours before playing out the final table that November.

More success followed his big win in Vegas. Jacobson now has more than $17 million in live tournament winnings.

“Just the fact that I’ve been playing poker professionally for over ten years now still feels surreal whenever I think about it,” he says. “I realise how fortunate I am to not only have had the success I’ve accomplished but also be able to do what I love everyday for a living.”

15 – David Benefield

This player originally from Fort Worth, Texas, lived the poker boom first-hand – in front of an online poker screen. His life playing online poker around the world was documented in the excellent book Ship It Holla Ballas!

Benefield and a crew of college drops played, partied, and won millions throughout the 2000s. Playing under the name “Raptor,” that crew included fellow online crusher, Tom Dwan.

The 33-year-old former Columbia University student now has $4.5 million in live tournament winnings. In 2013, Benefield made a massive run in the WSOP Main Event and finished eighth in front of ESPN cameras for $944,650.

He has slowed down his poker schedule in recent years but remains an active player including regular appearances in high roller events. Online poker played a huge role in his success.

“Poker is incredibly stressful on an emotional level, which negatively impacts the physical,” Benefield told Columbia University magazine before the final table. “In my earlier years playing professionally, I was not good at dealing with large monetary losses. They hurt me a lot mentally, and I would tend to turn inward. I wouldn’t want to hang out with friends or hit the gym. Instead, I would sit at my computer and figure out how to avoid losses in the future. I have gotten much better about this over the years.”

So, let's define, what was the most valuable conclusion of this review: A review of Black Chip Poker for sit n go players, from the perspective of a SNG player. The review covers games, stakes, $750 bonus and banking options. at Is Black Chip Poker Worth the Hype? in Canada