What is a Poker Network?

A poker network is essentially poker software designed by a specific company that is licensed to independent poker sites for a fee. The poker software designers make money by licencing the product and the poker sites, potentially make money by attracting new players to their brand.

What this means is that several online poker sites will often have the same graphical interface, gaming speed, bonuses and features, because they have licensed the same poker software. This is a very economical way to gain entry into the online poker business, where otherwise the start-up costs associated with programming would be huge. One of the best features of licensing poker software is that once you are part of the network, a new poker site instantly has a measurable amount of action at that tables already. This is because all licenses within the same network actually share the same player pool.

For example, the Cake Poker Network provides online poker software for over 60 gaming websites. All players that log on from any of these sites are grouped together, and play together, regardless of which of the sites they logged in from. This means that, while an individual website may not be very well-known, they have access to a huge player-base to offer to players who sign-up with them.

In return for providing these sites with their software and a player base, the Network takes a share of the profits from each of their partner-websites. This provides both parties with a good deal; the gaming site will have access to much more players than if it tried to function independently, and the Network gets another profit-generating client.

Sites tend to individualise in aspects such as logo-design and colour, also called 'skins', meaning that each has a highly unique look and feel despite using the same gaming engine. Many also have their own customer support departments. To simplify, Tower Poker and Betsafe are two 'skins' of the OnGame Network. Players are welcome to have accounts with more than one skin on the same poker network, and in many cases are actively encouraged to do so.

Which poker networks exist:

iPoker Network

OnGame Network

Cereus Network

Microgaming Network

IPN (Boss Media)

Cake Network

Entraction Network

Merge Network

Everleaf Network

Which major sites use these networks:

iPoker Network

 Titan Poker

 VC Poker

 Bet365 Poker

 William Hill Poker

 CelebPoker

 MansionPoker.com

 PaddyPowerPoker.com

 Poker770

OnGame Network

 Tower Poker

 Betsafe

 Poker Loco

 Red Kings Poker

 Bwin Poker

Cereus Network

 Ultimate Bet

 Absolute Poker

Microgaming Network

 Ladbrokes Poker

 32 Red Poker

 Purple Lounge

 Golden Tiger Poker

 NordicBet Poker

 Roxy Poker

 GNUF

IPN (Boss Media)

 Poker heaven

 Paradise Poker

 InterPoker

Cake Network

 Cake Poker

 Players Only

 Power Poker

 SuperBook Poker

Entraction Network

 NoiQ Poker

 24h Poker

 Devilfish Poker

Merge Network

 Aced Poker

 Carbon Poker

 Poker Nordica

Everleaf Network

 777 Poker Club

 Raider Poker

 Blue Dog Poker

Differences between networks

iPoker Network

 High Traffic. Not Mac compatible. Does not accept US players. No rakeback allowed on any iPoker skin.

OnGame Network

 High Traffic. Mac compatible. Does not accept US players. No rakeback, but some rooms offer valueback instead.

Cereus Network

 High Traffic. Mac compatible. Accepts US players. Maximum of 30% rakeback on Cereus Network. Network has a past history of scandals and cheating.

Microgaming Network

 High Traffic. Mac compatible. Does not accept US players. No rakeback allowed on any Microgaming skin.

IPN (Boss Media)

 High Traffic. Not Mac compatible. Does not accept US players. Maximum of 30% rakeback.

Cake Network

 High Traffic. Not Mac compatible. Accepts US players. Maximum of 33% rakeback allowed.

Entraction Network

 Low traffic. Not Mac compatible. Does not accept US players. Maximum of 30% rakeback.

Merge Network

 Low traffic. Mac compatible. Accepts US players. Maximum of 35% rakeback.

Everleaf Network

 Low Traffic. Mac Compatible. Does not accept US players. Maximum of 35% rakeback.

How networks exist to compete against the big sites (Full-Tilt and PokerStars)

Sites such as PokerStars and Full-Tilt Poker do not need to be part of one of the aforementioned player networks. Why? Because they are the two most popular online rooms on the web. They run on their own independent network, and use specially designed software. For either of these two sites to be part of a Poker Network would be detrimental to business, as they would be sharing their clientèle with competitor gaming spots.

The essential problem is that there are simply not enough players in the world to constitute every online poker site being independent. Were that the case, all besides the most popular would not be able to fund themselves or generate anywhere near enough profit to stay afloat. Networks allow smaller-scale poker rooms to share enough players between them in order to generate money. The community of sites in a network means that each individual site can partake in the success of the others, and form an alliance against rival networks and large independent online rooms (like PokerStars and Full-Tilt). As the player base is shared in a network, it does not matter which of the members holds the most players. This is why most poker sites belonging to a network do not bother hiring celebrity poker players, as they would not receive any particular pecuniary benefits from doing so.

When a new online poker room is created, patrons will expect to be provided with opponents to play against in their favourite poker variation, any time they choose to log on. This would be an almost  impossible feat to achieve when working independently, but by joining a poker network (particularly if a fledgling room can afford to buy into one with high-traffic) then that room can guarantee new subscribers a large volume of fellow-players. A new room which wishes to function independently has the gargantuan task of finding the many thousands of players needed for an online poker room to function properly; a near impossible task.

Another major advantage with Poker software networks is that many of the bonuses and offers tend to be the same across all rooms on a particular network. Therefore, if a player likes the features of the William Hill poker room, they may well sign up to titan Poker, CelebPoker and MansionPoker.com, all of which are under the iPoker Network.

Although Pokerstars and Full-Tilt currently do better than online poker rooms adjoined to a network, they are exceptional. They are ahead in aspects such as player traffic and software, but it should be remembered that they have taken years to get to where they are now. By banding together, networks of poker rooms help to provide a mutual business community which, while not as successful as the biggest independent poker networks, are not that far behind either.