The United States government have made far greater effort to shut-down U.S. friendly poker sites than sportsbooks and casinos. Black Friday saw the PokerStars and Full Tilt withdraw permanently from the United States poker market and it hasn't fully recovered since. Things looks like they might change thanks to the arrival of a new breed of bitcoin friendly poker rooms which are far harder to control and shut down because they operate outside the traditional banking system. We've taken a look at all the bitcoin friendly poker sites and these are our top 3 picks. BETCOIN POKER - BETCOIN.AG These guys take the number 1 stop because even though they are a bitcoin-only poker room, they are also part of the Winning Poker Networks so they share the same player pool as Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker. BetCoin Poker poker accept real money players from the USA and allow you to create an anonymous account. The only deposit and withdrawal option available is bitcoin and there are zero fees. BetCoin uses the same software as other major poker rooms on the WPN so you can play everything from Omaha/Hold'em cash games, to MTT's, freerolls and Sit N Go's. The main drawl back right now is the lack of iOS and Android support but we're told apps are in development. Our other two recommendations offer mobile poker. IGNITION POKER - IGNITIONCASINO.EU Ignition is the home home of Bovada poker. If you were familiar both the Bovada poker room before it shut-down then you'll feel right at home at Ignition. Mobile poker is available on iPhone, Microsoft Lumia and Android phones and tablets. There is also a full client for Mac and PC that you can download. You can use your Visa/Master card at the cashier but it's far cheaper to use bitcoin as there are no fees. This is the biggest US poker network so you'll find plenty of action at the ring games and the tournament schedule is very busy also. $2,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools is offered every week and the biggest weekly tournament is $100,000. >> Ignition Poker Review NITROGEN POKER - NITROGENSPORTS.EU Nitrogen Sports is beyond doubt the latest and most trusted bitcoin-exclusive sportsbook servicing sports bettors from the United States. Their online poker room offers completely anonymous poker and you can sign-up for an account in seconds with just a username and password. Traffic is not as high as as Ignition or BetCoin but there is still plenty of action due to the popularity of the sportsbook. You can play instantly from any browser and the Nitrogen poker software is also compatible with iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Nitrogen supports a wide variety of tournament types plus Omaha and Hold'em ring games. Nitrogen Poker only accept bitcoin and process all transactions free of charge. For a more detailed breakdown you should visit this Bitcoin Poker Sites guide.
can you tell me how the poker rake for these bitcoin poker sites compares to traditional poker rooms?
Rake varies from site so site but it's generally pretty competitive when compared to fiat currency poker rooms. For instance, at Nitrogen Poker you can pay anywhere from 1% to 4% depending on the type of game. Betcoin charge 2% rake for heads-up tables and 4% for regular tables. Ignition/Bovada poker have a flat 5% rake rate.
Seals With Clubs are still operating and have a dedicated but decreasing fan base due to the increase in competition. They do offer 2% rake which is very competitive as long as you don't mind the low traffic.
The Ignition Casino poker room charges 5% rake for most games (Bovada used to charge 4% if my memory serves me correctly). Poker rake at bitcoin-exclusive poker rooms like BetCoin and Nitrogen Sports ranges between 2% and 4% so it is cheaper to play there. The advantage poker playing poker at IgnitionCasino is that they have by far the most traffic.