Americas Cardroom Review

Formerly DoylesRoom, Americas Cardroom (ACR) is one of the largest sites still operating to US players outside the legal jurisdictions of New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware.

Doyle Brunson may be long gone, but the American players have remained. With some regular guarantees up for grabs, plus some exciting live tournament qualifiers added, ACR is certainly worth a look if you're currently Stateside.

About Americas Cardroom

AmericasCardroom forms part of the Winning Poker Network, which it joined in 2011. It was formerly known as DoylesRoom, the site that launched in the early 2000s but was rudely shut down as part of government crackdowns on unlicensed sites. The new ACR is licensed in Costa Rica and continues to offer real money games to American-based players.

Software

Americas Cardroom offers a download client for PC or Mac players direct from the site. It's a safe and secure site, being part of the WPN (Winning Poker Network) which also enjoys some excellent auditing from iTech Labs.

The download client allows for table resizing by simply clicking and dragging the table corner. The tournament lobby won't win awards for complexity but the filters are easy to use. Cash games can also be filtered by limit, type, and stack size.

Players

Being part of the WPN (Winning Poker Network) and licensed in Costa Rica, Americas Cardroom can enjoy plenty of US action (outside legalized states like New Jersey and Nevada, of course).

As part of the Winning Poker Network, Americas Cardroom enjoys a share of network coverage with online sites like PokerKing, Full10Poker, and BlackChipPoker: not the most spectacular of sites in the world, but combined can see peak traffic of around 1500-2000 on good days.

The standard is fairly average, particularly at the medium-stakes NLHE cash games. Look out for overlay in some of the many weekly guarantees.

Stakes & Cash Games

As part of the WPN, cash tables are reasonably busy at peak times and weekends. A 24-hour peak of 1500-1600 is usual at Americas Cardroom and sister sites.

The usual array of Texas Hold'em and Omaha can be played at Americas Cardroom, as well as 7-card Stud, 7-Stud Hi-Lo, and 32 Card Draw. The tables are busiest at the lower-stakes NLHE, but it's possible to multi-table comfortably on evenings and Saturday nights.

Tournaments

Americas Cardroom runs a decent spread for nightly and weekly tournaments at a range of stakes. The big draw is the Jackpot Poker offerings - Americas Cardroom's take on the kind of SNG jackpot games you see at other sites. The randomly-drawn prizepools can award up to $100,000.

A big problem with ACR tourneys is, like some of the bigger operators, the very long registration times for tournaments. Late reg periods can last hours, making a mockery of the players who have turned up on time.

Americas Cardroom is also the sponsor of the Punta Cana Poker Classic, a $500,000-GTD tournament that takes place every year in the Dominican Republic. Satellites run on-site in the lead-up to the big event.

Poker Bonuses & VIP

New players at Americas Cardroom can earn a 100% welcome bonus up to $1000 when they open an account. Signing up also gets new recruits entry into the progressive rake race, The Beast, which takes place all month.

After making a deposit of $25 or over, players at ACR can also play Jackpot Poker Games for free. Buy-ins range from $2 to $40. New players also get entry into the $250 New Depositors Freeroll that takes place every Saturday night.

For consistent players, there is the Elite Benefits Program. This offers bonuses like cash rewards, packages to live events like the Punta Cana Classic, and elite access to the VIP Store. There are six levels of 'Military Rank': Lieutenant up to 5-star General.

Customer Support & Banking

Americas Cardroom players can enjoy 24/7 support via phone (1-877-314-4195), live chat, or email. Accounts are segregated, protecting players' money, and deposits can be made in a variety of US-friendly ways: Western Union, prepaid card and even Bitcoin transactions are possible.

Watch out for fees and a minimum rake: it varies on the type of game you play, but you may have to clear a certain amount of rake before being allowed to cash out. At a rake of 20%, say, that means clearing $100 of a $500 deposit. It can seem quite hefty, especially if you're a small-time player wanting to cash out some big winnings.

Summary

It's rare to find a US-facing site outside Nevada or New Jersey holding its own. But with a fresh lease of life on the Winning Poker Network, Americas Cardroom is doing anything but losing.

The site doesn’t have the sexiest software in the world, and the range of added features is basic at best. But with some big guarantees to suit all wallets, plus something for the live players in its Punta Cana Classic affiliation, AmericasCardroom might be one of the best options for US poker players in 2017.