Chinese poker apps have become one of the main online poker trends in 2018. They have opened a unique world of the Asian poker boom for European players. Besides the fact, that the field of Chinese poker apps basically transfers us to the beginning of this century, they also have a pretty unique game organization. The heart of this kind of organization is the offline poker lifestyle, which has developed in China and other Asian countries.
So, let’s explore the features, which are common for all Chinese poker apps.
- Software- the poker client was created for mobile-play. In order to get it running on the PC, you have to use some kind of Android emulator;
- Account – in every Chinese poker-room (except PPPoker) players get already made accounts;
- Agent – handles all the organization of your game. The agent not only creates an account for you, but also handles all the transactions, provides (in many apps) the security of player’s funds and gives an access to the clubs for play;
- Club – it’s a “room inside the room”, which is created by one of the agents and has common tables and a pool of players;
- Tables – they are always created for a limited amount of time. You can play only one table per one account;
- Players – mostly we’re talking about mid to high stakes offline poker fans from Asia, and sometimes from the USA and Australia;
- Play money – all games are running at «play money» tables which are bound to some currency (most often it’s a Chinese yuan).
Despite such a huge list of common characteristics, every Chinese poker app has its unique features. Worth noting, that since June 1, 2018 such poker apps have been legally prohibited in China, but the amount of such poker rooms is successfully increasing, as well as the traffic in them.
According to the popularity and the time of appearance on the market all Chinese poker apps could be roughly divided into 3 groups:
- Old and big ones– PokerMaster, PPPoker;
- Poker rooms of the «second wave» – PokerKingdom, Oh Poker, ZhiWan (they all have an English version of the software);
- New and not very famous ones – CardClub, Facepoker, PokerWorld, Super Gaming (lots of them have only Chinese language).
Overall, it’s safe to say that the less famous a Chinese poker room is – the weaker the field in it, but the amount of tables and the probability of trackers support will be lower. Now, let’s talk about main features of the poker apps listed above.
PokerMaster
PokerMaster – is the «PokerStars» in the world of Chinese poker apps. There are hundreds of different clubs and thousands of tables running (in total). Full-ring NLHE tables are the most popular, but you can also find some action at PLO, OFC and even HU-cash tables. As for the stakes, you will find the most action at NL60-NL600 tables, but every club has some NL1k+ tables.
PPPoker
PPPoker – is one of the most unusual poker apps. Some of its exclusive features are listed below:
- Special software version for PC;
- Russian language software;
- Fixed rakeback;
- Clubs from Asia, the US, Australia, Russia and Europe;
- Domination of 6-max tables in terms of traffic.
At PPPoker (as well as at PokerMaster) you can find some PLO and OFC action. Worth noting, that the share of such tables is pretty relevant in the overall traffic.
PokerKingdom
PokerKingdom (former PokerLords). This Chinese poker app was one of the first to implement the badbeat jackpot (for four of a kind and higher combinations), which nowadays can be found at many rooms. Basically, PokerKingdom has two main differences from other apps: (1) roughly the same amount of NLHE and PLO tables and (2) almost all of the traffic is concentrated at mid stakes – up to NL(PLO)150 included.
OhPoker
Oh Poker (former Poker13) – the biggest poker-room of the «second wave». It specializes in 6-max NLHE tables. There are lots of tables up to NL150 included. During the peak hours at NL300-NL1.5K you can find from 5 to 10 tables per limit at clubs that are available to our players. There are some HU-tables (usually starting from NL300) and PLO-tables (usually up to PLO150).
ZhiWan
ZhiWan (former PokerSpades) – the first poker app where HUD isn’t working. In terms of tables of different types and formats it looks a lot like Oh Poker, but the traffic is lower. The most expensive games can be found at HU-tables (up to NL1.5K). Full-ring tables are usually available up to NL600.
CardClub
Malaysian poker app. It’s the only room where you can play up to 4 tables from 1 account. The main action is concentrated at NL50-300 6-9max tables. There are also some 8 Cards tables.
Facepoker
New Chinese poker room. Most of the games are running at NL30-NL300 8-max tables.
PokerWorlds
The newest poker app from China. All of the action is at full-ring NLHE tables up to NL150-300.