Wingows Poker
I have been investigating these smaller poker rooms lately. There have been quite a handful that have sprung up as independent rooms, not on any network. I previously left them alone because of the light traffic, but now that US players can't play at very many places, I decided to give these little rooms some closer scrutiny. I have not seen any of them ban US players.
I decided to start with Wingows Poker. They had a 100% deposit bonus with no time limit. I was not sure how fast it would clear. You have to accrue Wingows Points and every 125 points $5 of bonus clears. I just couldn't determine how to accumulate Wingows Points. I contacted their CS and did not get a very clear answer. I downloaded the software and it looked decent. Traffic is very light, only 4 cash tables running, $1/2 NL and .25/.50 NL. I watched the play for a couple of orbits and decided it was bad enough for me to make some money, so I decided to take the plunge even though I didn't understand the bonus terms.
I deposited and received an immediate $25 cash bonus applied to my account. Not sure how or why, it just arrived. I don't know if there are cashout restrictions on it or not. I played about 100 hands and I am up over $100. Mostly due to a ridiculously lucky suckout. There was a player who was betting very aggressively, very LAG. I decided to re-raise his flop bet when my pocket 88 was an over pair to the flop. He came back over the top and I was pot committed for the rest of my stack (I was playing a bit short-stacked for the table.) I called and he showed KK, but I turned a miracle 8 and took the pot. That turned out to be great for my table image, and I was able to get my best hands called down for the rest of the session.
Bottom line on the bonus is that it clears VERY POORLY. After 100 - 110 or so hands I only accumulated 62 Wingows Points. The software is fine. They even have some features i have not seen elsewhere - you can post a live straddle from UTG (I never saw anyone do it, but its there) and you can chop the blinds if it folds around. If you choose the chop feature, a "chop" tag is placed on your name placard. I was thinking that if someone on my left had their chop tag on that I would be able to steal their blinds - that the chop tag was a sign of timidity, but I never got to put my theory to the test.
Because of the poor bonus clearing I will be withdrawing ASAP and moving on to another micro-room.