AT A GLANCE
CakePoker is a unique site in many ways, not the least of which is that players can redeem frequent player points for cakes (you read that right). The name and cake giveaways may seem like a novelty, but CakePoker is 100 percent serious, and the excellent software client and promotions attest to this fact. As the site's slogan says, CakePoker makes it easy to "get a piece of the action." CakePoker is proprietary software and is part of the CakePoker Network.
| WEBSITE | CakePoker |
| ACCEPTING U.S. PLAYERS? | Yes |
| ESTABLISHED | 2006 |
| COUNTRY OF ORIGIN | Curacao |
| SIZE OF DOWNLOAD | 12.8 MB |
| SIZE ON COMPUTER | 13.1 MB |
SOFTWARE
The CakePoker software has an attractive and unique interface. While the site does not offer uploadable images for avatars, it does allow players to choose between 20 unique and realistic-looking avatars of varying ages, genders, and ethnicities. The software also offers a wealth of individual statistics that can be accessed from the table-view, including “Hands dealt,” “saw flop at small blind/big blind/other/total,” “showdowns won,” and “other wins.” The “player notes” tab is also unconventionally useful in that it not only allows for text notes but also allows users to assign colored pips to opponents' avatars to visually designate their playing-style at the table.
The main lobby is separated into “ring games” and “tournaments.” The cash games are grouped together by poker variant and further filterable by limit-type (for instance, no-limit, fixed-limit, or pot-limit). The entire list is sortable to make finding the right table a little easier. The lobby displays average pot, percent of players who see the flop, and hands per hour.
The tournament lobby has a tremendous number of tabs to filter tables, including “scheduled,” “satellite,” “freeroll,” “event,” “private,” and “sit-and-go.” The tournament lobby is further filterable by way of tabs for hold’em, Omaha, and seven-card stud as well as tabs for no-limit, pot-limit, and fixed-limit. Lobbies for a specific tournament have much information, including biggest/smallest/average stack , time until next break, time until next blind level, and total/current number of players. The site is also one of few that ranks all of its players relative to the field rather than just the top 30 or top 50 players.
The options menu offers a much-appreciated “always wait for big blind” checkbox that auto-enables that option when initially sitting at a new cash game, rather than making players select this option individually each time they join a table. Also included in this menu are “always auto muck” and “always auto post blinds” checkboxes. There are also options for a four-color deck, “display bet amount,” and “display pot amount.” There is also an option to turn off avatars or animations, which allows users to tailor the experience to their individual tastes.
The software also defaults to exporting text hand histories into a local folder on your computer, making it very easy to dig up and archive key hands and also paving the way for the site to be compatible with poker tracking software. The software also features a button to automatically generate a Web page for a hand history so that the hand can be shared with friends.
The main lobby is separated into “ring games” and “tournaments.” The cash games are grouped together by poker variant and further filterable by limit-type (for instance, no-limit, fixed-limit, or pot-limit). The entire list is sortable to make finding the right table a little easier. The lobby displays average pot, percent of players who see the flop, and hands per hour.
The tournament lobby has a tremendous number of tabs to filter tables, including “scheduled,” “satellite,” “freeroll,” “event,” “private,” and “sit-and-go.” The tournament lobby is further filterable by way of tabs for hold’em, Omaha, and seven-card stud as well as tabs for no-limit, pot-limit, and fixed-limit. Lobbies for a specific tournament have much information, including biggest/smallest/average stack , time until next break, time until next blind level, and total/current number of players. The site is also one of few that ranks all of its players relative to the field rather than just the top 30 or top 50 players.
The options menu offers a much-appreciated “always wait for big blind” checkbox that auto-enables that option when initially sitting at a new cash game, rather than making players select this option individually each time they join a table. Also included in this menu are “always auto muck” and “always auto post blinds” checkboxes. There are also options for a four-color deck, “display bet amount,” and “display pot amount.” There is also an option to turn off avatars or animations, which allows users to tailor the experience to their individual tastes.
The software also defaults to exporting text hand histories into a local folder on your computer, making it very easy to dig up and archive key hands and also paving the way for the site to be compatible with poker tracking software. The software also features a button to automatically generate a Web page for a hand history so that the hand can be shared with friends.
TOURNAMENTS
CakePoker offers a variety of sit-and -gos including heads-up tables, sixhanded tables, 10-person tables, and 30-person tables with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $300. The site is also relatively unique in that it offers bounty sit-and-go tournaments. Turbo sit-and-gos are also available.
CakePoker offers a weekly $50,000-guaranteed rebuy tournament as well as a $100,000 monthly rebuy tournament (both with buy-ins of $50). The site features many other smaller guaranteed tournaments, as well.
CakePoker offers a weekly $50,000-guaranteed rebuy tournament as well as a $100,000 monthly rebuy tournament (both with buy-ins of $50). The site features many other smaller guaranteed tournaments, as well.
CASH GAMES
Hold'em cash-game tables are generally well-populated. Even the highest-stakes tables usually have tables running, although there can sometimes be a wait to get seated at a populated table.
Omaha tables are less popular, but it is still relatively easy to find a game at the lower stakes. Seven-card stud games are literally non-existent at the moment, although there is a tab for them.
Omaha tables are less popular, but it is still relatively easy to find a game at the lower stakes. Seven-card stud games are literally non-existent at the moment, although there is a tab for them.
FINANCIAL INFO
| PAYMENT OPTIONS | Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, E-Passporte, Moneybookers |
| AUDITOR | Cyberluck |
RAKE INFO
| NO-LIMIT | LIMIT | |
|---|---|---|
| MICRO | $0.05/$1 - Max $3 | $0.01/$0.20 - Max $0.10 |
| LOW | $0.05/$1 - Max $3 | $0.25/$5 - Max $1 |
| MEDIUM | $0.05/$1 - Max $3 | $1/$20 - Max $3 |
| HIGH | $0.05/$1 - Max $5 | $1/$100 - Max $5 |
GAME VARIETY
|
| STAKES: $0.02-$0.04 up to $100-$200 |
SUPPORT
| support@cakepoker.com | |
| PHONE | N/A |
| COMMENTS | Options for support include:
Response time:
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SPECIAL FEATURES
- Player note-taking feature allows players to not only provide a text description of opponents but also to assigned a colored pip to them that shows up near their avatar.
- Automatic hand history exporting and easy-to-use tool to transform a hand history into a shareable Web page
PROMOTIONS
- Gold Card promotion wherein players collect randomly dealt gold cards that can be redeemed in various ways (visit the CakePoker website to find out more by clicking here).
- Gold Chip giveaways. Players can redeem Gold Chips for merchandise from the CakePoker store. Among the things available at the store are shirts, poker books, iPods, and, of course, cakes (seriously). Players can also redeem Gold Chips for free entries into tournaments. Those tournaments can be found under the Gold Chip/Gold Card tab in the lobby.
- Tiered refer-a-friend program pays users more based on both the number of referrals they make and on how much those referrals play.