If you are considering joining or depositing at Carbon Poker, take a moment to read this candid review written up by one of our community members; nickname Akorps. This was a secret shopper review. We paid Akorps to deposit, play and review the Carbon Poker room.
If you are interested in secret shopping for our community, feel free to sign up! Casino and Poker Secret Shopper Program
Name of the Site Shopped: Carbon Poker
Player Nickname: Akorps
Using the Cashier to Deposit
I would say it was better than most deposit experiences I have had :)
The first choice I made (Card) worked, seemed like the deposit process was efficient and professional. I was satisfied with the deposit process, no complaints or suggestions for improvement.
Cash Game Experience
I played in a 5 cents/10 cents blinds NLHE full ring game (9 players) for the $3 minimum buyin, to try shortstacking. The playability was good, software was good, as good as it gets for American players. The other players seemed better than I was, much trickier post-flop than I am. The lower limits are still probably beatable by short stack play (I was the only player with a short stack) but I made an unsound all-in with AT and got stacked by a KK :)
All in all it was a fun experience though. Speed of the software was fine, no problems. Action buttons fine, easy to use.
I have avatars turned off, can’t stand them, so I didn’t see them this time :) – I also have chat turned off.
My note taking is pretty much limited to using color codes, they have a good color coding system.
Tournament / SNG Experience
I played in a $5.50 turbo 6-player SNG. It was pretty fun, and seemed to be suited to my style, although I don’t think I’m good enough to have a plus EV at that level.
There seemed to be plenty of tournaments and SNGs available. The starting chip count and and blind speed was fine from my point of view.
One thing that surprised me was that I thought I was entering with a $5.50 coupon I had, but when I checked later, the money had been deducted from my account, and the coupon was still there, hadn’t been used. Maybe I misclicked but maybe there is some deviousness going on where players aren’t warned that they don’t have a coupon available, and the cash is deducted from their account when they think they are using a coupon.
Customer Service Experience
My question was “Do you have a rakeback program available? I like to play full ring Omaha and Omaha hi-lo with rakeback :)”
I sent it in by email. Haven’t heard back yet. They say they will answer within 24 hours. I know the answer will be that they don’t have rakeback though. I can update you when I hear back from them if that’s appropriate.
(Editor’s note: I am emailing Akorps now to see if he was satisfied with the speed of customer service!)
Using the Cashier to Withdraw
Did not cash out.
Overall Opinions and Conclusion
Good in general, but the possible deviousness on their part regarding no warnings being given when you try to use a coupon, and cash is deducted from your account instead, makes me very suspicious. Good thing I found out about that ahead of time, before I tried to use a $215 coupon I have on another site :)
I probably wouldn’t deposit again, since I have enough to play there now at my level, unless they had a good rakeback deal associated with it. Too hard for me to clear bonus at that site. As far as whether you should deposit or not, depends on what your motives are. It isn’t the easiest site to clear bonus on, but if you just want to play and have fun and don’t care about losing the money, it is a good site for American players, compared to other sites currently.
The other players were good, probably better than I am. More skilled in general than I am.
What I liked the most was that the playability of the software was good.
What I liked the least was my coupon not being used, and the money deducted from my account instead.
Suggestion: poker rooms should try to be more ethical, so the players would trust them.
(Editors Note: I have contact Carbon Poker to get their feedback on the coupon issue. Will update!)
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