Global Poker vs. Ignition: Which is Better?
Global Poker and Ignition are two of the biggest online poker sites available to U.S. players. Global Poker operates as a sweepstakes poker site, while Ignition (aka Bovada) functions as a real-money online poker room.
Both sites offer above-average player traffic and a solid lineup of game formats at a variety of stakes.
Which is better for poker – Ignition or Global Poker? Let’s compare these two popular U.S.-facing poker sites side-by-side.
Global Poker Overview
Global Poker is a U.S.-facing sweepstakes poker site. Global Poker is one of the most well-known platforms in the U.S. poker scene.
With perhaps the easiest barrier to entry of any poker site in the world, Global Poker features a player pool made up of largely recreational players.
The poker formats you can play at Global Poker include:
Global Poker Formats
- Cash games
- Tournaments
- Sit & Gos
- Jackpot Sit’n’Go (aka Spin & Gos)
Let’s take a look at what Global Poker has to offer in each of these poker formats.
Global Poker Cash Games
You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at BetOnline:
Note that Global Poker’s “real money” cash games are found on the Sweeps Coins side of the site. As a sweepstakes gaming platform, Global offers two kinds of games – Sweeps Coins (sweepstakes) games and Gold Coins (play money) games.
The Sweeps Coins games essentially operate as real-money cash games. You can redeem Sweeps Coins (aka SC) for US dollars when you request a withdrawal from Global Poker.
No-Limit Hold’em Cash Games At Global Poker
The world’s most popular poker variant, No-Limit Texas Hold’em, runs 24/7 in cash game format at Global Poker.
Here’s what you’ll find on the NLHE cash game menu at Global Poker:
- Lowest stakes – $0.05/$0.10 (SC 0.05/SC 0.10)
- Highest stakes – $10/$20 (SC 10/SC 20)
- Six-Max games
- Full-ring games
- Short-Stack games (20 Big Blind max buy-in)
Global Poker’s NLHE cash games get plenty of traffic from the micro stakes up to $1/$2 (called SC 1/SC 2 to reflect the site’s “Sweeps Coins” currency). You can generally find at least 1-2 games running for the higher stakes at peak hours as well.
Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Games At Global Poker
PLO cash games at Global Poker include the following features:
- Lowest stakes – $0.05/$0.10 (SC 0.05/SC 0.10)
- Highest stakes – $10/$20 (SC 10/SC 20)
- PLO Hi
- PLO Hi-Lo
- Short-Stack games (20 Big Blind max buy-in)
Like most online poker sites, PLO cash game traffic isn’t as high as NLH traffic. However, you can still find PLO games running most of the day.
Global Poker Tournaments
You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at BetOnline:
- No-Limit Hold’em
- Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
- PLO Hi-Lo
- Crazy Pineapple
Most of Global Poker’s tournaments are No-Limit Hold’em, but you can also find PLO, PLO Hi-Lo, and even a few Crazy Pineapple tournaments on the schedule.
Sunday is the biggest day of the week for the Global Poker tournament schedule. The weekly Sunday Blitz guarantees at least SC 30,000 every week, and Global Poker occasionally increases the guarantee.
Global Poker also runs seasonal tournament festivals throughout the year. The guarantees for the Main Events in these festivals can reach into six-figure territory.
Global Poker’s tournaments offer some of the juiciest action of an U.S.-facing poker site.
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Ignition Poker Overview
Ignition Poker (also known as Bovada) is a fixture of the U.S. online poker scene. Bovada/Ignition is among the top three U.S.-facing poker sites in terms of player traffic.
The brand debuted as Bodog more than two decades ago. The online gambling site is now known as either Bovada or Ignition.
Note that Bovada and Ignition are different skins for the same platform. Bovada/Ignition offers online poker, sports betting, and casino gaming.
Ignition Poker Formats
- Cash games
- Tournaments
- Sit & Gos
- Jackpot Sit & Gos (aka Spin & Gos)
Let’s take a look at what Ignition has to offer for each of these poker formats.
Ignition Cash Games
You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at Ignition:
- No-Limit Hold’em
- Limit Hold’em
- Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
- PLO Hi-Lo
- Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
- Zone Poker (fast-fold/”Zoom” poker)
All games at Ignition run as Anonymous tables. While Ignition offers many features similar to other online poker sites, the Anonymous tables are probably the biggest differentiator between Ignition and the competition.
With Anonymous tables, you can’t “bumhunt” or in any way scout your opposition, at least in the long term.
All Ignition cash games use the Quick Seat feature, meaning you’re sat at the next available table when you sit in for a cash game session. You can’t choose a particular cash game table at Bovada.
No-Limit Hold’em Cash Games At Ignition
No-Limit Hold’em cash games run around the clock at Ignition.
Here’s a look at some of the features you’ll find on the Ignition NLHE cash game menu:
- Lowest stakes – $0.02/$0.05
- Highest stakes – $10/$20
- Six-Max games
- Full-ring games
- Zone Poker
- Anonymous Tables
Ignition’s NLHE games get solid traffic at the micro stakes, and you’ll often find at least 1-2 games running for higher-stakes games at peak hours.
All of the games at Bovada Poker run as anonymous games (no screen names).
Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Games At Ignition
Omaha cash games at Ignition include the following features:
- Lowest stakes – $0.02/$0.05
- Highest stakes – $10/$20
- PLO Hi-Lo
- PLO Hi-Lo
- Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
- Zone Poker
Ignition Poker Tournaments
You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at Ignition:
- No-Limit Hold’em
- Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
- PLO Hi-Lo
- Seven Card Stud
Like most poker sites, most of Ignition’s tournaments are NLHE.
The weekly tournament guarantees and special event prize pools generally aren’t as large at Ignition as they are at Global Poker.
The Verdict
Both Bovada/Ignition and Global Poker give U.S. poker players plenty to like.
If you’re looking for soft, juicy games, Global Poker is arguably the best poker site in the world.
New players can sign up at Global Poker with one click through an existing Facebook account. That fact alone means the player pool at Global Poker contains many recreational players.
If you’re a cash game crusher, you might want to play at Global Poker and enjoy the juicy games available there.
The Anonymous tables at Ignition make it a great choice for players not looking too much into tracking opponent tendencies.
You can get in, play some poker, and get out quite easily at Ignition. Your opponents don’t know who you are, and if you’re a good player that’s likely a good thing.
Ignition gets a slight nod over Global Poker in terms of software. Global has made many improvements in this category over the years, however.
If you’re a tournament player, Global Poker is the better choice, due to better tournament traffic and prize pools.
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