Chico Poker Network - The Network Formally Known as Action Poker

There is a slight chance you haven’t heard of them; the network formally known as Action Poker.

The first got their start back in 1999. Then they were known as Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment Inc.

They sold their company in 2006 to Playsafe Holdings AS., a publicly traded software company in Norway.

Then, once again, they sold their company, this time to Julian International Holdings Ltd.

It was at this junction that Action Poker (and their players) went one way, and the new brand – the brand we know today – went another.

The Chico Poker Network now consists of a half-dozen sites. Those brands include:

• PayNoRake
• BetOnline Poker
• Tiger Gaming
• Poker In Canada
• Gear Poker
• Net2Net Poker
• FunWinPoker
• Sportsbetting Poker

Chances are you haven’t heard of most of them. Only a couple of them accept US players – BetOnline and their sister site Sportsbetting.

Since we focus on US players here, the rest of this network bio will focus on what you can do at those two rooms. I’m going to break that down into 3 sections – top games, network pros and network cons.

I’ll then wrap this page up with a summary of who will like the Chico Poker Network the most.

Sound good? Let’s get to it then.

Chico: The Top 2 Games to Check Out

There are two game types you check out.

The first are their freerolls.

What’s unique about these is they offer real money prize pools. It’s not much, maybe $50 or $100. But any amount higher than what is in your player account is worth playing for.

And besides, you’ll get some practice and experience. Easily worth your time by itself.

Then, once you take down a couple of these tournaments (and you will if you read our strategy section), you take a shot at the games I recommend next:

Their low buy-in, guaranteed tournaments.

These are budget-friendly choices with buy-ins as low as .20 and guaranteed prize pools ranging from $20 to $100.

I couldn’t think of a better, more logical way to build a bankroll than that.

Network Pros (What Do We Like?)

There are 2 things I can say I am a fan of:

1) They are budget-friendly.

I talked about this in the last section.

But if you got $20 you can stay pretty busy here between their:

• Cash games. Play hands for as little as .01/.02.
• MTTs. Buy-in for less than a quarter. Mix them with their freerolls to boost your bankroll fast.

Excuses of ‘I have no money’ don’t apply here.

2) They have a fair amount of traffic.

In fact, they’re 3rd in US traffic.

Granted, that’s not a ton in the grand scheme of things – only 500 cash game players, and 3k players total.

But they’re light years ahead of, say, Juicy Stakes. And that’s saying something.

Network Cons (What Sucks)

There are areas they can improve, too. For example:

1) They offer two games – holdem and omaha.

You could argue that this isn’t that big a deal since they don’t get a ton of traffic. How could they possibly run tables for games like stud, razz or HORSE when they have a hard time keeping their other tables full?

I agree – to an extent.

But maybe they’d get more players if they were more like Carbon Poker and offered a bit more to choose from. Everyone gets bored once in awhile, or wants to donk out at a game they suck at.

2) No software for mobile devices.

In a day and age where people spend more time looking at their phones than their spouses or, god-forbid, the road, you’d think that more networks would be creating mobile friendly poker games.

But, apparently, Chico hasn’t gotten the memo.

3) Their software is weak.

I am a fan of simple, clean software.

But that’s not how I’d label Chico’s software.

Instead, I’d say their software is outdated, ugly and functional, at best. And when I last used it I had issues with resizing their tables – the screens (for each table) would flicker as I made it bigger or smaller.

3rd programs aren’t compatible here, either.

Summary: Who Would Like The Chico Poker Network?

There are two types of people that would enjoy playing here:

Recreational players. The type of person that doesn’t care much about traffic or glossy software. All they want is a smidgen of action when they get home from work, some games that fit their budget and something exciting, like large guaranteed prize pools.

Beginners. These guys want to learn the ropes and build a bankroll. And you can do that here between their freerolls and low stakes guaranteed tournaments. Then move on to the larger, semi-pro-friendly networks like the Merge Poker Network.

That’s where the ‘big boys’ play.