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Those who enjoy casino-style gaming outside traditional legalized states have an option with social sweepstakes-style gaming site Stake.us, and that goes for poker as well.
Players will find plenty of Texas Hold’em and Omaha action with the chance to play for free and also win prizes that can be exchanged for cryptocurrency, gift cards, and other prizes.
Like many social casinos, the site uses virtual coins known as Gold Coins (GC) and Stake Cash(SC).
The GC games and tournaments are simply free money gaming –with no chance to redeem for prizes. However, players earn SC when buying additional Gold Coins or by redeeming the daily bonus.
When players accumulate enough SC, they can redeem these for a payout. It’s important to remember when hitting the poker tables, that only SC games and tournaments have any real value toward prizes.
“Gather your friends around the virtual poker table for the ultimate poker night and try your luck as you play poker for free online at Stake.us!” the site notes.
A Look at the Poker Cash Games
Those using the Insider Gaming bonus link can score a Stake.us no-deposit bonus of $55 Stake Cash and 260,000 Gold Coins.
Once signed up and verified, the poker option is located to the left of the home screen.
Look for a poker chip and click to be taken to the poker lobby.
At the top of the screen, players can toggle between SC and GC. Below that, look for three options: ring games, tournaments, and sit & go’s.
Ring games start at 0.01/0.02 and run all the way up to 2.5/5. When taking a seat, players will find a simple and easy-to-follow table setup.
Players have six table colors to choose from and can also adjust sound, chat, and other gameplay options.
One nice feature is the ability to see live statistics of the session while at the table. This option is located at the bottom left of the screen.
Clicking the menu at the top left allows players to leave the table, replay a hand, or go back to the game lobby. Popular cash game options like straddling are also available.
Game play is smooth and user friendly. Player actions appear at the right bottom corner of the screen, allowing for betting, calling, raising, and folding.
Tournament Play
For those who enjoy the fun and competition of tournament play, there are some nice options also at Stake.us. The tournament tab at the top of the screen takes players to this section of the player lobby.
Once in the tournament section, players will find numerous options ordered by start time.
Buy-ins generally range from SC 0.01 up to SC 5. There are also several freerolls, events that don’t require a buy-in from players, that run throughout the day.
These events can feature prize pools of up to SC 200 and offer a nice way to build that SC bankroll.
Players will find plenty of Hold’em and Omaha tournament action. These can include some popular tournament style options like:
- Bounties –A tournament where players earn an extra prize amount for each player elimination.
- Progressive bounties –A bounty tournament where players only win a portion of an opponent’s bounty. The other portion is added to the winning player’s bounty, making bounties on players increase throughout the tournament.
- Turbos – Tournaments with quick blind levels.
- Deepstack and superstacks –Events with larger starting chip stacks than normal.
Players will also find an additional game format in the tournament section – Crazy Pineapple.
In this format of Hold’em, players receive three cards and then must discard one after the flop. It’s a fun version of the game that has gained some popularity over the last few years.
When playing in a tournament, players can navigate to a separate tournament lobby to view details on the tournament.
Some of that includes payouts, number of players, starting chip stack, player chips counts, and more. There is also a clock indicating when the event will start.
Sit & Go’s and More
Stake.us offers one more poker option – Sit & Go’s. These are smaller-field tournaments for those who may not have enough time for a larger multi-table event.
To navigate to this section, look for the tab at the top of the page next to tournaments.
Players will find events of all buy-in levels and game types, including heads-up, six-max, and a full table of nine players. Buy-ins range from SC2 to SC 10.
Another great feature for players is the “my games” options at the top of the screen.
This allows players to see what tournaments they are registered for and to review their play history.
Overall, poker players will enjoy a pleasant poker experience for a social casino when hitting the Stake tables.