ACR Poker Review
The tournament room: the biggest guarantees of the four rooms we list.
you play tournaments, want to use a HUD, or put in enough hands for rakeback to matter.
you are new and want the softest tables. The regulars here are good and they are tracking you.
ACR Poker is the old Americas Cardroom. It has been dealing since 2001, took its short name in July 2023, and is the main room on the Winning Poker Network. Of the four rooms on this site it is the busiest and has the biggest tournaments.
It is also the room with the most baggage. Its record on bots is public and long, and any review that skips it is not doing its job. Both halves are below.
The games
Cash tables run around the clock from $0.01/$0.02 up to nosebleed stakes, in Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, five-card Omaha and the mixed games. There is a fast-fold pool called Blitz and jackpot sit and gos. Traffic is roughly double BetOnline's at peak, so you will find a seat at any hour.
The players are tougher than at the other rooms on this site. Tracking software is allowed, so the regulars have statistics on you by your second orbit. If you are learning, that makes ACR an expensive classroom. If you study the game, it is the one room here where your own HUD works too.
Tournaments
This is why most people open an account. The Venom is the flagship, with a guarantee of $12.5 million at its last outing, and the Online Super Series advertised on the network this month carries $20 million across its schedule. Below those sit daily guarantees at every buy-in, mystery bounty events from $1.10, and satellites that let you step up from a few dollars.
What you get back
ACR gives you a choice that matters more than the welcome bonus.
- Flat 27% rakeback. You email support and ask for it. Simple, paid weekly, and the better deal for most part-time players.
- Elite Benefits. The default. A six-rank ladder from Lieutenant to 5-Star General, earning 5.5 rank points for each dollar of rake. Affiliates quote "up to 65%", and that figure belongs to players raking six figures a year.
Rough guide: if you pay less than about $1,500 a month in rake, take the flat 27%. You can only switch back once, so decide before you ask.
The welcome bonus
100% of your first deposit up to $2,000. It is not handed over at once. It releases in $1 pieces as you pay rake, and you get 60 days. Deposit the full $2,000 and play a few evenings a week at small stakes and you will clear a fraction of it. Deposit what you will play through, not what makes the biggest number.
Getting money in and out
ACR was early to cryptocurrency and takes more than 60 coins, plus Visa and Mastercard. Crypto is the fast lane in both directions. Every withdrawal needs a two-step email confirmation, which is mildly annoying and has stopped a lot of account thefts.
Software and mobile
There are download clients for Windows and Mac and a browser version that doubles as the mobile site, so you can play on a phone without installing anything. The client was rebuilt in 2023. It is functional and it can lag during the biggest series. HUDs, hand histories and a built-in final table replayer are all there.
Is ACR safe?
Two different questions hide in that one.
Will it pay you? The room has paid players for more than twenty years, including million-dollar tournament prizes. Its licence is from the Anjouan Gaming Board and its operating company is registered in Panama. That is a light-touch licence. If you have a dispute, there is no Canadian regulator to take it to.
Are the games clean? Here the record is mixed and you should know it:
- In 2018 a well-known poker commentator published videos alleging bots and collusion, and the TwoPlusTwo forum stopped taking the network's advertising over it.
- In April 2019 the network closed bot accounts and returned $200,000 to affected players.
- In January 2024 it offered $100,000 to anyone who could run a bot undetected. Players said they had one running within hours. The challenge was withdrawn in under two days with an apology.
- In early 2025 it was criticised again over how it handled an accusation of real-time solver use.
Since then it has added random captchas at the tables, blocked the virtual machines bots usually run on, and made withdrawal confirmation mandatory. Bots are a problem at every online room. ACR's has been more public than most, and its responses have ranged from good to clumsy.
How it compares
Against BetOnline: ACR has twice the traffic, far bigger tournaments and better rakeback. BetOnline has softer cash games. Against Ozoon: opposite philosophies. ACR shows you everything and lets you track everyone. Ozoon hides names and caps your tables. Black Chip is the same games as ACR under another brand.
Getting paid
NorthernNuts: I have cashed out from ACR for more than 20 years and it has always paid. It is usually the same day, sometimes the next. The methods change now and then, so check the cashier before you deposit.
How this review was put together: the room's own site and terms, independent poker news coverage, competitor reviews and player forum reports, all checked November 14, 2026, plus NorthernNuts's own years as a customer. Bonuses and schedules change, so confirm anything that matters to you in the lobby.
Questions
Is ACR Poker legal in Canada?
No Canadian law targets players who use offshore poker sites, and enforcement has been aimed at operators. ACR is not licensed by any province, and it does not accept players in Ontario or Alberta.
Does ACR Poker allow HUDs?
Yes. Tracking software and HUDs are permitted, which is one reason the regulars there are tougher.
Should I take 27% rakeback or Elite Benefits at ACR?
Most part-time players do better with the flat 27%. Elite Benefits only overtakes it once you are paying roughly $1,500 or more a month in rake.
Does ACR Poker have bots?
It has had well-documented problems, including refunds to players in 2019 and a withdrawn bot challenge in 2024. It has since added captchas, virtual machine blocking and mandatory withdrawal confirmation.
Can I play ACR Poker on my phone?
Yes, through the browser version of the site. Nothing needs to be installed.