| Overall Review |
The fame of Johnny Chan precedes him in the world of online poker through the website of Chan Poker – where players from around the world can participate in a variety of poker games and maybe even get to play a round against the great Johnny Chan himself. But who is Johnny Chan exactly?
Johnny Chan is a professional at poker play who left college at age 21 to pursue his dream of becoming one of the best at this game. Johnny was influenced to take this radical step after a visit to Las Vegas at age 16 left him hooked on poker. And Johnny went on to make poker playing history by topping the World Series of Poker for two years in a row from 1987 to 1988, no mean feat for a Chinese migrant to the US.
Another thing that Johnny is known for is for placing an orange on the table before him during real poker games. Though other poker players believed that the orange was and is “lucky” for Johnny, Johnny laughs it off, saying he just uses the orange to avoid being bothered by cigar smoke at poker games. Johnny neither drinks alcohol nor smokes nowadays. But regardless of Johnny’s reason, other poker players now also bring some type of “lucky fruit” to their poker games in hopes of getting better hands that way.
Johnny’s lucky streak didn’t stop in 1988 – in 2005, Johnny again made poker playing history by snaring ten titles in the World Series of Poker. This was the first time anyone had been able to do that. Only Doyle Brunson has been able to equal that feat to this day.
All this success at poker has made Johnny a very rich man indeed. As of 2006, he had already won a total of $3,744,331 from the Word Series of Poker matches he took part in. By 2008, Johnny had snared more than $6,300,000 in total winnings from live tournaments. Apparently, that starry-eyed 16-year-old who was so in love with poker that he chose to leave college at age 21 has done very well indeed in the game of poker.
Now, Johnny Chan has become the moving force behind Chan Poker – a website devoted to online poker. Unfortunately, though Johnny is based in the US in Las Vegas, US based players are not permitted to play in the Chan Poker site. People from other locations may still participate though.
This new venture by poker veteran Johnnie Chan promises to pave the way for more people to get room to enjoy online poker. As the popularity of the site grows, you can also expect the level of competition to heat up as well. Hopefully, all this competition will produce a second Johnny Chan good enough to rival the original champ – Johnny Chan, the owner of Chan Poker.
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| Graphics and Software |
 Chan Poker relies on the software platform provided by OnGame Network under license by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. During the peak hours of game, traffic can rise to 20,000 poker players participating at that time. But this is still small for an e-gaming website since the more established sites may have more participants at such hours.
The OnGame Network system is based on using one software provider to host many poker rooms at the same time. This permits more online poker players to participate at any second of the day or night. OnGame Network also supplied the software platform used by Hollywood Poker and Pokerroom.
Aspiring online poker players can get their Chan Poker software either as the full download version, or as the Mac and Linux java client version.
Three dimensional characters line the poker tables in this software, which features a user-friendly interface. While game play is in progress, you can use the statistics provided (about your game play and that of your rivals) to influence your choices during poker play. Once again, the OnGame Network delivers the type of results other online poker rooms have come to expect.
By the way, Johnny Chan himself pops in at times to play at various games. There is no telling when your casual game may feature you competing against Johnny for that day or night.
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| Traffic |
 The rate of traffic at the site is deemed much lower than those of the more established poker room sites, which is normal for a newcomer into the e-gaming business. But since Johnny Chan is the owner and namesake of the site, brand recognition will probably drive up traffic more over time as word gets out and spreads out. |
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| Tournaments |
 There is one $100,000 guaranteed-payment tournament conducted weekly at Chan Poker. A tournament begins at Chan Poker every five minutes, so you can always catch some tournament action whenever you please. Promotional tournaments are offered too.
If you are really serious about online poker, wait for the qualifying tournaments and the satellite matches as well. There is also a $15,000 GP supported daily (buy in starts at $5.)
The Chan Poker site allows for Rebuys, Full Tables, Shorthanded and Turbo style of play.
Since competition is still at moderate levels, this gives the modestly-talented poker player a fair shot at winning the pot in certain tournaments.
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| Cash Games |
 Some players might be surprised that the games at Chan Poker are not as competitive as those at other poker rooms – but then again, Johnny’s little website is still trying to gain more publicity and recognition in the online poker community. The standard poker game variants are usually played at Chan Poker, such as 7 Stud Hi, 7 Stud Hi/Lo, Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi/Low, and Texas Hold ‘em. Most participants like the cash Hold ‘em poker tables for now, and Omaha comes in a close second as next most-favored game.
The types of players who participate in Chan Poker online poker play range from the very experienced serious poker players, to the newcomers who are just getting started.
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| Support |
 Perhaps being new to this online poker system, Chan Poker can only provide support via email to patrons. But Chan Poker does provide online education in the ins and outs of online poker via the Poker School at the site. Though it was designed for the newbies, even online poker veterans may benefit from this Poker School too. |
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| Deposit And Withdraw Options |
 You can pay for your Chan Poker account deposit via Visa credit card, MasterCard credit card, Delta, InstaCash, Neteller, and Firepay.
To qualify for the Bonus, you do have to get ten player points per dollar in the deposit bonus within 60 days from the date of your first deposit. Once you have done so, the Bonus is instantly transferred into your account. This Bonus is a one-time payment, meaning it will not apply to succeeding deposits that you make.
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