GGPoker Review: Traffic and Software Against Heavy Rake | Reelaudit
GGPoker review: the biggest poker room, with pre-flop rake attached
GGPoker claims the largest online poker traffic and a big tournament slate. We weigh that against its reported 5% cash rake, pre-flop rake and an up-to-80% Ocean Rewards deal.
Score 7.6 out of 107.6/10
Best forHigh-volume regulars and tournament grinders
GGPoker has the players. Whether it also has your money's best interest at heart is a closer call. For a regular who plays enough volume to earn rakeback, the traffic and the toolset can outweigh a heavy rake. For a casual who plays a few sessions a month, the maths flips and the room feels like a harder, pricier version of its rivals.
We read the official promotion, tournament and about pages, the AoF game rules and the public record on Wikipedia, and we cross-checked rake claims against several review sites. We did not play a rake-tracked sample ourselves, so every rake figure below is reported, not measured, and we flag where sources disagree.
Size is the main argument
GGPoker started in 2014 aimed at the Asian market, took a UK licence in 2017 and opened in Pennsylvania in February 2021, according to
. The same entry says it became the largest online poker room by cash-game traffic in August 2022, and that it co-hosted the 2020 WSOP Main Event. NSUS Group bought the WSOP brand in 2024 for $500 million.
Wikipedia's GGPoker entry, which covers the 2014 founding, licences and the traffic record.
The about page calls it the "World's Biggest Poker Room". That is a marketing line, but independent traffic trackers broadly support it. One review we found quotes SharkScope-based numbers of about 9,345 cash seats and 655,781 tournament entries a day. Treat those as one source's snapshot, not gospel.
Traffic matters because it decides whether your game runs at 2 a.m. and at the stake you want.
The rake is the price of that traffic
Several review sites put cash-game rake at a flat 5%, with caps that run from roughly 0.5 big blinds at micro stakes to 3 big blinds higher up. The most criticised detail is that GGPoker also takes rake pre-flop in pots above 2.5 big blinds, which includes many 3-bet pots. Those figures come from affiliate reviews that do not fully agree on caps, so check the in-client rake table for your exact stake before you sit.
The counterweight is rakeback. The promotions page advertises Ocean Rewards as "Up to 80% Cashback", a free ticket every day, and a welcome choice between $100 in freeplay tickets or a 100% matched deposit up to $600.
Ocean Rewards on the promotions page: 'Up to 80% Cashback' and a $100 freeplay or 100% match to $600 welcome choice.
"Up to" is the key phrase. One review reports about 15% measured at a lower tier, and another says up to 60%. The percentage you actually get scales with how much you play, so a player with modest volume should plan on the low end. The page itself gives no clearing terms, and neither did the sub-pages we could read, so read the promotion terms before depositing for the match.
The software and game formats
This is where GGPoker earns its keep. Beyond hold'em and Omaha (including short deck and five- and six-card PLO), it runs its own originals: All-In or Fold, Rush & Cash, Flip & Go, Mystery Battle Royale and Spin & Gold. The AoF Sit & Go page shows how odd they can get: three stacks of 80 chips each, 13 blind levels from 5/10 to 500/1000, no antes, and no option to make a deal.
The AoF Sit & Go page: three stacks, 13 levels and no antes.
These formats are quick and fun, but they are not built for strategy depth. A hand that takes seconds also costs you rake more often per hour.
Tournaments are the strongest suit
The tournaments page was advertising a $20 million World's Biggest PLO Series and a Sunday $1,000,000 guaranteed event for a $150 buy-in at the time of our visit.
The tournaments page, with a $20M PLO series and a $1,000,000 Sunday guarantee.
For tournament grinders, guarantees of that size on a single site are hard to match. For everyone else, remember that a guarantee only means the room tops up the prize pool, not that you will cash.
The integrity question
Poker rooms live or die on trust. The Wikipedia entry records a long list of disputes, including banned high-stakes accounts, a client vulnerability exploited by a player, and 31 accounts closed for real-time assistance after the room adopted new security tools. Some of that shows the room acting on cheaters, and some shows the problem exists at all. Our reading: the controls are active, and no site is free of this. Compare how PokerStars handles the same problems before you choose.
Verdict
Pick GGPoker if you play volume, want the biggest tournament calendar and can live with pre-flop rake because rakeback returns a real share. Skip it if you play occasionally, since the rake bites and the rewards barely register. Availability depends on your country and licence, so confirm yours first. Poker is a game of skill with real variance and a built-in cost to play; treat it as entertainment, never income, and keep to a bankroll you can afford to lose.
Key facts
Maker
NSUS Group (GGPoker brand)
Founded
2014, per Wikipedia
Price
Free to join
Welcome choice
$100 freeplay tickets or 100% match up to $600
Rakeback
Ocean Rewards, advertised up to 80%
Reported cash rake
About 5% with stake-based caps (third-party reviews)
GGPoker is the busiest room and has the strongest tournament calendar, but cash players pay for it: reported rake is about 5% with pre-flop rake above 2.5 big blinds. High-volume regulars can recover a lot through Ocean Rewards. Occasional players mostly just pay the rake.
What works
Largest online cash-game traffic by August 2022, per Wikipedia
Big tournament slate, including a $20M PLO series and $1M Sunday guarantee
Own formats such as All-In or Fold, Rush & Cash and Flip & Go
Ocean Rewards advertises up to 80% cashback for heavy players
What does not
Reported 5% cash rake with pre-flop rake in pots above 2.5 big blinds
Rakeback tiers and clearing terms are not spelled out on the promotions page
Fast formats raise rake paid per hour and suit skilled players best
Past disputes include real-time assistance bans and a client exploit
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