ShenPoker review

ShenPoker is the Asian IDN Poker Network's flagship Malaysian skin, currently the second world's largest poker network, only behind PokerStars and beating the omnipresent GGNetwork. The site features perhaps the softest traffic in modern online poker, hundreds of poker games 24/7 at all stakes (from NL5 to NL6000 and PLO5 to PLO300), uncapped games, and exhibits a gaming license from PAGCOR and a bmm RNG certificate.

Despite these impressive indicators, we can safely say that no global poker media talks about ShenPoker nor IDN Poker. This is because both sites have managed to remain genuinely Asian, and their development does not reach the headlines of American or European news agencies.

In this review, you will learn about Shen Poker's rakeback and promotions, software review, attitude toward regulars, banking options, and finally, we will check the site's reliability to conclude which players this site will fit.

Rakeback and promotions

The only regular promotion ShenPoker offers to its players is a First Deposit Bonus. All newcomers are eligible for the welcome bonus, although, as everything on this site, is nothing similar to anything you have seen before. The player can choose its amount from three options, and the bonus must be entirely cleared through the wager (turnover), which requires to bet the deposit amount at the tables:

Bonus	Turnover	Wagering time
50%	х28	7 days
100%	х55	14 days
200%	х100	30 days

However, besides enjoying safe access, our players also get a top rakeback deal when playing with us. Contact us to learn more details about this unique promotion.

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Rake structure

A big con of ShenPoker is its rake structure. All cash games are charged with a 3% commission without cap, using the weight contributed system. The high rake isn't exclusive to cash games. In the few tournaments, the site hosts the fee boosts to 20%!

This is one of the reasons why Shen Poker is more suitable for playing low-stakes.

Games and traffic

• Average traffic: 10,000 players
• Best time to play: from 04:00 to 10:00 EST Time (early mornings in America and nights in evenings en Europe) 
• Games: NLH/PLO 6-max from $5 to $6,000
• Currency: 3150 chips = 1 MYR

ShenPoker features hundreds of active games 24/7, mainly at No-Limit Hold'em, although PLO and some MTTs are played as well. However, all that glitters is not gold. The overall ecosystem can be called unusual:

• You can only play at one table from one account.
• The game is played in chips tied to the Malaysian Ringgit exchange rate but not directly on it.
• In addition to 6/9-max tables, there are also 4-max games.
• Many short stacks play with 20bb.

We recommend playing ShenPoker up to and including 5K/10K (roughly NL$80). The higher the stakes, the greater the risks of facing cheaters. Mind the risks before playing higher. Please note that 1 MYR (Malaysian Ringgit) = 3150 chips ≈ $US0,25. We consider this a bit confusing, and therefore, we decided to create a handy table with all the data you need to check the games:

		Games
Stake	9-max	6-max	4-max
500/1K(NL8$)	52	41
1K/2K(NL16$)	39	67
2,5K/5K(NL40$)	30	48	5
5K/10K (NL80$)	16	27	14

Softness of the field

This fishiness of the field is the most important feature of ShenPoker, and perhaps the one that compensates for its many disadvantages. Almost all of them are gamblers from Asia who see poker as a casino game and join the games via their smartphones.

The player pool is mainly composed of Chinese, Philipino, and Malaysian players.

Attitude towards professional players

• Trackers: No
• Auto-seating scripts: No
• Datamining: No
• Bumhunt: Yes
• Preflop charts: Yes

ShenPoker only asks their players to follow standard rules: no bots, no seating scripts, no collusion, no chip dumping. Besides that, the site does not have any special attitude towards regs because they are rare. Also, please note that all third-party software banned and your funds will be confiscated if you get caught.

Software review

If you are in a hurry, we'll save you time: don't expect the best user-experience playing at ShenPoker. For desktop computers, the site offers only an HTML5 client, and it's not very advanced. Once we logged in, we had to wait over 3 minutes to see the lobby. We could not access the lobby several times during our tests, being the only solution to restart the browser.

The lobby features a simple design with different buttons per game and stake. There are no filters or waiting lists, and you can hide full tables (a useful feature for a site with such massive traffic) and arrange the games per the number of seated players. You can check the poker games before buying in, but only those labeled from Smallest to Large. VIP tables cannot be opened without enough balance. There is a hand history function at each game.

The website seems to be overloaded with bright graphics, which we assume are designed to attract Asian customers, but overall those cause delays. You can only play one table from one account, but our manager will instruct you on how you can play several tables at once.

Although it features a web-based poker client, ShenPoker needs a powerful PC to run without lags. The user-interface is not the best, but all of these sins are compensated by the incredibly soft games. You can see the number of connected players in the top-right part of the window, and besides Asian languages, the client is fully translated into English.

Mobile client

Although you can grind directly from the web browser of your gadget, ShenPoker offers downloadable clients for iOS and Android. In February 2021, the Apple client was unavailable.

We logged in simultaneously with the same account from our desktop PC and our mobile device, and it was possible to open tables. However, each device showed a different lobby with different games. After a few tests, our smartphone got disconnected.

The Android client is a copy of the web-browser version, and we barely see any advantage of using it, although it might be useful for grinders that what to run on a desktop PC via an emulator or those who live in restricted countries.

Reliability

• Established: 2016
• License: Read below*
• RNG certificate: Read below*
• Identity verification: not needed
• Guarantee from us: no

*Let's start with our highlights. Shen Poker displays PAGCOR and bmm logos, but we found some unusual facts on those after an in-depth review. To start, both certificates belong to IDNPoker and not ShenPoker.

IDNPLAY does have a certificate issued by bmm testlabs in 2015. We highlight that the game tested was "Online Peer-to-Peer-Game Texas Hold'em Poker," but the standard test applied was the Part 3 Cagayan Economic Zone & Free Port: Interactive Gaming Rules and Regulations Version 2.0, August 2004", while other sites like Natural8 or PokerBros uses "GLI-19 — Interactive Gaming Systems for Online Poker".

GLI is a comprehensive standard that requires operators to fulfill several conditions, while the document used by IDN is old and vague and does not have many requisites (it requires to guarantee no underage gambling, some organizational requirements, but it mentions nothing about safe gambling and random number generators)

About the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). IDNPLAY CORPORATION is included as an Accredited Local Gaming Agent and Service Providers by the Offshore Gaming Licensing Department. However, ShenPoker is a Malaysian site, while PAGCOR is a Philipino agency.

These details are not uncommon for Asian sites and are most likely related to the nuances of the game in that region. There have been many complaints about superusers in the past, but we know from first hand that the security team is fighting those.

In terms of reliability, ShenPoker is a poker room with a high level of risk. We do not recommend holding more money in the account than necessary for a session and requesting regular withdrawals.

Banking options

Supported currencies: Bitcoin, USDT

Local players have many options to deposit and withdraw from ShenPoker: cash deposit, online banking, Mayank, CIMB, Hong Long Bank, RHB Bank, among others.

However, overseas players use the service of agents for obvious reasons. Our agency processes deposits and withdrawals via cryptocurrencies, and there are no related fees to any transaction.

Customer service

Customer service is available via live chat, Whatsapp, and WeChat (a popular messaging service in Asia). We tried with some simple questions, and they were fast and attentive; however, although it's stated that they are online 24/7, they seem to work in Asian business hours.

Nevertheless, due to the agent model used to play at ShenPoker, almost all your questions will be solved by our manager.

Summary: Pros and Cons

Although you can spot thousands of players at the tables, ShenPoker is not a site for everyone. Many of these players have no other option to play online from countries with rich gambling history. If you are willing to accept some of the features of the room for the sake of the weakest field in modern online poker, then you can roll there at your own risk. Worldpokerdeals will grant you access and a rakeback deal at ShenPoker.

Positive:

• Massive traffic
• Incredible weak field with Asian amateurs at all tables
• Unique WPD deal with rakeback

Cons:

• The shady past of the IDN Network
• Many short-stackers at the tables
• Laggy web-browser client 
• No easy multitabling

Why play with us

For many years, Worldpokerdeals has been one of the leaders in the market of high-quality affiliate services for professional players. We share honest reviews, guarantee the best conditions, and our support team provides the best customer service.

Feel free to check our awards and certificates of trust from global affiliate communities (clickable):

    

Advantages of our affiliate service:

• Top rakeback deal
• Professional customer service seven days a week

Do you have any questions about ShenPoker? Write to our manager now. We are online seven days a week!

Telegram: @Timofey_wpd

Skype: Contact

WhatsApp: Contact

Email: [email protected]