US tribe launches international rake-free poker brand

The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has launched a rake-free online poker brand after becoming the first Native American site to obtain an Isle of Man gaming licence.

GreySnowPoker, which went live yesterday, is aimed at online poker players in grey markets including Latin America, Canada, Germany and Russia.

The venture will be overseen by managing director George McIntosh, a former Amaya exec who helped launch the PokerStars brand in the Portuguese market.

According to McIntosh, GreySnowPoker will be rake-free, instead offering a service-fee system called FairPlay, which sees users pay a flat fee equivalent to 3% of their stack when they leave the table.

McIntosh said: “This means that if two players sit down with $100 each in a cash game, the total service-fee will be $6 regardless of how many hands or hours are played.

“It is entirely possible then that these two players can play heads up indefinitely without rake eating up their stacks.”

He added: “We hope to shake up the online poker scene by changing the playing experience for the better.

“Our FairPlay service fee and automatic table seating will make games more user-friendly for recreational players and it should lead to longer time at the table, giving longer to learn.

“We think that this, coupled with random seating, will make the playing environment more fun, more thrilling and a more level playing-field than other sites.”