Bitcoin Site BurnTurn Poker to Launch April 17

A new Bitcoin poker site has announced a rollout date of next Friday, April 17, joining an online poker industry that is perhaps slowly coming around toward greater acceptance of the virtual currency.

BurnTurn Poker will launch in beta mode "with a full schedule of ring games, sit-n-go's and tournaments," according to an email sent to players. The beta phase is expected to end in early May, when "a more robust offering of games and promotions" will be made available.

Players can begin registering and depositing at the new poker room (BurnTurn.eu) the middle of next week. Those who join the site on the ground floor will be rewarded for their loyalty.

Beta phase players who play 250 raked hands can participate in a 1 BTC freeroll to be held sometime at the end of April. All players who join the soft launch will gain an extra level in BurnTurn's VIP program, Ragnar's circle.

That loyalty program is named for BurnTurn founder and CEO Ragnar Del Torres, who acquired Bitcoin poker site Satoshi Poker last year after that room went belly up. Part of the deal required BurnTurn to be responsible for money still owed to Satoshi Poker players. By the looks of a number of posts at an online Bitcoin forum that began rather contentiously, it appears that BurnTurn has made good on that promise.

"BurnTurn Poker will leverage all of Satoshi Poker’s technology and intellectual property as it readies its launch out of stealth mode later this year," read a press release after the June 1, 2014 acquisition. That launch was obviously delayed as BurnTurn continued its aim toward delivering "a Bitcoin Poker experience that enthusiasts can enjoy and trust.”

Players who reach the upper echelon of Ragnar's circle can earn 35% rakeback. That circle is comprised of five levels, with rakeback percentages rising in accordance with the number of raked hands played.

The first 500 depositors at BurnTurn will receive a bonus of 0.05 Bitcoin. Attached to the bonus is a .015 BTC play-through requirement. Bitcoin is currently trading at 237.88 per one U.S. dollar.

In other Bitcoin poker news, Infiniti Poker recently added MasterCard and Visa to its cashier cage, alongside Bitcoin. That poker room launched in February after ironing out some security wrinkles that included collusion and multi-accounting.

Also, the relaunched Bitcoin-only Seals With Clubs, now operating at SWCPoker.eu, is once again being tracked by independent poker room player traffic site, PokerScout. Currently averaging 32 ring game players, SWC is aiming to re-establish a loyal following after the site went down following a raid on the home of the poker room's chairman in Nevada in February.