The International Poker Network (commonly referred to as "Boss Media" after the software company who manage the network) came to being in 2005 and consists of over 30 poker rooms including Virgin Poker, Sportingbet, Poker Kings and Interpoker.
Boss Media, the creator of the poker software who also manages the networks is a well-known Swedish company who also provides the software for the Swedish gambling monopoly Svenska Spel and other very big operators.
Boss Media Network Traffic
Boss' network traffic isn't fantastic, having lost around 50% of their average traffic in the past year. However there are frequently more than 4,000 players online with a little under a thousand cash game players, so unless you are a high stakes player you will not struggle to find a decent game. The network is also known for having fairly "fishy" players so in many cases the sacrifice of some traffic is offset by the value available in the games.
Boss Media Rakeback and Bonuses
Sign up bonuses depend on individual poker rooms but tend to be pretty generous. VIP progammes vary in terms of rewards you are eligible for, although in all case player points are all earned at a rate of 1 point per €0.25 raked in a cash game or the equivalent in registration fees paid for a tournament - ie: a €10 sit and go with a €1 registration fee will earn you 4 Player Points. In pretty much all cases points can be exchanged for cash although we recommend to check out the individual sites for other ways to spend or accumulate points.
Rakeback deals for Boss Media sites are readily available when signing up via affiliate sites, with 30% rakeback being on offer. The Boss rakeback is calculated using the weighted-contributed rake method.
Boss Media Game Variants and Stakes
As you would expect on a major poker network pretty much all the chief variants of poker are available in cash game format including Hold'Em, Omaha, Omaha Hi Low, Stud (including SOKO, or Canadian Stud) and Draw games all on offer. You can play from micro stakes ($0.02/$0.04) up to high stakes, although anything beyond €50/€100 is unlikely and even those are rare.
Sit and Go variants include heads up, three way, winner takes all, double up, turbo's, six max, full ring with MTT's offering bouty (headhunter), freerolls, guaranteed tournaments as well as satellites to online and live events with entry fees from €1 up to €10k.
Software Options
The software at Boss is both mac and pc compatible. There is also an in browser "instant play" options for those choosing to not download the poker client to their hard drive. The design is a little dated compared to other networks but is still easy to navigate and play.