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Overall: 4
Ultimate Bet has been one of online poker’s
major players for years now, and consequently has built
a large base of loyal players despite sponsoring Phil
Hellmuth. They’re probably one of the most professional
sites online, and they quietly attract a good amount of
ring game and tournament traffic. They do also offer a
wide range of game selection, and some decent high
stakes action. Logistics like cashouts and e-mail
customer service get top scores, and the software is
excellent. The main complaint from players is the
tighter nature of competition, which is true. However,
it appeals to players who are sick of bad beats or play
an aggressive style of play.
Bonus: 4 (40%
up to $200)
The first time deposit bonus is pretty good at 40%. If
you make a sizeable deposit, you can get up to $200 with
this offer. If you use one of our links to
Ultimate Bet, you can make sure that you
receive the full 40%. They release the bonus to you as
you earn UltimatePoints, which do add up even playing
the smaller games. I like the fact that a little bit of
your bonus is released every time you leave a table
instead of forcing you to earn some arbitrary amount
before it’s released to you. They also usually have some
sort of re-load bonus for subsequent deposits.
Promotions: 4
Ultimate Bet is above average in the
promotions department, and they do have a good player
loyalty system in place. You receive regular promotions
through their e-mail newsletters, and they host a bunch
of special tournaments for live event entries (like
their yearly WPT-sponsored Aruba Classic), exclusive
televised tournaments, and winning merchandise by
playing on the site. As you earn Ultimate Points, you’ll
be able to order free merchandise like hats, jackets,
and poker books. Their UP store actually offers some
pretty neat stuff. They actually Ultimate Point tables
if you’d like to gamble with them, as well.
Fish: 1.5
As I stated at the beginning of the review,
UB is pretty tight compared to most online
poker rooms. Flop percentages are generally lower than
average and typically range between 20-35%. I don’t
think that players should avoid this site just for this
reason, since you can still make a decent profit if you
adjust your playing style accordingly. Your should be
playing a more aggressive game, and you should play less
drawing hands since you usually won’t be getting the
proper pot odds with less players seeing the flop. Older
poker rooms tend to be tighter, and I still enjoyed the
action here despite that fact. You’ll find more
weak-tight players than tight-aggressive players. High
stakes players will appreciate the regular traffic up to
the high limits.
Tournaments: 5
This is one of the main reasons to play at
Ultimate Bet. They have a very busy
tournament schedule for both serious tournaments players
and micro buy-in players. One of their most fun daily
tournaments is the (at least) $1,000 guaranteed event
every night at about 10pm Eastern. For smaller players,
they also have a good number of events under $10. For
bigger tournament players, they now have a weekly
$50,000 guaranteed event and a $150,000 guaranteed event
on Sundays. They have multiple events every hour, and
the tournament structure is very good. If you’re looking
for tournaments, this is one of the best sites you can
go with.
Software: 5
The software is basic in terms of visuals but pretty
advanced in terms of features. The empty-chair avatar is
actually somewhat refreshing to see in contrast to the
slew of busy humanoid or personalized avatars on other
sites. The
UB hand history feature is well-suited for
serious players, and the game lobby is probably the
easiest to navigate. Their tournament lobbies were
upgraded not too long ago to be a bit more
user-friendly, and the quick tourney information from
within an event proves useful. You can also choose from
a number of picture backgrounds at each table, which is
a fun little quirk.
Best Features
-Excellent tournament schedule. Due to their good
traffic, their events are numerous and fill up pretty
well.
-Great software. Simple, clean, and to the point.
-Good player rewards program. If you play enough here
you can earn decent rewards such as poker merchandise
and tournament entries.
-High stakes tables. Lots of pros and larger players
frequent this site.
Cashouts: 5
Ultimate Bet is very flexible in terms of
withdrawals, and they aren’t obsessed with forcing you
to cash out via the same method as you deposited. I’ve
sometimes received my withdrawals within about 12 hours.
Customer Service: 4.5
Even though they only offer e-mail customer support,
I’ve received responses within 10 minutes. I haven’t had
many issues here, but they’ve always been resolved
quickly.
Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, Triple
Draw, Pineapple
Limits: Fixed Limit: .01/.02 - $80/160
No Limit: .01/.02 - $25/50
Tips
Since
Ultimate Bet is one of the tighter online
poker rooms, you should adjust your style of play here.
First of all, you should have an easy time picking out
the weak-tight players from the few action players. Use
your player notes feature, and play more aggressively
from late position when tighter players are in the
blinds. Player notes can also help when you’re faced
with a decision in a future hand. For example, if you
were called down to the river with pocket Aces by a guy
with pocket 88, you can bet into him on future hands and
be confident that you’ll get called down. Also, because
of the tighter competition, you might want to consider
slowplaying your hands more often. If you’re up against
fewer opponents, the odds are less that one of them will
have the right cards to draw out on you.
Click
here to visit Ultimate Bet.
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