Ultimate Bet Poker Texas Holdem Room Review

Texas Holdem Games At Ultimate Bet Poker – A Room Review For Texas Holdem Poker Players.

by The Poker Dog

Ultimate Bet are one of the ‘original’ online poker sites – established in the late 1990’s. With a great offering and some aggressive offline and online marketing they are still firmly in the top 10 sites list, with some 20k players simultaneously at peak times. Ultimate Bet recently significantly increased their marketing campaign – including the sponsorship of poker professionals such as Phil Helmuth Jr and Annie Duke – as well as introducing a new player loyalty scheme known as RAI$E.

The ‘juicy’ Holdem cash games which UB first became famous for are still running today in several formats including fixed and no-limit, full-ring and 6-max. Tourneys are a new focus for this site with the line up of re-buy, knockout-bounty and satellite qualifier tournaments increasing all the time. There are also many ‘novel’ games on offer including Elimination Blackjack Tournaments, Roshambo and Pineapple Holdem Poker.

Bonuses will clear a little slower at Ultimate Bet, however they more than make up for this by offering some of the largest poker bonuses online. The initial sign-up bonus for new players is a generous 111% to $1100 (use bonus code SNGPLANET to claim this), this will clear into your account in increments as you collect ‘UB Points’. Freerolls, reload bonuses and the all-new ‘RAI$E’ loyalty (VIP) program contribute to keeping players at this leading poker site very loyal – read on to find out exactly what keeps players coming back to UB for more.

Ultimate Bet Poker Texas Holdem Cash Game Selection

Ultimate Bet have one of the widest selections of poker (and poker related) games available anywhere online, and also some of the softest opposition of any US-friendly poker site. Texas Holdem is by far the most popular and has games running from micro-stakes right up to the high-rollers tables. No-Limit, Pot-Limit and Fixed Limit games are all popular. While the lowest levels are busiest (as at all poker sites) there are a surprising number of higher ($5 / $10 blinds and above) tables available at this site.

The Bad Beat Jackpot at Ultimate Bet is one of the bigger online, reaching half a million dollars on numerous occasions. Tables marked red in the lobby are part of this jackpot, taking a small extra rake and paying out where you have quad-8’s or better beaten during play.

Ultimate Bet Poker Texas Holdem Tournaments / SNGs Selection

Tournaments are the new focus area for UB with large guaranteed prize pools being offered all the time and a new schedule recently introduced by Annie Duke. Satellite qualifier tournaments to outside live events (WSOP /. WPT etc) are very popular, as are satellites to the weekly UB showcase tournament – the Sunday 200k Guaranteed.

Knockout bounty tournaments, including ‘pro-bounties’ and other variations including turbo blinds and rebuy tournaments are also regular parts of the tournament schedule. SNGs are busy – though outside of the lower and middle levels ($20 and below) you will need to play at peak times to avoid waiting for a game.

UB have made an effort to catch up with the player volumes of some of the newer poker sites by introducing some great tournaments to their schedule – if you have not checked out this site before then they are certainly one for the short-list.

Ultimate Bet Poker Software And Customer Service

The UB software client is easily recognizable from the ‘beach scene’ tables for anyone who has been around online poker for a long time. The game-play is fast and smooth, though the Ultimate Bet poker software client is somewhat let down by the lobby – which looks cluttered and difficult to navigate due to the large amount of promotions and tabs.

Once you become more familiar with the software interface then navigation is actually very easy – with a number of handy filters which enable you to find the best tables for your needs quickly.

The table layout, with the 3-dimensional ‘side-on’ perspective, was considered the best online for many years. Fast action and lack of icons (so less clutter) make this site very easy to use. Resizable tables make UB suitable for multi-tabling players - and the action buttons are both intuitive and easy to use.

Customer Services at Ultimate Bet are rated as fair, they are available 24 hours a day and can be reached via e-mail or through a form on the UB website.

Ultimate Bet Poker Promotions And Bonus Offers

The huge 111% to $1100 sign-up bonus for new players at UB Poker may be industry leading, yet it is by no means the end of the promotional offers at this site – use bonus code SNGPLANET to claim the full amount.

Incentives are plentiful, starting with the  regular reload bonuses – currently offering 25% to $200 almost every week. The Ultimate Bet Poker Bonuses are not the fastest clearing, however, since they have no expiry time  they can be ‘stacked’ for when you are ready to clear them.

A recent addition that has already proved to be very popular with regular players at UB is the ‘RAI$E’ loyalty (VIP) program. This gives out progressively bigger bonuses and rewards as you move up levels from ‘Player’ through to ‘Icon’. UB are making a big effort to win market share with their promotions and bonuses – make sure you take advantage of these and give your poker bankroll a welcome boost.

Ultimate Bet Poker – Final Overview

Recently increased marketing efforts have seen UB regain ground lost to their US-friendly rivals. The introduction of the huge ($1100)  sign-up bonus and the RAI$E loyalty scheme should go a long way towards this goal.

Inexperienced opposition at the tables and a great selection of both cash games and tournaments make this site a potentially profitable destination for players worldwide – check them out for yourself today. Remember, bonus code SNGPLANET to claim the maximum available $1100 Ultimate Bet sign-up bonus.