Ultimate Bet Review

With a history that dates back to 1999, Ultimate Bet was one of the first internet poker sites to achieve mainstream success. The poker site has grown steadily over the years and is now one of the largest internet poker rooms. Both cash games and tournaments can be found at all levels and in several different poker variations.

Ultimate Bet nearly doubled its player base in 2008 when it merged with Absolute Poker to form the Cereus Poker Network. The two poker sites remain individual entities, but they share a player base. So when you join a table at Ultimate Bet, you are likely to be playing against a mixture of players from UB and Absolute Poker.

A nice selection in cash games and tournaments makes Ultimate Bet an appealing poker room to a wide cross-section of poker players. At the same time, a large player base ensures the games are always busy at all levels. Whether you’re a low limit grinder or a high stakes veteran, you’ll be able to find people to play against at Ultimate Bet.

Ultimate Bet Sign Up Bonus

Ultimate Bet has one of the larger signup bonuses in the industry: a 111% match on your first deposit for up to $1100 extra. Any amount you deposit when you join Ultimate Bet will be more than doubled with this bonus, up to a maximum bonus of $1100. For example, a $500 deposit will result in a $555 bonus. This bonus applies only to your first deposit at UB.

To get this bonus, use the referral code IG1100 when you first sign up for an account at Ultimate Bet. You can then use that same code again when you actually make your first deposit. This will make sure you are credited with the bonus money when you complete that initial deposit.

Your bonus money is then released by playing in real money ring games and tournaments and earning Status Points. For every 20 Status Points you earn, $1.00 of your bonus money is considered earned. The bonus money is then deposited to your real money account in $5.00 increments.

Ring Games

Ultimate Bet has a long history of providing the best ring games on the internet. They were one of the first US-friendly poker sites to offer ultra high stakes ring games. Ultimate Bet continues that tradition today by offering ring games at stakes that range from $0.01/$0.02 no limit to $200/$400 no limit and $0.02/$0.04 fixed limit to $500/$1000 fixed limit.

The ring games at Ultimate Bet are offered in Texas Holdem as well as Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo, Razz and mixed poker. The Texas Holdem games always have solid traffic but the other poker variants can get pretty quiet during off-peak hours. For non-Holdem games, Full Tilt Poker might be a better choice.

Competition at the ring games has always been a little tougher than average. The players at Ultimate Bet are generally slightly tighter than at other internet poker sites. The games aren’t unbearably tight, though. There are enough players at the tables that if you practice a little table selection, you will be fine. But if you play ultra high stakes games, you better be ready for some very talented competition.

Tournaments

The large player base at Ultimate Bet provides for a healthy tournament scene as well. Tournaments can be found at all stakes and of many different types. UB hosts the usual variety of freezeout tournaments, satellites to major events like the WSOP, guaranteed prize pool tournaments and bounty tournaments. The vast majority of these tournaments are held as no-limit Texas Holdem events.

Every Sunday, Ultimate Bet hosts its largest tournament, the Sunday 200K. This tournament has a guaranteed prize pool of at least $200,000 every week, even if not enough players show up to meet the guarantee. That one is their biggest guarantee, but they also hold a variety of smaller ones throughout the week.

Sit-n-Go tournaments are also popular at Ultimate Bet. The poker lobby has an entire section dedicated to sit-n-go's. These tournaments can be found at buyins that range from $0.05 to more than $5,000 and everything in between. This includes normal single table tournaments, multi-table sit-n-go's and step tournaments in which you can win your way up to a massive prize.

Software

Ultimate Bet’s simple software has long been an asset. From the very beginning, the software at UB has been focused on speed, reliability and simplicity. They don’t go overboard with trying to make ultra-realistic 3D poker tables that bog the system down and distract from the action. Instead, they keep things simple, straightforward and clearly labeled.

This goes for both the poker lobby itself and each table. The poker lobby is organized so that each poker variant is listed under its own tab (Holdem, Omaha, Stud and so on). Within each poker game tab, there are smaller tabs that can be used to sort between no limit, fixed limit and so on. It’s all organized so that anyone can hop online and immediately be comfortable with the software.

Each poker table is displayed in a separate window and comes with simple, crisp graphics and plenty of options. The default table view is a dark, overhead view that uses a spotlight effect to show whose decision it is. Players also have the option to switch back to the classic UB view that was popular way back in 1999. You’ll find that both views are simple, clean and move very quickly.

VIP Program

The VIP program at Ultimate Bet is a little complicated at first glance it does a good job keeping players happy. The entire system revolves around Status Points and UltimatePoints, both of which are earned by playing in real money games. The Status Points are used to determine your level in the VIP program and the UltimatePoints are used to redeem cash and gifts.

There are five levels in the VIP program and each level gives players more valuable rewards. At the first level, for example, you’ll get basic things like freeroll tournaments and refer-a-friend bonuses. If you play a lot of poker and make it to the top, you’ll get benefits like 5% interest paid on your account balance and concierge service at all major live tournaments you go to.

At the bottom of the VIP ladder, you earn Status Points and UltimatePoints at the same rate. As you move up in levels, you start to earn UltimatePoints at a faster and faster rate. These points can then be redeemed for cash or you can take them shopping at the UB Store for high tech electronics and gifts.

Deposit Options

Your player account can be funded through a variety of deposit options. There are about 30 different deposit options but we’ll just list the most popular here. The minimum and maximum deposit amounts are determined by the method used to deposit. A few of the most popular deposit options at Ultimate Bet are as follows:

USA Deposits

• Visa / MasterCard
• Bank Transfer
• UseMyWallet

Non-USA Deposits

• All the above
• Ukash
• Click2Pay
• Eco Card
• Neteller
• ClickandBuy
• Moneybookers