Absolute Poker

Recently joining forces with UB Poker in 2008 to form what is now known as the Cereus Network, Absolute Poker has been consistently under the microscope of both its players and personnel due to their recent online scandal. With several superuser accounts being linked to the cheating incident, (with the "POTRIPPER" account being the most notorious) Absolute Poker has gone on to eradicate most of the screen names, employees and players that were associated with that particular incident. From this point forward, it's players and staff have managed to look past its mistakes and embrace Absolute Poker for mainly what it has always been; a stable and competitive online poker site.

All of the latest devices and gadgets that have now grown accustomed to the online poker world have also been included on Absolute Poker. Whether it's table statistics, player notes, in-game chat dialog or speedy gameplay, they offer it all on the platform. The current combination of UB poker and Absolute Poker has brought a bunch of different players on the site, and the games on Absolute Poker usually range from competitive to downright awful. And for those who are interested in playing with beautiful women, MTV reality tv star Trishelle Cannatella from the Real World: Las Vegas is sponsored by the site!

All of the trademark poker varieties are at bay on Absolute Poker. Texas Hold'em included, you might also find the games of Razz, Stud, and Omaha very exciting. Whether it's the No-Limit, Pot-Limit or Limit version of each game, they're all located on Absolute Poker.

When viewing the main lobby of Absolute Poker, players can appreciate the simplistic layout. While the red, white and blue color scheme tends to scream vintage, it makes things very easy to find while you're searching the lobby. At the very top of the program the My Account, Game Info, and Tournament menus are all readily available, and each menu has a drop-down of more specific characteristics that you may customize to your liking. Lobby skins, Hand History Retrieval, Find a Player and Personalizing Your Player Image can all be accessed from these options.

For those who are particularly curious when it comes to actual poker gameplay, you'll definitely find extra gratification in the neat "Rabbit Cam" feature. Players are now able to view additional cards, either on the turn or the river, to find just whether or not they would've connected with their flush or straight draws. (While you can certainly peek for other reasons, these are the most popular.)

All of the poker games are displayed on the main screen also. No-Limit, Pot-Limit and "Fun" stakes are given space amongst the other options. The names of tables, player names, stack sizes, along with other important in-game information is provided within one of the two main lobby windows.

If these features weren't enough to entice you, Absolute Poker also hosts Blackjack side games and tournament games for those interested in a change of pace. You're also always notified of the payout potential of Absolute Poker's Bad Beat Jackpot, which has a ticker that is updated around the clock. If you're looking for an easy method to win lots of cash, there's no easier way than by taking a "bad beat" at the tables and receiving an enormous reward!

Absolute Poker is also Mac compatible!

Another thing I like about Absolute Poker is that you can personalize it by adding a picture of your choice to your player icon at the table. You can display your favorite sports team, your pets, your favorite movie characters and also the best thing of all, yourself. It adds a little more of your personality to the poker playing experience.

Moving ahead of Absolute Poker's past scandal, the online poker site does provide accurate and dependable support when it comes to taking care of player needs. Those who are looking for telephone service might be disappointed not to find one, but their email responses are very detailed and come back very quickly. Absolute Poker also serves host to one of the friendliest staffs around, and rightfully so, because they certainly need to impress consumers 100% in order to fully gain back their loyalty.

If you ever have more trivial questions regarding games, options or gameplay, Absolute Poker's web site also has an extensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page that should be able to solve nearly all of your problems. Whether it involves the Cashier, a tournament, or a promotional offer, most of that information can be found there.

Technical questions regarding Absolute Poker's software, such as the necessary computing components and memory necessary to run the platform, is also available on the web.

Revamping their online security has been one of the biggest demands for players on Absolute Poker. Monetary security has been the biggest and best focus of the site, and they've gone through extensive redesign, as well as employing new personnel to make sure that things will run much smoother in the future. Compliance, Zero-Tolerance and Responsible Gaming are all now staples of the Absolute Poker support and security dialog, and they now have all of the resources available to make sure that these tasks are carried out sufficiently.

With improving volume statistics since its merge with UB Poker on the Cereus network, Absolute Poker is now host to a generous player market with plenty of fish. Although the site certainly had its fair share of bad players before, the influx of new players is even greater with the new network. Congruently, the number of tough opponents has increased, but that's to be expected.

No-Limit Hold'em is still the bulk of action on the Internet, and Absolute Poker is no different. These games are the most popular because they usually offer the least amount of variance for those who excel as this game. The micro to low level No-Limit Hold'em games on Absolute Poker provide the most profitability for the average grinder. It's not rare in the least to find games in NLHE that have ranges of 35%-45% viewed flop percentages.

If you're looking for more profitability, feel free to partake in the other poker varieties such as Seven-Card Stud and Razz, as those games can be particularly juicy when they're running.

Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Hi-Lo, Razz and H.O.R.S.E. are available on Absolute Poker. These games all come with different game types like Limit, Pot-Limit and No-Limit.

A rare inclusion in this group is also 7-2 Hold'em, in which anyone who wins a poker hand with the hand 7-2 wins a bonus. Players who have the opportunity to play such an interesting variation are granted with tons of action, since it's very difficult to guess whether or not your opponent holds a strong hand or 7-2! This game is played frequently because of the increased profitability. Those who are able to pick their spots carefully should be able to benefit from the increased action.

Whether you prefer the increasingly popular short-handed variety, or more traditional 9-handed ring games, all of the expected types of poker are available. Deep-stack, Short-stack, Fast, Ante and Heads-Up games are all easily accessible through specific icons that are neatly displayed in the main lobby.

Rebuy, Bounty, Turbo, Ultra Turbo and the rare 4-max are just a small sample of the tournament types that Absolute Poker offers. They carry a wide range of different buy-ins and guaranteed events, and that in turn makes it easy to understand why many tournament players tend to migrate to Absolute Poker.

Considering guaranteed events, on the weekends Absolute Poker hosts several $100,000 guarantees. On Saturday at 17:30 ET, they're host to the $100,000 Deep-Stack Tournament. This tournament carries a buy-in of only $300+$20! On Sunday, online poker's biggest tournament day, Absolute Poker also has another $100K tournament. However, the buy-in for this event will require much more determination and a bigger bankroll, as it's $500+$30. The $200,000 guarantee is held shortly after that event, at 17:30 ET, with a buy-in of only $200+$15.

For those who prefer to spend a little less time and money on tournament play, Absolute Poker also has tournaments where tournament dollars or Absolute Points may be used to purchase a buy-in. Absolute's FAME loyalty program makes it easy to accumulate points, which can be used to redeem a multitude of items.

Sit-N-Go poker tournaments run regularly, and is more dependent on player volume than the buy-ins themselves. Those who are masters of the short-handed or long-handed Sit-N-Go shouldn't find difficulty in having success consistently. This of course, is dependent upon how high you choose to play. Texas Hold'em, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha are the games available within this medium.

Despite having most of its focus on everyday tournaments, Absolute Poker does hold several satellites and qualifying tournaments to the big, live tournament events such as the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour.

Although these free tournaments can sometimes provide lucrative rewards, in comparison to several other online sites Absolute Poker's freerolls fall a little short. They do hold freerolls that include cash prizes, however they're tiny in comparison to other competitors. Although they do hold a $10,000 freeroll, it's only held seasonally and can be massive in size. If it's branded merchandise you're after however, they have several different tournaments including "Absolute Swag" and "Poker Aces," which give away t-shirts, baseball jerseys, and books.

On Absolute Poker there are several different ranges for stakes, depending on what style and type of game you choose to play. Both No-Limit and Pot-Limit games for Hold'em and Omaha range from $1c/$2c, up to $200/$400. If you're a Limit specialist, they have stakes between $2c/$4c and $500/$1000. Regardless of whether you only have a little or a lot of disposable income, there's a range of stakes for everyone on Absolute Poker.

Most of the concentration of games will be in the low-mid stakes level.

Known as the "Fame Loyalty Program," Absolute Poker rewards its regular players with points based on their cash game and tournament play. Dependent on the stakes, rake or tournament buy-in, players will be awarded a number of Absolute Points that can be used in various ways. Interestingly enough, even players who take place in Blackjack games on the site can earn points!

Known as "Status Points," these accumulated points will be what you'll earn during actual play. Contingent upon your Absolute Poker loyalty status, you may earn equal, or up to 5 times the amount of Status Points in Absolute Points.

There are five different statuses: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond Elite. After reaching the highest levels, you'll begin to triple, quadruple or quintuple your earning potential. Absolute Poker rewards its players that put in the most work, and if you're one of those players, you won't find much trouble in earning big prizes fast.

After earning several thousand (or hundreds of thousand) points, you can begin to throw your total towards nearly any item of your desire. Whether it's tournament tickets, cash back, luxurious merchandise or concierge service, it's all found on Absolute Poker. The VIP store is filled with Apple goods, video games, apparel and even sporting event tickets should you not be able to find them elsewhere. Absolute Poker truly goes above and beyond expectation when it involves rewarding its clientele.

One of the few sites that still accepts credit card transactions is Absolute Poker. With Mastercard and Visa available, players from the United States will be pleased at the ease of depositing funds to your bankroll. Other options such as Moneybookers, Bank Transfer, iDeal, Solo, GiroPay, Neteller, Click2Pay, INSTADEBIT, and ClickandBuy may also be used.

Withdrawals carry the same options, except with some limits on withdrawal amounts and locations dependent upon country of origin and frequency of deposit.

You can withdraw funds by using Neteller, FirePay, and Check.