Full review of UltimateBet

Summary
World-exclusive $300 Ultimate Bet bonus. Ultimate Bet has become one of the world’s leading poker rooms the last year, as an innovator with many new features in its software, and a nice and sleek look and feel. The traffic at Ultimate Bet is among the top 3-4 in both ring games and tournaments. The game variation is very good and there are many super high limit games. There are decent promotions and a great frequent player program. Several poker pro endorsers participate in the games. Ultimate Bet has few weaknesses and is by many regarded as the new leader in terms of overall experience. Real money player statistics - July 2005: 2600-3200 ring game players at peak hours, 3000-4000 tournament players at peak hours.

Software and graphics
The UltimateBet's graphics have a unique and sleek look. It runs quickly and reliably. The MiniView feature is really great, which perfectly suits players who play at many tables at the same time. (The user can always switch each table back to standard view) Notes on players are supported. The statistics function is sophisticated with great detail in the information. There is a "buddy program" where a player can keep track on when and where friends and favorite players are at the site. The player can choose among 5 different background environments. A Windows emulator is needed for Mac and Linux users to make the Ultimate Bet software compatible. Overall, UltimateBet has top-notch software!

Ring game traffic
Ultimate Bet is typically in top 4 to 5, in terms of ring games traffic. The number of real money players in ring games is typically reaching 2600 to 3200 at peak hours. The traffic is quite well spread out over all types of games (compared to many other rooms where traffic is concentrade to Holdem only).

Tournament traffic
Ultimate Bet's traffic at the tournaments is very good at peak hours, where the traffic will reach somewhere between 3000 and 4000. But the traffic is down to 1500-2000 earlier in the evenings (European peak hours). At multi-table tournaments, there is sometimes a "player bounty", in which the participant who eliminated the bounty player gets a special price!

Game variety
Ultimate Bet has a good game selection, with Holdem, Omaha Hi and Hi-Lo, 7-Card-Stud Hi and Hi-Lo, Crazy Pineapple and Lowball. There are no-limit and pot-limit in Holdem and pot-limit in both Omaha variants. There are 1-on-1 tables in both Holdem, Omaha and 7-Card-Stud. The site was also first to introduce crazy pineapple. There are also certain "kill games" in which a consecutive winner of two big qualifying pots has to post a forced blind, twice the big blind.

Rake
Ultimate Bet's rake is somewhat less attractive than the average in the industry, at least when it comes to lower limit games. The rake caps at UltimateBet are in line with the industry, but the drop is taken at more frequent intervals, which result in a higher effective rake. However, the maximum rake for short-handed games, are capped at lower than at many other rooms. Moreover, in the heads-up and three-player tables there is a very low cap. The tournaments have a flat buy-in charge of 10% for all levels except for the $1 events, which are free and the $100 where the charge is 9%. In heads up tournaments there is a 5% charge.

Soft competition
The full tables at $0.5/$1 limits and up have view flop percentages in the mid 30-ies up to mid 40-ies in most cases, which is tight but not too bad. There are certainly easier sites to win money at, but among the top 5 online poker rooms Ultimate Bet scores average.

Sign up bonus
We offer the world's best Ultimate Bet bonus with up to $300 sign-up bonus at 50% deposit match. To cash out bonus money you need points for raked hands. For example, get 1000 points for raked hands (where you just get dealt cards) at $0.25/$0.50 tables and up, within any time limit to cash out $100. Each pot with rake under one dollar gives 0.5 points and a pot with rake over one dollar gives 1.0 points (equals 10 raked full pots per dollar). Plus, you can make up to $100 for each friend you refer.

Loyalty bonus
Ultimate Points are awarded for each raked hand or tournament. Extra points are awarded players who start up new games. Points can be used for entries to tournaments or merchandise purchases.

Promotions
Ultimate Bet has reasonably good promotions, with a great refer-a-friend program. There are quite a few free rolls and frequent player free rolls. Maybe once per quarter there is a re-deposit bonus of about 20% up to $100. "Team Ultimate Bet", the poker star endorsers, make frequent appearances in the rooms. There are 4 High hand jackpots awarded every 90 minutes. The refer-a-friend program gives you up to $100 per friend!

Support
Support is today much better at Ultimate Bet. The response time for most emails are under 10 minutes. The staff is nice and knowledgable overall. However, they still only have email support.

Financial security
Very good, as one of the leading poker rooms in the world. No recorded problems. Top score.

Deposit & withdrawal options
Deposit options:
VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, FirePay, Citadel (US only), SFPay (US only), wire transfer, bank draft, cashier's check
Cash out options:
NETeller, FirePay and check (VISA up to the amount you have been charged)