Absolute Poker Review
Absolute Poker (www.AbsolutePoker.com) is a sister site of Ultimate Bet Poker, as both sites use similar software and share player traffic. The two sites combined to form the Cereus network in 2009, and the network has seen immediate success as traffic levels have increased and player retention is up as well.
Looking for Absolute Poker? Visit www.AbsolutePoker.com
Absolute Poker accepts all players (including Americans), regardless of nationality. The site is currently offering a 150% up to $500 sign up bonus to all new depositors. To redeem the bonus, players have to sign up at Absolute Poker and make a deposit.
Other cool features at Absolute Poker include private tables and tournaments, an outstanding rewards program, and easy to use deposit/withdrawal options. Read the rest of our Absolute Poker review to learn more about the site.
Software Quality
Powered by Cereus software, Absolute Poker focuses on game availability, transaction speed and customer service. The software also includes statistics, player search engines and personalized images for each player. The size and scope of the software often contributes to speed; a maximum of six poker tables can be played at a time compared to similar site maximums of eight.
A feature that is difficult to find on other poker sites is, however, the private table option where the organizing player has the opportunity to launch ring games and tournaments with other players, independent of Absolute Poker and closed to the general web site population.
Once you have logged in to the web site, you will find a listing of the available poker games from which you can choose your limit (including free play) and game type such as Texas Holdem, Omaha or Stud. You can see the stakes at each table as well as the average pot and pot percentage.Other information such as the number of players at the table and the amount of hands played per hour is also available.
Once you select a table, you will see a series of players sitting at a table with their username and picture marking their respective spots. The amount of each wager is marked not only with chips but also with the related amount of money in a dollar amount.
Traffic Levels
By most accounts, the traffic at Absolute Poker is around 15,000 during peak hours, mostly found at the Texas Holdem tables. However, Absolute Poker has gained the reputation of hosting much lower traffic levels during off-peak playing periods.
The largest traffic draw to Absolute Poker is the tournament play as the majority of regular players tend to relegate themselves to tournaments rather than other games. Various other site traffic reports often list the peak numbers in excess of 24,000 with an average of 3,500 live games in progress at any given time. Of course, such reports also list the off peak traffic to be significantly lower at around 8,000 to 9,000 players when compared to peak.
Player Competition
Soft competition is often associated with Absolute Poker as the flop percentages are typically listed at 70% to 80%. This soft play is typically reserved to limit games at $2/$4 and under and $1/$2 and under for no limit table games. Above these limits, competition begins to get a little stiffer and the flop percentage drops significantly.
Passive play at Absolute Poker is common and most of the site traffic is confined to the micro-medium limits where the competition is soft. In addition, Absolute Poker has drawn a reputation for featuring mostly loose play where most of the players at the low limit tables will see the flop during every hand.
Sign-up bonus
Absolute Poker offers a 150% deposit bonus for first time depositors, up to $500. There are other offers, some based on a rewards program for continuing users.
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There is also the Bad Beat program, which rewards players for playing on a high risk table when they suffer a bad beat. The first deposit bonus is released into a player's account based on a status points system. Each player is assigned (and can increase) a status rank of five levels from bronze to diamond elite. At the bronze level, you must earn 20 status points to unlock $1 of your bonus. At the diamond elite level, 17 points are required to release $1.
Rewards Program
In addition to being required to release all bonuses, status points also tie into the rewards program at Absolute Poker that determines how quickly bonuses are released over time. The diamond elite status actually pays players interest on their entire bankroll just as it was a bank account. However, while the typical interest rate at most banks is 2% to 3%, the interest paid to diamond elite Absolute Poker members is 5%.
All new players start as bronze members at Absolute Poker after signing up with an Absolute Poker bonus code. The promotions in the VIP program is based on how many points they earn every month. As status increases, the multiplier of status points that you earn while playing real money games increases as well. For example, silver members must earn an average of 50 points per month to maintain their status level but they earn double the status points of bronze members. Diamond elite members earn 5 times the status points that bronze members earn but are required to earn an average of 10,000 status points every month.
The major difference between diamond elite status and other status levels is the evaluation period. For all other status levels, your status points are reviewed monthly. In other words, you must earn the required amount of points every month. However, the evaluation period for diamond elite members is 3 months. Theoretically, you could earn 30,000 points during a single month and zero points for another two and maintain your diamond elite status.
Most players are drawn to Absolute Poker because of their rewards program that continues to pay out money to continuing players. Unlike many other sites with similar rewards programs, the status points are valuable in unlocking the introductory bonus and building status on Absolute Poker to make future bonuses faster to unlock. All deposits are kept separate from operating costs to keep player's money safe and secure. The customer service at Absolute Poker is available through multiple venues 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods
All funds deposited at Absolute Poker are held at a European financial institution in separate accounts rather than being mixed with the deposits made to fund operational costs of the poker room. This is to ensure that player deposits are safe from accounting mistakes and withdrawals can always be processed on time and accurately. The available deposit options at Absolute Poker include:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Moneybookers
- Wire Transfer (Bank)
- Check by Postage Mail
- Neteller
There are fees associated with some of the withdrawal options offered by Absolute Poker. These fees are not deducted from the amount of money being withdrawn, however. Instead, the full withdrawal is sent to the player and the fee is deducted from the total bankroll. Some of the withdrawal options featured on Absolute Poker include:
- Postage Mail Check - $8 Fee
- Courier Check - $25 Fee
- Bank Wire - $50 Fee
- EwalletXpress - No Fee
- NETeller - No Fee
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