UB

UB
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UltimateBet, now known as UB, is the flagship skin of the new CEREUS Poker Network. Home of poker greats Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, UB serves a large player base including Americans. UB has come under scrutiny in recent years for poor security and customer support, but has vowed to improve all aspects of their poker room since their merger with the CEREUS Network.

Being affiliated with Duke and Hellmuth proved quite useful when legislation looking to shut down American Poker Online was passed in 2006. Having two of the most popular American poker players on their side surely influenced UB’s decision to keep their doors open to American poker players. This choice has served them quite well as their traffic has seen an increase in recent years along with their sister-skin, Absolute Poker. US-based players have been fortunate that sites like UB, AP, PokerStars, and FullTilt have remained committed to American Poker Online.

The UB 111% up to $1,100 initial deposit bonus is one of the biggest promotions found online today. By using the bonus code FTR111 when signing up at UB you will receive the maximum possible bonus as well as entry into monthly freerolls and money-added events. The $5 buy-in FTR5 is a money-added tournament with $300 added to the prize pool. A bonus this size comes with a few stipulations. In order to clear this bonus players must participate in real money cash games, tournaments, and/or SNGs. Paying rake in cash games and fees in tournaments/SNGs will generate Status Points which are necessary to clear your bonus. For every 20 Status Points a player earns he/she will release $1 of their bonus. The bonus is earned in increments of $5 which means you do not have to clear the full bonus amount to receive any money, just earn 100 Status Points and your account will be credited with $5. This bonus is quite difficult to clear and players only have 60 days from the time of their deposit to do so.

Those visiting UB will first notice their wide variety of stakes and games. Cash game levels start as low as $.01/$.02 blinds and go all the way up to $200/$400 with antes. Players can choose from Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, and HORSE. The micro, small, and mid-stakes games get plenty of action all the way up to $5/$10 blinds. Those looking for higher stakes games will probably need to search elsewhere as the heads-up games are typically regulars waiting for weaker opponents.

Their tournament schedule is highlighted by the weekly $200k Guarantee which runs every Sunday. The $215 buy-in event generally fills the 1,000 players necessary to reach its guarantee. The UBOC (Ultimate Bet Online Poker Championship) is a multi-million dollar series with multiple Million-dollar events including the $1,000 buy-in Main Event. Those with smaller bankrolls will find many tournaments from as small as $.25 to choose from throughout the day. Their SNGs offer a wide array of games, stakes, and formats. From $.10 all the way up to $5,000, players of all levels are certainly covered. The more frequented games tend to be their heads-up format of all buy-in levels and 1-table SNGs from $5-$20. UB also has Stud and Omaha SNGs but neither gets a lot of traffic.

Ultimate Bet has always been known for having the fastest software around. They have recently updated their lobby and tables to make the games run much smoother. The Lobby uses tabs at the top of the screen to help players navigate between games, stakes, and formats. Those looking for a more personal touch can use the lobby filter to narrow down the game/stakes even more. For the longest time players could not resize or “tile” their tables; however, UB has recently updated their software to allow tables to be sized small enough to fit up to 9 on a screen with out any overlap. Finally, not only does UltimateBet allow American Poker Online, but the software is fully compatible for Mac Users.