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May 13th, 2008 |
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May 13th, 2008 |
Poker Room Review:
Absolute Poker is a well-organized poker room where the players particularly enjoy short handed ring games and tournaments. In the tournament area, the good selection of sit&go's deserves a special mention.
Absolute Pokers own objective is "To continue to be the best and most trusted." We feel they accomplish this for the players who like to really be greeted to a good game of poker. One reason for this is the great welcome bonuses and the outstanding re-load bonuses. Another reason is the distinguished atmosphere with personalized, easy to use graphics, and in general nice player clientele.
Absolute Poker is a good complement for any player with their constant re-load bonuses and fine selection of games. For a not too advanced poker player, whose main concern isn’t high stakes Omaha, it can definitely serve as the first choice.
Absolute Poker offers Razz to complement the standard games of: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven-Card Stud, and Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo. The Texas Hold'em tables features 1-on-1 and short-handed play as well as FL, PL, and NL. The short handed tables are the most popular. There is a comparatively high volume of fixed limit games. The limits range between $0.02/$0.04 and $150/$300. The biggest crowds are generally gathered at the Texas Hold'em micro limits. Good volumes in the no-limit section starts to ebb out at limits of $2/$4. There is action all the way to the top but only a small number of games. Not only fixed limit but all non-stud full ring games are nine-handed.
Absolute Poker’s sit and go section includes Holdem, and Omaha tournaments with either 2, 9, 18, 27 or 45 entrants. While Seven-Card Stud tournaments as of yet only has single table sit’n’gos with 7 entrants. The sit’n’gos are generally very popular at AbsolutePoker.
The multi table tournaments include a lot of choices with lower and medium buy-ins. There are satellites to WPT event and to the WSOP. The recurrent big tournament is the ‘$100K guaranteed bi-weekly’. Absolute Poker offers ‘SuperStack’ tournaments where players have 2,500 in starting chips instead of the regular 1,500. This gives more time to play reflectively at the same time as it is a practice for higher buy-in tournaments like the $100K Guaranteed. Otherwise, happenings at Absolute Poker are centered on the tournament leader board.
Points towards placing well at the tournament leader board are awarded in any of the multi or single table tourneys. Ranking is based on place of finish, number of tournament entries, and buy-ins. The weekly winner gets the opportunity to play Mark Seif heads up for $1,000. If Mark Seif wins the prize pool rolls over to the next weeks challenge. The top 100 at the end of a month are eligible to enter into a $2,000 freeroll. The top 50 at the end of the year are eligible to enter into a $20,000 freeroll.
Every week there is also a $1000 AP Challenge with entries being awarded to the top finishers in a wide range of buy-in tournaments. The higher the buy-in the more players get this invitation but also the top finishers of freerolls get invitations. So this is a tournament promotion which is a challenge to players of all skill levels. A high value tournament for those in college is the tournament where the first prize is one semester’s tuition.
Absolute Poker uses their own software. The essentials of the software follow the general direction of most other poker rooms’ software but it still has a distinct feel. A symbol for their own style is the customizable table view. There are a great number of stored table skins to choose from but it is also possible to create your own which could end up as the ‘featured skin of the week’. Still the most important thing is that the software is both quick and reliable.
The interface is a bit rough around the edges but the interaction is really smooth. The graphics are not outstanding but all desirable functions are well thought out. The chat box can be opened as a separate window and be discretionally block out other players or observers. Hand histories are by default stored to the hard drive. They are also accessible during play not only in text but also as a visual summary, a replay of the hand. In big bet games an incremental bar facilitates bets in multiples of the big blind. Hot key buttons allows actions to be controlled from the keyboard. All the functions don’t get in the way of good updating, concerning stats and cashier info including bonus information. Absolute poker has implemented the functions in an impressive manner.
Other aspects are more subject to personal opinion. The game play is rather slow since each player has more time to act. Games are interrupted more seldom as players are removed from a game already after disconnections over 30 seconds. The 9-seat tables also belong in this category. Contributing to making the gaming experience unique is a selected opportunity to rabbit hunt, though it will only ever show the turn card. The software is also created so it is possible to build an identity by uploading your own avatar.
Table (click to enlarge)
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Lobby (click to enlarge)
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In the crowded micro limit games viewed flop percentages of 60% are not uncommon. The games that are available for low- and middle-stakes can be pretty juicy as well, especially with short-handed play. Moving upwards the games become tighter and if you wish to play at $150/$300 Mark Seif table you should be prepared for tough competition. Overall the quality of the no limit Hold’em games are on par with an online poker average. The fixed limit games and the games in the other variants are slightly softer than average.
Absolute Poker's signup bonus is one of the (if not the) largest first deposit bonus out there. Offering a complete match bonus up to $750 is quite a feat. It becomes even greater as it is not difficult to clear, which is not the case with some other big money bonuses. According to the fine print below the bonus ranges between moderately difficult and moderately easy to clear. The breaking point for the two different estimations is between $1/$2 and $2/$4 for fixed limit games. At fixed limit games with limits of $0.02/$0.04 up to $0.25/$0.50 the bonus is difficult to clear. For pot- and no-limit games the bonus becomes moderately easy to clear at games with blinds of $0.50/$1, depending somewhat on the action at the individual table.
After a deposit an equal sum is added into a ‘pending bonus account’. From which the bonus is continuously released in $10 batches for every 100 points. Points are awarded at cash games and at tournaments. 1 point is awarded for every raked hand where the total rake is $0.50 or more. At single- or multi table tournaments 1 point is given for each $1 of tournament buy-in fee rounded up to the nearest whole number. Since the tournament fee is 9% of the buy in, they seldom add up to even numbers. For instance a $10 tourney will generate $0.90 in fees, and will earn 1 point. The first bonus expires after 60 days. Total points and bonus amounts are clearly presented in the cashier.
Absolute Poker also runs their ‘Absolute Rewards Loyalty Program’ with points which are awarded similarly but not identically to those which are used to clear bonuses. Bonus points to clear bonuses and ‘Reward Points’ (RPs) to the loyalty program are given simultaneously, that is both accounts grow at the same time. 1 RP is given for each raked hand with a rake hand with a rake of $0.50 or more. 4 RPs are given for each dollar in fees to STTs and MTTs. Absolute Poker has a VIP program too. One of the benefits of the VIP program is that the RPs are collected three times as fast. The points in the loyalty program can be used to enter special tournaments or to buy merchandise in the AP store (books, clothes and some electronics). The friend referral scheme is on par with the rest of the industry. There is a ‘Win Your Tuition’ challenge and other sporadic promotions.
Where Absolute Poker truly distinguishes them selves is with their reload bonuses. A number of times a week there are 20% to 30%, up to several hundreds of dollars, reload bonuses. In conjunction with holidays the loyalty promotions are often spiked a little bit more. All in all you do not have to work to hard to constantly have some bonus to play for.
The rake at Absolute Poker is on average with the industry standard. In fact Absolute Poker’s rake schedule is pretty much the prototype of the standard way to collect the rake. There is the mandatory “No flop – No drop” policy. The average rake is 3 – 5%. The intervals at which rake is taken are tighter for smaller than larger games, in the same way that the caps are lower for smaller games. No limit and pot limit games collect the rake the same way regardless of games size with 5 cent per dollar and caps according to the number of players. There is only one single outlier in that the maximum rake is not $3 but $5 for fixed limit games above $75/$150. The fees to multi table tournaments are primarily collected as 9% of the buy-in (instead of say $10 + $1) which is slightly beneficial for the Absolute Poker players.
Absolute Poker has always maintained their serious approach. There has not been any recorded problem and their financial security is good. Their website and their poker client have a well developed and instructive help center. Personal help is however only attainable through e-mail. Response time and quality in the answers are good. The cash out speed is less attractive at least for larger withdrawals which are scrutinized harder. The number of deposit options is good. Withdrawals back to a credit are not possible, while regular or express checks are.
