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March 12th, 2010 |
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March 12th, 2010 |
Poker Room Review:
Perhaps Ladbrokes Poker always was destined for success as the first leading European sports book to enter the poker market. The card room does not take US players for legal reasons. Even without this huge market they have managed to become a big player. Big sponsor deals and other activities have drawn a lot of attention and made them one of the leaders in European poker. This creates different peak hours than most rooms. Ladbrokes Poker becomes a good choice for anyone who wants a European focused room and can settle for average promotions and limited game variety. The deviating peak hours and good big bet Holdem games distinguishes Ladbrokes Poker. Ladbrokes is for those who seek good pot- and no limit Hold’em games and an accompanying sports book.
The players at Ladbrokes share a special liking to pot- and no limit games. The games offered are the standard five, take away Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo and add Five-Card Stud. More stud games are dealt than Omaha. The limits range between $0.15/$0.30 up to $300/$600 for fixed limit and for pot- and no limit $0.10/$0.20 up to $50/$100. This time, the availability of higher limits also means games played at the higher limits. The volume of high stakes no limit Hold'em is excellent. A good number of the games are played short handed. Ladbrokes offers the odd variant no limit Seven-Card Stud. Poker purists can rejoice in the fact that while most variants are played infrequently, pot- and no limit Seven-Card games are virtually non-existent. The players do have taste.
The only thing that beats the Ladbrokes players hunger for no limit Hold’em cash games are no limit Hold’em tournaments. Guaranteed tournaments with leader boards and satellites to WSOP, WPT and EPT are complemented by own big events. They naturally facilitate the competition for buy-ins in big live Ladbrokes tournaments. Their biggest event ‘Poker Million’ where the $1,000,000 referred to the first prize and is now called so because they add $1,000,000 to the prize pool! Ladbrokes also run LEOCOP which is a kind of Internet European Championship where Omaha variations are added to the Hold’em main theme. The tournament experience is also spiked with special events with non-monetary prizes. Such prizes can be golf and football packages or a stock in their own racehorse ‘Laddies Poker’.
There are different opinions about the quality of the software. It is a stand-alone version of Microgaming's software to the Prima Poker Network. Not many players are enthusiastic about the quality. However those who are happy with it feel that the biggest critics are critical simply because they have confused complicated graphics with good software. The software does not greet the player with an advanced design but the functionality is decent. As long as the lobby is slow to update table information and as long as disconnections are more frequent than occasionally the software is nonetheless far from the industry leaders. Only passable functionality is no outweighed by: tables in three different sizes, hand histories by web, with email or directly to the hard drive, good statistics, adequate buttons and chat options.
Table (click to enlarge)
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Lobby (click to enlarge)
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That Ladbrokes is not part of a network has created a particular player base. Concerning the toughness of the games, a direct translation of high viewed flop percentages and easy to beat games should not be made. Although a large part of the clientele comes from sports betting and has an inherent "lets gamble" attitude, viewed flops are followed up by better play here than in most rooms with the same viewed flop percentage. Even so, the wild games are out there and the viewed flop percentage is accompanied with high pot averages. The games are not as soft as they were a year back but they are still good.
The signup bonus is good enough. A purchase of $400 is needed to maximize the bonus. The requirement for receiving the bonus is to claim it by a push of a button when depositing and then to play 500 raked hands. A raked hand is at Ladbrokes defined as when: you bet into a pot and the house rakes the pot or you buy into a tournament and pay an entry fee. There are no requirements regarding the size of blinds, how much the pot is raked or how large the fee. After the 500 raked hands the 25% bonus is paid out but is not withdrawable yet. For this promotion, the bonus amount must be re-staked at least once after release and prior to withdrawal. This can be done in ring games and tournaments alike. With the maximum bonus this equates to betting $100, this amount has to pushed into the center of the table or put on stake at tournaments. This last step is for most players easy to fulfill in one or two sessions.
The rules are unnecessarily complicated and beneath the formulations, the bonus is moderately difficult to clear. The bonus becomes easier to clear at short-handed tables. The definition of raked hands also makes the bonus relatively easier to clear for low limit players. To this bonus an extra $50 can be claimed by filling your player profile. A bonus with nice touch as it contributes to the nice atmosphere of the room.
Otherwise the promotions are foremost dedicated to special events with preponderance to the UK market. Guaranteed money tournaments and celebrity participation are part of the line up. The much appreciated practice with extraordinary prizes is described in the tournament section as this is where the focus in the promotions is.
There is a different rake system at Ladbrokes poker than at other poker rooms. The difference is that there is no difference between FL and PL or NL games. The rake is taken as 5% of the pot size in different intervals with a maximum cap of $3. The intervals with blinds of $1/$2 and below are $1 and the intervals are $5 for larger blinds. Fewer players mean lower caps, $1 or $2. The use of the same intervals makes it worse for fixed limit players who play medium sized or larger games. This kind of sized intervals is not usual for no limit games though and it works out in the favour of the players. Tournament fees are standard. The fee becomes 20 percent for $5 buy-ins, as in $5+$1, and 10 percent for larger buy-ins, as in $10+$1 or $20+$2.
Considering the financial and knowledgeable backing the poker room has, the security is undebatable. The Ladbrokes Group is a UK based gambling company which was established in 1886. It owns over 2000 betting shops around the UK and is a market leader for online gambling too. With the experience comes good support. It is fast and there is help via the phone in the daytime. The phone help is not always very knowledgeable in poker question though. To this there is a chat and 24/7 email support.
The betting currency is US dollars, but handling most other currencies is not a problem as they handle exchange rates quite nicely. Depositing and cashing out is a two step process. When you deposit the money is first put into your Ladbrokes (or Sportsbook) account and from there it is transferred to the Poker account. Cashing out using a credit card is a good option at Ladbrokes. The full amount (and not only what was originally deposited as is the policy of most other poker rooms) is transferred to you credit card within a couple of days.
