|
Site
Rating (7.1/10):
Launched
in 2003, Absolute Poker is one of the newer
online poker rooms. They have gained a
reputation as a solid site, offering excellent
signup bonuses and promotions. The Absolute
Poker site is well organized and thorough,
offering a wide variety of games and limits. The
software is equipped with all of the expected
features, including “find a player”, playing
statistics and hand histories. Absolute Poker
also offers a cool instant replay feature,
allowing players to play back their most recent
hands (in a separate window) and view the
showdowns. For whatever reason, Absolute
Poker decided to go with 9 players per table,
even in tournament play.
In 2004, Absolute Poker signed Mark Seif (2 WSOP
bracelets in 2005) as spokesman and ambassador
of the site. As part of this affiliation, each
week the player occupying the top spot of the
tournament leader board will play Seif in a
heads-up match, with $1,000 going to the winner.
Software
/ Graphics (6/10):
The Absolute Poker lobby and game graphics leave something to be desired. In fact, you might say its
a little ghetto. There are some distracting sound effects, and many players have complained that you cannot eliminate the “fun money” games from the lobby.
On the other hand, the interface is easy to navigate and fairly well organized. The cashier’s menu clearly shows tournament leader board points, reward points and the status of all pending bonuses. There is also the ability to take player notes, and a private tournament option, allowing players to compete online against 300 of their closest friends.
Players can
also upload their own avatars, which is not
available on every poker room.
Bonuses
/ Promotions (9/10):
Absolute Poker is
well known for their bonuses. For starters, they offer a sign-up bonus of 200% (up to $200) for every new player. They offer a dollar in bonus money for every 10 hands played, which is very good. There is a good refer-a-friend program, crediting the referrer with $50 and the friend with $25 once 100 real money raked hands have been played.
There
are frequent free rolls, weekly re-load bonuses
and bad-beat jackpots. Absolute Poker also
throws a bone to the play money high rollers. It
may take a few years, but they reward a $50 real
money bonus to anyone that accumulates over $50
million in play chips.
Player
Skill (8/10):
At
Absolute Poker you will find a pretty standard skill level. Average to bad play in the low-mid stakes games, and horrendous play in the micro-limit games. The lowest stake games are populated with fish, playing any two suited cards and chasing every gutshot down to the river. In these games,
65% to 70% of players typically see the flop, and there is money to be made by a solid player.
In the $1-$2 ad $2-$4 ring games, the play is still pretty bad but marginally tighter. In these games 30% of the players will view a flop, just about what one would expect. Again, a tight-aggressive playing style will yield nice profits.
Number
Of Players (6/10):
Absolute Poker has just over 4,000 real money players. During peak hours, tournament traffic will hover between 1,200 and 1,800 players. For ring games, player traffic is mostly concentrated in the low-limit games (anywhere from $.25-$.50 to $2-$4). There are typically 700-1,000 real money ring game players in peak hours, with over 90% of the action going on in the Hold’em section. A full table boasts 9 players, while shorthanded games accommodate 6. There is also heads-up play spread over a variety of limits.
Cashouts
/ Customer Support (6.5/10):
Presently,
there is no telephone or live support, a major
disadvantage. Email support offers assistance
within 24 hours or sometimes even longer, which
is a too long when you are having trouble with
your account. This is an area that needs
improvement.
Deposit options: VISA, MasterCard, NETeller,
CentralCoin, FirePay, Electronic Check, Wire
Transfer and Bank Draft.
Cash out options: Check, NETeller and FirePay.
Absolute
Poker Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Good Deposit Bonus, up to 200% for first
deposits
- Excellent bonuses and promotions
- WSOP and WPT qualifiers
- User-friendly software
- Wide range of tournaments, and good tournament
information
- Industry average rake
- Weekly re-load bonuses
- Tables load quickly, cards come out quickly,
players act quickly
- Heads up action
Cons:
-
Very limited high stakes games
- No Live or telephone support
- Mediocre graphics
- Limited player volume
- Large download, over 5MB
- 9 Players per table
- Larger tournaments are mostly re-buy and
add-on
Absolute
Poker Site Review Conclusion:
A fairly uninspired site. Absolute poker offers some really nice bonuses and promotions, but that’s about it. Once a player earns their bonus at Absolute, it is hard to imagine them staying and playing. There are just too many other, better sites out there. The traffic is there for the lower limit games, but high stakes players will be frustrated by this site. Absolute Poker could blow up or it could fade away. It all depends on how they address their many shortcomings.
|
