Absolute Poker Review

Absolute Poker Review

Player Traffic

- 10,000+ during peak hours. Plenty of players.

Tournaments

- Tons of freerolls, multi-table SnG's

Game Variety

- covers basics. No exotic games offered.

Bonuses

- more bonuses than you can shake a stick at.

New Player Protection

- nano-limits available in most every game.

Player Rewards

- unmatched player rewards team.

Overall

- I'm a regular here for a reason, 4.5 out of 5 stars

Absolute uses their own software, but the license it out to other rooms as well. You'll find Goal Poker, Vegas Poker 24/7, and several other rooms using the same software.

Session:

I've played at Absolute often, and this review isn't really based on a single trip to the poker room. I've spent time playing in their tournaments, sitting at the holdem cash game tables, playing heads up, and watching the high limit tables with their house pro, Mark Seif, taking on all comers.

The bonus money at Absolute is released in increments of $10, at the rate of a dime for every raked hand played. In order to qualify as a raked hand, the house must take out $.50 in rake. This generally occurs when the pot grows to be $10.

Review Date: - Thursday - January 5th, 2006

Room Tips:
- The "R" in the upper left hand corner of the room window is a replay button. Use that to watch a replay of the hand that just completed.

In the upper right are a set of numbers that will open the hand histories of the hands that have taken place at that table. Use them to review the action in case you missed, or want to re-live anything.

Game Selection:

Absolute runs 9-man tables as their large table, and also offers 6-man tables for their smaller table size. They do provide 1-on-1 play as well.

Texas Holdem:
The fixed limit games range from nano-limit $.02/$04 games up to the $150/$300 big money games. Along the way you'll find the familiar $1/$2, $3/6. etc.

The pot limit and no limit tables are named after the blinds used at the table, instead of the max buy-in with games ranging from ten cents to ten dollars.

There are unlimited fun tables, so you'll never get shut out of a fun game. There are limit, pot, and no limit fun tables dealing holdem.

Omaha Hi:
On the Omaha poker front, you can find limit and pot limit tables. The stakes range from $25/$50 at the top end down to $.02/$.04 on the low end. The Omaha tables are not densely populated, so there is a chance you'll be left looking for a game at any level. And there is definitely a chance you'll not be able to find one at your chosen level.

The fun Omaha Hi tables also include a no limit game.

Omaha 8 or Better:
Omaha Hi/Lo is more popular, with action taking place at several different stakes. For Hi/Lo, there is a No Limit table in the real money play section of the room as well.

7 Stud and 7 Stud Hi-Lo:
These games are dealt in limit betting only, and the limits offered run from $.10/$.25 to $25/$50 for high Stud, and the same for hi-lo. There is steady action at the tables, but not at all limits.

Fun Play Tables:
Absolute is dedicated to all their players, and as a result you can expect unlimited tables in the "play money" section of the room. They also have the Hall of Fame set up for players that excel at the play money tables.

Tournaments:

Tournament poker is popular and Absolute offers a wide varitey of tournaments. They have several versions of the Sit and Go tournament, including multi-table SnG's and heads-up tourneys as well.

The buy-ins for a SnG at Absolute range from $1,000 to $.60.

For a listing of the rooms regular tournament schedule, use the tournament finder. You can also sort through the results to find only the ones you want. Search for only 7 Stud tournaments, for example.

The scheduled multi-table tournaments include freerolls that start every 30 minutes. They also consistently run satellites to upcoming World Poker Tour and World Series fo Poker events.

The room also offers guaranteed money tournaments, where the prize pool is set at a minimum of $25k or even $100,000.

Absolute is one of the few places that offers private tournaments to their players. This option is reserved for regular players at the room.

Players Rewards:

This is where Absolute Poker shines. Their player rewards and bonusing system is the most generous in the industry. New players can expect a generous welcome bonus, and regular players receive bonus offers weekly, sometimes several each week worth thousands of dollars each month. At a rate of $.10 per raked hand, the bonuses are honestly more generous than most other affers online.

There is a players comp points system in place, and those points can be used to buy into special tournaments, redeemed for merchandise, and from time to time redeemed for cash.

The room also has a VIP program in place, where each player actually has an account manager who maintains contact with the player and makes offers tailored to that player. For instance, tournament vouchers are offered as thank you gifts to the tournament players.

Simply put, the quailty of the player rewards at Absolute is unmatched by any other poker room I know of.