Ultimate Bet (UB Poker) was closed after Black Friday.
For the best US poker site, check Carbon Poker. For the best non-US site, visit
Pokerstars.
UB Poker Review
Ultimate Bet Poker has been offering online poker games to the masses for more than a decade now. The poker site is a part of the Cereus network and shares it's player base with another well known poker site, Absolute Poker.
Recently, Ultimate Bet Poker began rebranding, changing its name from Ultimate Bet to a shorter edgier UB. The site and poker software is also rockin' a new design. The marketing team has unveiled new promotions and a new VIP club has been launched.
Decidedly cooler, and intentionally younger than the site's last incarnation, there's quite a few reasons why this new and improved online poker house makes the grade. Keep reading though, we might just share with you a few reasons it does not.
Promotions
UB Poker in partnership with Absolute Poker as a part of the Cereus family of poker rooms, features a virtual plethora of online poker promotions. These promo offers include guaranteed prize pool events, leader board competitions, and a VIP program.
Yearly, UB doles out a whopping $1,000,000 prize pool which is based on leader board performance. Like the site's redesign, UB's leader board tourneys have also been newly revamped - this time around, they reward all players no matter their level of buy-in. Players also win cash across a variety of terms, including weekly, monthly and / or yearly.
Other unique promotional offerings worth mentioning at UB include their new Royal Jackpot Pot Limit Omaha promotion. At qualifying tables, players that hold a royal flush gets the largest slice of an ever-growing jackpot. And EVERYONE else playing the game gets their share of the pool also. Talk about playin' nice with others.
Winning three Sit-N-Go tourneys in a single day will win players seats to a wide variety of freerolls.
Top five players who win the most satellites in UB's Sunday $200k guaranteed tournament receives tournament dollars. Ditto for winners of the UB's $80,000 guaranteed tourney.
UB Poker bonuses
First time depositors at UB are eligible to take advantage of a 111% deposit match bonus up to the maximum bonus amount of $1,100. Players can choose to deposit as little as $25, or as much as $1000.00. The thing to keep in mind here though is the only time UB is giving up 111% is during this deposit. So if you've got the cash to spare, this is a powerful opportunity when it comes to building a strong poker bankroll.
UB also offers a pretty cool ancillary bonus wherein players that manage to take down a poker pro (from a predetermined list of pros which includes Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke) that player gets a $215 bonus.
Claiming your UB Deposit Bonus
To qualify for a UB first deposit bonus the only thing you have to do is not already have a UB account. If you do not have a UB account, then follow the steps below to claim your first time deposit bonus:
- Visit the UB Website by clicking HERE
- Download the UB Poker Client
- Sign up for a new UB account
- Make your first Deposit at UB
Clearing UB Bonuses
Once you've followed the steps above and claimed your UB Poker Bonus, you'll have to play some poker before it's released into your UB bankroll. As you play poker, you'll automatically earn UB Status points. Every time you accumulate 20 status points, $1 of your bonus money cleared. Every time you earn a total of 100 Status points, $5 is actually moved from your virtual bonus account (which is just imaginary money you can not touch) into your actual UB bankroll.
There's a catch though. There's always a catch isn't there... You only have 60 days to clear the bonus. That's not that tough really, it can be done in a few hours at pretty low limits, however... whatever you don't clear in 60 days, you forfeit. Just to be clear you do not forfeit any of your real money, nothing you deposited, just the portion of the bonus money that UB matched your deposit with, if you don't clear it.
UB VIP Club and perks
RAI$E is UB's VIP system which is used as incentive to keep players playing on the site and earning points during promotions such as happy hour, where points are accrued at a faster rate than normal. Additionally, RAI$E is UB's way of rewarding players for remaining loyal to the poker site, keeping the tables full, and the games full of action.
The RAI$E Program is tiered program, in a nutshell, players earn and accumulate FAME points to climb up the VIP ladder. As the player climbs higher and higher, the player gets more and better rewards. Tier level is determined by the # of UB Status Points that are earned on a monthly basis.
Here's the tier level summary below, starting with MEMBER, the lowest rung on the RAI$E ladder and moving through to the highest ICON tier level:
- MEMBER Tier
Player's begin their journey in the RAI$E program as 'members'. As members of the program, a player benefits from free fund transferring across the site and a variety of freerolls.
- PLAYER Tier
The next tier on the VIP ladder at UB is the Player Tier. Benefits for members on the Player Tier include MEMBER perks, plus Ultimate Points tourneys, and the ability to shot at the Ultimate Shopping store with their Ultimate Points
- CONTENDER Tier
Once players reach the 3rd level of the program, they're on the Contender Tier of the ladder. Benefits offered here include MEMBER and PLAYER perks, plus $50 cash a month available to trade for Ultimate Points, and the ability to create private tournaments.
- LEGEND Tier
The 4th Tier of the UB Perks ladder is the Legend Tier. Members on this tier are offered all the perks of the previous tiers, in addition to private event qualifiers, $250 a month available in trade for their Ultimate Points, a free seat at UB's biweekly $5k VIP Invitational, in addition to a discount at the Ultimate Points store worth 10%.
- ICON Tier
It'd just plain be cool to be known as a poker Icon wouldn't it? The Benefits offered to a UB ICON include all the benefits available on the MEMBER tier, the PLAYER tier, CONTENDER and LEGEND tiers. Additionally, ICON's receive exclusive concierge services, $1000 a month cash for Ultimate Points, qualifiers to top live poker events, and 5% interest on the balance in players' accounts.
Active Games at UB Poker
Players can find a decent range of poker games at UB including Texas Hold 'em, Razz, Omaha, 7 Card Stud and H.O.R.S.E. (including the H.O.S.E. poker variation). The majority of the action is of course at the NL Holdem tables, however, there's action available in every variety. The best way to find weak action at UB is to add soft players to your "Ultimate Buddy", a tool offered by the site to locate players at tables. Using this tool, in conjunction with the notes tool WILL improve your overall ROI.
Major Events at UB. Weekly guaranteed tournaments at UB are plentiful; their showcase event is held Sunday's the game's a GTD with a $200,000GTD prize pool. $5.50 could get a player into this event via satellites.
Deposit methods
Deposits methods available at UB are one of the most plentiful out there. They include credit card, Ukash, CLICK2PAY, ClickandBuy, EcoCard, Fast Bank Transfer, Check By Mail, Paysafecard, Moneybookers, NETeller, EntroPay, Instantdebit, UseMyWallet and over a dozen more. USA poker players may find it difficult to find a working deposit or withdrawal method since the passing of the UIGEA. QuickTender when offered and prepaid credit cards have proven to be really successful. Without those methods, most players have the most success using eChecks.
Support
Support is somewhat limited at UB. Players can access the site's help section where most of their basic questions are addressed. As well, UB offers members an email / contact form option with a 48 hour guaranteed response time. UB is a multi-million dollar company that plays a big part in the financial arena of many pro poker players, as such, we look forward to learning of a 24 hour call center.
To recap, everything new at UB works. And it works well. Of special note are some of the exclusive concierge-type services given to top dogs in their VIP scheme, UB clearly only wants the ultimate for its players. This spot clearly delivers.
Enter UB bonus code SOMUCH and you will get a 111% bonus up to $1,100. Ultimate Bet offers this huge bonus as a token of gratitude only for new players. To convert the bonus into real cash, play real money hands and the bonus will progressively become cash that you can withdraw.
Download Ultimate Bet Software
|