UB Software

UB isn’t the nicest looking poker room and many players mention that the design is a bit dull, but there is a reasoning behind the design. In order to offer players the best gaming experience UB keeps graphics out of their poker room so that the loading times are as quick as possible. If you’ve ever played in a 3D poker room then you’ll know that they’re extremely slow and it’s fairly common to be waiting for players to make their move due to lag from the excessive graphics. Another great feature of the UB software is that the dealers deal out the cards faster then in other poker rooms, which means you’ll get to play more hands per hour.

UB High Stakes Poker

Years ago UB was the poker room to play on if you were looking for high stakes action. PokerStars and Full Tilt now have most of the high stakes action, but UB was the #1 high stakes poker room a while ago. Players such as Taylor Caby and Prahlad Friedman use to always play on the $25/$50 tables and hundreds of poker players would watch the matches from the sidelines. Many people fell in love with UB Poker while watching the high stakes action and have always stayed loyal to the poker room.

Community

While there are always new players entering the UB Poker room there are tons of players that have been with the site for years and it’s one of the few poker rooms where you’ll feel a sense of community. UB Poker is a very friendly place to play poker and they even have an UltimateBuddy system where players can add each other and share notes plus a whole lot more. I’ve played with tons of poker rooms including the big ones and you don’t feel like you’re apart of a community with any of them and in most cases the players I’ve met in the big poker rooms were unfriendly.

UB Poker has thousands of players that play every week in the poker room including some very big tournaments. If you want to feel more like you’re apart of a community while playing online poker you should join UB and see what all the rage if about. We have a great 111% bonus for $1100 when you sign-up and make your first deposit using our bonus code.

Prahlad Friedman

Mahatma is Prahlad Friedman’s user name at UB and he’s easily the most well known player that’s every played at UB. Mahatma was one of the major players affected by the super user scandal a few years ago and now he’s back at UB as one of the sponsored poker pros. Mahatma built up his poker bankroll into the millions at UB by constantly grinding the cash game tables. It wasn’t a surprise a few years ago to see Mahatma multi-tabling the $25/$50+ poker games at UB Poker. With millions in winnings and more to come now that he’s back at UB, there is no question that he’s one of the biggest if not biggest winners ever at UB Poker.

Taylor Caby

Taylor Caby is very well known at UB Poker because he was apart of the earliest high stake cash games at UB. He would always be online at UB multi-tabling the $25/$50+ games with the likes of Prahlad Friedman. Caby has done well online for himself and is now one of the owners of CardRunners, which is the most successful poker training site on the internet. Taylor Caby has moved on from his days at UB Poker, but nobody will forget his aggressive style at the high limit tables. Caby is now a sponsored pro at Full Tilt so he doesn’t play at UB Poker anymore.

Joe Sebok

Joe Sebok is one of the sponsored poker pros at UB Poker and there is no doubt that he’s one of the biggest winners UB has. Sebok has won roughly $2 million playing poker in his career and owns one of the most popular poker media sites. Sebok is always online nowadays playing poker at UB and there are lots of opportunities to play against him in tournaments. Not only will you have the chance to play against Sebok, but you’ll also earn an extra cash prize for knocking him out.

The high stakes action at UB Poker has been running steady for years now and there have been plenty of winners and losers at UB over the years. UB Poker is home to some of the biggest winners to this day and with millions exchanging hands on a daily basis, there is plenty of money out there for you to grab your piece of the pie. Start on your adventure to millions by taking advantage of the $1100 bonus that all new players can receive at UB Poker.

You may not think that the speed of deal matters that much and it may not matter if you only play online poker once in awhile, but if you play a lot of online poker then the speed of deal is extremely important. Every online poker grinder is always looking to play the most amount of hands they can per hour because more volume translates into more profit. Most online poker players don’t make that much per 100/hands, but when they add up all of the hands they play the small profit per 100/hands turns into a lot of money.

Even though the speed of deal is increased at UB Poker you can still play a ton of tables at once. You should always make sure that you’re comfortable playing on multiple tables before going to crazy, but the more tables you play the more profit you’ll be able to make in the long run. Poker is a game of variance so it’s important that you have the bankroll to allow for bad variance before you start multi-tabling.

With the accelerated speed of deal at UB Poker you’re going to have some negatives including the design of the poker room. Players will find that the UB Poker room is one of the most basic, but that allows for the software to run lag-free. There is no point having an accelerated deal if players are constantly freezing or lagging, which is why the graphics are minimal at UB. UB Poker is one of the best poker rooms for grinders looking to make some serious money.

UB Poker has a lot of traffic so there are poker games running constantly that you can join. I’ve played up to 10 $1/$2 NL Holdem tables at the same time without any lag in the UB Poker room. You’ll easily be able to put in lots of volume every month at UB and even if you break even you’ll make hundreds of dollars in bonuses and loyalty rewards from the UB Rai$e loyalty program.

A lot of the best online poker grinders already play at UB because of the speed of deal including several pros. With a lot of fish on the low limit tables the best poker players will be able to crush the tables with basic strategy. If rush poker at Full Tilt was a bit too quick for your playing style you may want to check out the regular poker games at UB, as they’re slower, but still a lot quicker then your average online poker room.

Welcome Bonus

UB Poker has a way bigger sign-up bonus for new players then Full Tilt Poker, so if you’re planning on making a big 1st deposit you’ll make more money from the UB bonus. 1st depositors at UB Poker receive a 111% bonus for up to $1100 whereas new players at Full Tilt Poker receive a 100% bonus for up to $600 only. Even if you don’t deposit more then $600 you’re still better off earning the UB bonus because they offer an extra 11% compared to Full Tilt Poker.

Traffic

UB Poker has been growing at a fast pace, but they still can’t compete with the traffic at Full Tilt Poker. On average there are roughly 17,000 real money poker players online at Full Tilt whereas UB Poker has an average of around 2500 players. Although the traffic is still not that comparable, it won’t affect most poker players unless you’re an MTT player.

Game Selection

The game selection at UB Poker is very similar to Full Tilt Poker. You can play Holdem, Omaha, 7-2 Holdem, 7 Card Stud, Razz, HORSE and HOSE. Full Tilt Poker has a slightly bigger selection of poker games including the new rush poker, but for the most part the poker games in both poker rooms are very comparable. You’ll find that Full Tilt also has higher limit action, but this doesn’t really matter since 99% of us won’t be playing on the $100/$200 tables anyways.

Pro Roster

Both poker sites have many of the best poker pros sponsored on their site although Full Tilt definitely has more pros. UB has been signing a lot of young poker players to their pro roster lately and if they keep signing young talent it won’t be long before they have a comparable list of pros to Full Tilt.

Software

Neither poker room use one of the big networks software to run their poker room, which is always a good sign. UB Poker is one of the few poker sites where you can play on any operating system including Linux, Windows and Mac. You also don’t need to download the software at UB if you don’t want too, whereas you need to download the software at Full Tilt Poker.

UB Poker isn’t in the same league as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars yet, but they’re close behind. Most players will have an amazing experience at UB Poker although some players might not. If you’re a low limit to medium limit cash game player you’ll love UB since there is tons of action and lots of free bonuses to keep your bankroll on the rise.

The UIGEA is a law that prevents banks and other financial institutions from processing payments to online gambling sites for people that live in the United States. The law doesn’t stop players in the USA from actually playing online poker although some states have been implementing their own legislation to make online poker illegal. You should always check your local and state laws before playing online poker to find out if it’s legal, but keep in mind that the UIGEA doesn’t stop you from playing online poker.

One of the problems that the UIGEA has caused for poker players is the fact that it’s harder to deposit money to certain poker sites and the fact that some poker sites can’t accept players from the USA. All of the poker sites that are traded on various stock exchanges around the world stopped accepting US players because the stockholders didn’t want to have to worry about any legal concerns in the future. Poker sites that cater to the US market nowadays are licensed and operated offshore including UB Poker.

UB Poker is one of the few poker rooms that still accept players from the United States and they have a great reputation compared to many of the other smaller US poker rooms. UB Poker also has a lot of great relationships with payment processors, which makes depositing money into your account from the USA as easy as can be. UB still processes deposits from credit cards and bank accounts from the United States although you may find that your credit card doesn’t work. Most credit cards will still work, but from time to time the credit card companies find a way to block transactions.

Over the past several years there have been some instances where UB has had trouble processing deposits for players in the USA, but currently all of the deposit options are working fine. The UIGEA affected a lot of poker rooms in the industry over the past few years, but it hasn’t affected UB that much. UB Poker is a great place to play online poker in 2011 if you live in the United States, but if online poker ever becomes regulated in the USA they may find it difficult to obtain a license since they haven’t shutdown their US operations like many poker sites have such as Party Poker and 888 Poker.

Initially when it was announced that the ownership was changing at UB, players were a little worried that there would be a lot of big changes to the poker room. Thankfully there haven’t been any changes to the gaming experience at UB other then improvements that have already been implemented by Blanca Games. When Blanca Games took over UB Poker and Absolute Poker they vowed to create a better gaming experience without changing the overall branding of the poker rooms.

Joe Sebok was one of the first players interviewed after UB’s recent change of ownership and he couldn’t have been any happier about the change. He was excited about Blanca Games taking over and ensured players of UB that everything would be staying the same other then some new features that have been scheduled to appear in the near future. Sebok also said that it’d allow UB Poker to continue moving forward from the scandal that took place years ago.

A lot of the people that were in important roles at UB during the scandal are now gone and poker players should feel a lot better about playing with UB Poker. There is no doubt that this is a new chapter at UB Poker and the rest of the Cereus Poker Network, which should turn out to be a success. The new owners at Blanca Games have already made some big changes to the UB Poker including the news that Hellmuth and Duke would be leaving the poker room.

Prahlad Friedman was also recently signed to a huge contract with UB Poker, which we talk about in detail in another article that you should read through if you have a few minutes. Friedman lost a lot of money due to the UB scandal years ago, but he’s decided that the new owners have the player’s best interest in mind and decided to sign on as a sponsored pro. Prahlad said he’d never join a poker site, which means that he must’ve really felt that Blanca Games is going to do big things in the poker industry in the future.

I like the fact that the move was to a company that already has experience in the online gaming industry. Blanca Games has a solid reputation in the gaming industry and players should feel even safer playing with UB Poker now. If you’ve never played with UB due to the scandals they’ve had in the past, now is the time to try them out. The new owners and new pros at UB Poker are a group of young energetic people that want to provide an unparalleled online poker experience for the masses.

New Ownership

Recently UB and the Cereus Poker Network were sold to new owners and the new owners have been making sure they offer a new and improved experience. Since changing ownership there has been an increase in promotions and a shake up of the UB Pro roster, which we’ve talked about in another article.

Unique Software

Most of the poker sites on the market today share the same software and are apart of the same network, which means you’ll often be playing on the same software even if you switch poker sites. UB Poker and Absolute Poker are the only two poker sites that share the same software. The software has tons of great features, but most importantly the software is extremely stable and offered to players using any operating system.

Massive Bonus

UB Poker rewards news players with a 111% bonus for up to a maximum of $1100 on the 1st deposit only. The bonus is easy to clear and credited to your account in $10 installments so you don’t need to wait until you earn the entire bonus before you start receiving money in your account. Most poker sites only offer a $500-$600 bonus, so if you’re looking for a massive poker bonus to clear UB Poker is one of your best options.

Young Pro Roster

Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke are no longer sponsored poker players at UB and there is now a nice group of younger poker players that have accomplished a ton in the poker world. Some of the most recognizable UB Pros include Prahlad Friedman, Joe Sebok, Brandon Cantu, Maria Ho, Tiffany Michelle and Adam Levy. Friedman just joined UB and is going to be the new face of the site I’m sure, as he’s one of the most deadliest cash game players you’ll ever play against. For those of you that watch Amazing Race in the USA you may remember Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, as they were both contestants on the show.

Large Player Base

UB Poker ranks in the top 10 in terms of player traffic on a daily basis and averages about 2100 cash games players online at any given time although you can expect the number to be closer to 3K+ during peak hours. With so many poker rooms out there nowadays with no player base it’s important to join a site that always has players online to keep the tables open.

For those of you that don’t know, Friedman played a lot of online poker at UB in the past, but stopped playing on the site when he became one of the biggest losers from the UB cheating scandal. UB Poker had their software compromised a few years ago and it allowed certain players the ability to see the hole cards of every player. After some poker players that felt something was amiss started doing research it became clear that certain hands were impossible to play out the way they did unless one of the players was able to see the other players hole cards.

Prahlad Friedman lost a lot of money during the scandal although a percentage of the losses were returned to Friedman from UB, as they were able to come to an agreement. After this whole mess transpired Friedman decided that he was never going to join a poker site as a sponsored player because nobody really knows what’s going on behind the scenes. When it was recently announced that Friedman would be joining UB Poker there were a lot of mixed feelings being communicated from other players in the poker community including some big name pros.

Daniel Negreanu was one of the players that spoke up saying that Friedman should never consider joining UB Poker because of the fact they stole a lot of money from him during the super user scandal. A lot of people also spoke out against Negreanu, as they didn’t like the fact that he said anything about it since it’s none of his business. It should also be noted that Negreanu is sponsored by PokerStars and receives millions from them every year, so he really doesn’t have any right talking out about Friedman joining UB.

Prahlad Friedman has mentioned that there were a lot of factors that he considered before joining UB Poker, but that it just feels like the right move at the time. UB has been going after a younger group of players and Friedman is a huge addition to the current UB Pro roster, which includes the likes of Joe Sebok. Prahlad has mentioned that some of his sponsorship money will be going to charity, which is another reason why he decided to take the sponsorship. Friedman has always helped charities when possible and I’m sure he’ll be able to do a lot more with charity now that he’s behind such a big brand.

Friedman is one of the best online poker cash game players in the world and has won millions from playing poker. UB Poker is headed in a new direction with a new group of owners and I really think they’ll be huge in the next few years.

Throughout December the poker forums were buzzing with rumours that Phil Hellmuth was leaving UB. Hellmuth had played in a new episode of Poker After Dark and played in a live NAPT event without any UB branding on his clothing. There was nothing to lead us to believe that Annie Duke would also be departing UB, but it definitely seems to be the right decision for everyone. UB has been hinting about going after a younger demographic of poker players for a little while now and with Hellmuth and Duke leaving the poker room they’ll now have the opportunity to make some big changes.

Annie Duke first talked about her departure from UB on her blog, which is where you can read her full thoughts on the matter. She mentioned that her departure is “bittersweet”, but that the move basically came down to business and more importantly personal growth. Duke is an extremely smart lady and the most recognizable woman in poker so I can’t imagine it taking very long before she starts exploring other business opportunities.

Phil Hellmuth made his first announcement about leaving UB shortly after Duke although Phil used a slightly more unconventional method of letting the world know. Hellmuth decided to “Tweet” about his departure from UB on Twitter, which is a social network where people can post small messages to the world from their computer or mobile device. Since you can only post a limited number of characters on Twitter there really wasn’t much reasoning behind why he left UB.

Hellmuth loves being in the spotlight and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he signs with a new poker room. A lot of people think he’ll join a new poker site as a sponsored pro, but people are split between where he’ll end up. Some people think Phil’s going to join PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker because they’re the two giants in the industry. On the other hand, some people think that he’s going to join a smaller poker site so that he can be the #1 brand ambassador like he was at UB.

It’s always sad to see poker pros leaving a poker room, but in this case it was necessary. Both poker pros needed a change of pace in their lives after almost 10 years with UB Poker and UB also needed a change. UB wants to go after the younger poker crowd now and in order to do that they needed to make a change.

UB was designed from the ground up with the player in mind, which is why there are so many varieties of games and custom options at each player’s disposal. In fact, a large portion of the website design was completed under the guidance of WSOP pros like Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Joe Sebok…why is why you see so many minor tweaks and benefits that the other casinos don’t have. This article will cover the variety of poker games you’ll find at Ultimate Bet, plus a few others that you probably didn’t even know about.

Texas Hold’em

- The true poker game of the pros
- Play progressive, pot, or no limit
- Stakes tables from .01/.02 to 100/200
- Variety of single table or multi-table tournament play

While the world’s most famous poker game may not need a formal introduction, you’ll be pleased to know that UB has more Texas Hold’em tournaments and stakes tables that all the other poker sites combined. In fact, there’s a sit and go tournament starting at almost every single minute of the day, with buy-in stakes ranging from 15 cents to one hundred dollars. The Club VIP’s that have reached the top levels of the RAI$E rewards program also play Texas Hold’em for even bigger stakes, with things like sponsored trips to play in a WSOP event or other great prizes up for grabs.

Seven Card Stud

- Historically the most popular poker game ever
- Play progressive, pot, or no limit
- Stakes tables from .01/.02 to 200/400
- Variety of single table or multi-table tournament play

Believe it or not, seven card stud it still one of the best poker games out there when you’re talking about skill. It’s fairly easy to read a shared flop in Hold’em, and when players sit down at UB they assume that it’s pretty much the exact same game. Skilled player know that there is a world of difference in calculating odds and reading opponents between the two games, so if you’re looking for where the majority of the fish hang out…stud is the game for you.

Omaha

- Many different formats to choose from
- Play progressive, pot, or no limit
- Stakes tables from .01/.02 to 100/200
- Variety of single table or multi-table tournament play

UB Tournament Pro Annie Duke won her first WSOP bracelet at an Omaha Hi/Lo tournament back in 2006, and if we can believe the best professional female poker player in the world then this is a game that will grow by leaps and bounds on UB. She claims to like Omaha the most out of any format because there is a whole different skill set involved when mastering the game, which makes it the best choice for players just starting out because they can dominate much sooner than at Texas Hold’em. The Ultimate Bet Omaha tables are nowhere near as populated as some of the other games, but you can always manage to hop in a tournament within a few minutes time. Note that our ub bonus code works for omaha games as well.

HORSE

- Relatively new poker game
- Play progressive, pot, or no limit
- Stakes tables from .01/.02 to 200/400
- Growing number single table or multi-table tournament play

Chances are that you’ve never even heard of HORSE, but it is one of the hottest games right now in the poker world and you probably already know how to play it. The rules are fairly simple; each time the button makes a full rotation around the table you’ll play a different version of poker. There’s five games total; Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Stud Hi/Lo. The beauty of this format at UB is that someone can be a seasoned expert at Omaha but a complete amateur at Stud or Razz, so it’s easy to dominate if you’re well rounded.

Blackjack Tournaments

- Single and Multi-Table tournaments
- Buy-ins from $1 and up
- Lightning Fast action

If you’re a blackjack fan that’s never played in an actual tournament, then at UB you’re in for a real treat. Start with a large chip stack, bet it however you want, and the person with the most profit at the end is declared the winner. These tourneys vary in stakes and overall lengths so there’s always a perfect table available.

Casino Games

- Video Poker - Blackjack -Craps
- Roulette - Baccarat

For a quick change of pace, UB also sponsors several casino style games for their players as well. Since these are not a large draw to their website, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you see that their overall odds of winning are very favorable to the player. In fact, their video poker games like Pai-Gow, Caribbean, and Oasis have some of the best odds that you’ll find anywhere. Blackjack can be played under the EU or US rule sets as well, so players from around the world can be comfortable betting on these familiar games.