Betfair Poker - On its Own and Much Better

Betfair Poker

Accepting
US Players
No

Betfair Poker, run by huge betting operator Betfair, joined the Ongame Poker Network in 2010 and it's a move that's paid off in spades. The site now receives decent traffic, offers really soft games and very solid software. Betfair is a fantastic alternative to the standard poker site.
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Bonus Information

Deposit Bonus
$700
Bonus Match
100%
Referral bonuses
$40
Bonus Code
PLI700

More info about the bonuses

Quick Facts

  • Great tournament value
  • Soft games generally
  • Play instantly in browser
Visa, MasterCard, Neteller

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Screenshots & Gameplay

View Gameplay

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The Lobby Screenshot

The picture shows the poker lobby at the site. Click to view full-size version.

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Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Massive sign-up bonus
  • High-value promotions
  • Great leaderboard promotion

Cons

  • No US players
  • No Poker Tracker support

Betfair Poker Facts

Name
Betfair Poker
Website
www.betfairpoker.com
Download
Download now
Established
2001
Country
UK
Auditor
PWC
Software
Ongame
Players
5200
Software Size
7.5

Score

Poker Traffic
6
Software & Graphics
7
Bonus and Promotions
8
Game Variety
5
Soft Competition
8

Step by Step Instructions

  1. First click the download link and then hit save and follow the directions to get started right away.

  2. Follow the Betfair Setup guide.

  3. Once you've installed the software click the register as a new user link.

  4. Fill in your account information then make a deposit to claim your sign-up bonus. Good luck!

  5. Start Playing Poker

Full Review of Betfair Poker

Summary of Betfair Poker

Betfair is the world's largest sports exchange, offering excellent financial security and a trustworthy gambling platform with a license in the UK.

The poker room used to develop its own software but officially joined the Ongame Poker Network in 2010. It's a move that has benefited both Betfair and Ongame as the network's traffic has been steadily climbing since the move.

You can now play more than 15 simultaneous tables. Graphics are sharp and some often requested search functions have been added to the poker lobby.

Most of the players are European, since the site does not accept players from the U.S. because of UIGEA. The games at Betfair Poker are generally quite loose and soft - in other words lucrative.

Promotions and Bonus Information

Betfair offers a number of great promotions. Apart from the $700 sign-up bonus, there are plenty of other interesting offers as well.

The multi-table tournaments with guaranteed prize pools frequently present an outstanding value, and with over $2 million in monthly guarantees this is a pond you need to be fishing in.

As mentioned above, you can also qualify to several major land-based events, such as the WSOP, or the WSOPE.

Another great standing promotion is the leaderboard campaigns. Based on your play in your game of choice, you can win up to $3,000 extra with no strings attached whatsoever. Yours truly has made the leaderboard and a few extra hundreds on several occasions.

You clear your bonus dollars in chunks of $70 for each 700 Betfair Poker points that you earn.

At ring games, points are awarded based on the entire table rake as opposed to just your contribution of rake. You should make a mental note of how this makes it profitable to play a tight game and let your opponents spend money in pots that you don’t even take part in.

In tournaments, for every U.S. dollar you spend in tournament fees, you are awarded two Betfair Poker points.

Poker Traffic

As part of the Ongame Poker Network, Betfair Poker consistently ranks in the top five rooms in terms of traffic. That means there is virtually always a game running on the site.

At peak hours, the number of seated cash-game players can exceed 5000 (March 2010), which is nothing to scoff at. Most of the action takes place at the small to mid-stakes holdem tables, but there are usually a few high-stakes games to be found as well.

Sit-and-go's are densely populated at all levels, and the multi-table tournaments attract plenty of traffic - thanks to Betfair’s excellent promotions scheme.

Software & Graphics

Betfair's poker client is developed by the Ongame Poker Network and is one of the best sites on the network.

In the past Betfair's software was heavily criticized due to an overall lack of functionality and very limited multi-tabling capabilities. Since joining the Ongame Network it has been vastly improved.

All of the industry standard functions are present, such as table statistics and note-taking support. You can also re-size the poker tables independently, a strong feature that not all poker rooms offer.

Last but not least, thanks to the re-design you can now play more than 15 tables at once. The various table options make multi-tabling a breeze.

Game Variety

The Betfair poker client has built-in support for Texas Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Seven-Card Stud and several of the Hi-Lo versions as well.

We can say that most of the variants are well populated although the Stud games can be a bit sparse. Stakes range from true micro limits at 5c/10c to real high-stakes poker at $1000/$2000. In no-limit and pot-limit the highest stakes are $250/500.

The tournaments offered at Betfair Poker embrace lots of game varieties with buy-ins from $5.50 to high-stakes tourneys at $550 a seat. There are freerolls too, of course. And satellites to big events both online and live, such as the WSOP. And sit-and-gos, of course. With buy-ins from $2 to quasi-insane $10K (!) you should be able to find something in the sit-and-go lobby for your taste and wallet.

Although Betfair doesn't offer any unusual games, the poker room makes up for it with a really good selection within its frames, and there are lots of loose games that you’ll be able to profit nicely from.

More About

Betfair once had a large team of pros but has since scaled back to include only Englishman John Tabatabai.

The Londoner is a force in the U.K. and nearly won the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe but was narrowly beaten by Annette Obrestad.

He has been a natural fit for the primarily U.K.-based poker site.

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