Tuesday, November 17, 2009

UltimateBet and Absolute Poker get a software update

We offer rakeback deals on both sites with $24,000 in rake races and freerolls as well as $100 bankrolls.

 

 

My main computer is a Mac, as I mentioned the other day big changes and a casino were coming to UltimateBet and Absolute Poker.  Updates are not often news because they happen all the time.  This one was different because the last big update from the Cereus Network merged the two softwares (UltimateBet and Absolute Poker) and by at least my account neither was the better for it.  On my Mac things did not seem that different, the lobby was a big change and they re-skinned everything from the client to the tables though the gameplay was still a bit clunky.  In addition there was no casino.  So I decided to fire up my trusty (yet laggy) virtual machine and see if I noticed anything different.  There it was, the promised casino (for all I know it could have been there the whole time since I do not play on a PC) I played craps and for the most part things were about as I would have expected from an online casino, I actually booked a small winner too, so UB will be buying lunch today, assuming of course that I can find a lunch for under three dollars.

 

The Lobby

 

Both UltimateBet and Absolute Poker have been saddled with lobbies from the past, when they merged they went to a unified look and feel but it was still lacking.  This is the part of the update that is likely really big for usability of the site.  The different games offered are clearly laid out much better than they were previously.  For some reason they have antes in the Holdem games but not the Omaha games which is counter to the way most people play the games.  It is much more common to have antes in a Pot Limit Omaha game than Holdem.  Hopefully they will get this right eventually, it stands to reason that one of the people that actually play poker would mention this to them at some point.  With all that out of the way the lobby is a huge improvement.

 

The Gameplay

 

Rather than play the games on my virtual machine I moved to one of the remaining PC's in my house.  The gameplay was nice and smooth, definitely a big improvement over what I have been experiencing on my Mac.  This update did not seem to address that much in terms of gameplay but with a lot of people likely sniffing around both sites in the next few days I think people will want to see a bigger update in that regard in the near future (I certainly would like to see the Mac version act a little smoother).  As a comparison both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars have much better Mac clients than UltimateBet and Absolute Poker. I think the same could be said for the PC version but not as much so.  Initially I had full animation on, that was fine but once I took that off I enjoyed the gameplay a bit more.  It almost reminded me of the old super fast UB software that so many people loved at one point.

 

New Logo for UltimateBet and New Face

 

What can you say about logos really? They do not have a lot to work with so the new logo loses the old "poker chip" style and just focuses on the letters that everyone knows them from with a little exclamation mark on the upper right between the B.  Probably most noticeable at this point is how integrated Joe Sebok is in the client, clearly UltimateBet is trying to say this is a new day for our company and Joe Sebok is a big part of that change.  I doubt the hard core poker players will buy it but subtle changes like that do have a psychological impact on a lot of people.

 

Absolute Poker is sticking with their red diamond logo and it is pretty clear at this point that UltimateBet is pulling the wagon now.  

 

Online Pokers best third option at this point

 

The Cereus Network faced problems mostly of their own making.  Those issues were well documented on AlwaysBluff and can still be found on this site.  I make no apologies for promoting UltimateBet or Absolute Poker because I have done so while also pointing out there faults.  Simply put if you play at either site you already know the risks and you are comfortable with them.  As a professional poker player I play where I can make the most profit.  Over time I have made more money on UltimateBet than any other site and the second option really is far behind.  For the poker community at large though online poker is mostly a copy cat game, so when one company pushes the others that is a good thing.  Currently Full Tilt is the best big site that offers rakeback and PokerStars is the best big site period.  While many people are not happy about it UltimateBet and Absolute Poker combined are our best third option, without that competition I do not think you would see the innovation that all of us expect and hope for, so even if you can not stand the fact that the Cereus Network exists certainly some of the innovations they are bringing to the market are good for poker overall.

 

Tags: UltimateBet   poker   absolute   software   update  

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