Score

8.0/10

Software
Promotions
Tournaments
Traffic
Bonuses
Fish
Customer Support

7.5/10
7.5/10
8/10
9/10
9/10
7/10
8/10

Network:
Cash Players:
(22/07/08)

iPoker

5200

Ring Stakes:
NLHE: 1c/2c-$100/$200
LHE: 2c/4c-$100/$200
SNG: 10c+2c-$1000+$50

Bonus Code: N/A

Hold Em
Omaha
Stud
Razz
Horse

Player Search
Multi Tabling
Resizeable Windows
Hand History Text
Hand History Graphic
Heads Up Cash
Heads Up SNG
Mac Compatible

Method

Deposit

Withdraw

Other Methods
Entropay, myCitadel, INSTADEBIT, WebMoney, ClickandBuy, PaySafeCard, Ukash, EcoCard, UseMyBank.

Minimum Deposit: US$20

Overview

8.0/10

Bet365 is one of the leading brands for the i-Poker network and has a strong history in online sports betting. In recent times we have seen them move into the online casino and poker market. They have a great advantage over a lot of the other brands on the i-Poker network because you can use your money to bet or play in any of their different sectors, from poker, to live sports to their online casino. This is a major drawing point for poker players that also like to have a punt. From the poker side of things, they offer smooth software, the third largest amount of traffic and one of the best bonuses in the industry. The bonus is one of the easiest to unlock in online poker and it offers great value to new players.

One of the possible drawbacks of Bet365 poker is that if you don’t like the i-Poker software, you aren’t likely to like this software. Although it is smooth software, it is the same as the other clients of i-Poker. The only thing that changes with the software is the colour scheme. The colour scheme here works really well, and is easy on the eyes which is always good.

Overall, Bet365 offers great value for money on initial sign up and they provide more than the others on the i-Poker network. They have not been in the poker industry for a very long time, so you will only see things improve from here. However, they are already making all the right steps for the players. This is my favourite room on the i-Poker network.

Software

7.5/10

The software at Bet365 allows you to play 8 tables at once for the serious multi-table player, which allows you to unlock your Bet365 bonus quicker. The full ring games have 10 players, which is a plus, a lot of poker sites these days only have 9. Having a 10th player can make all the difference if that extra player is one more fish to take money from. For players from live casinos, they will be more familiar with having 10 players as well.

The interface that the software provides is possibly the easiest to navigate in the industry. A simple left hand navigation bar, that we are all accustomed to, along with the information in the centre. Click on tournaments, SNGs or cash games on the left, and all the information will be displayed in the middle.

The colour scheme at Bet365, as I mentioned earlier, is clean and smooth. The colours blend nicely and you can play for long sessions without any strain on the eyes. Green and grey are two of my most disliked colours, but they have done a nice job and the finished product is impressive.

One of the things I don’t like about the software is the clock that pops up when it is your turn to act. I find this distracting and unnecessary. I would like to see this removed along with more time allocated for each move. When you multi table, you may have a little bit of difficulty with the time for each move, but I haven’t heard many complaints about this.

The silhouettes that Bet365 use don’t really match the poker software. If you aren’t using any tracker software, it is hard to keep track of players with the silhouettes there. If you are playing more than a couple of tables at once, it makes it especially difficult. The implementation of avatars would serve this room greatly and would be a nice addition to the software.

I think that the software at Bet365 is the nicest on the i-Poker network. The colours fit in nicely and it serves its functionality purposes well. They still can improve the things I mentioned, but overall the software has a nice feel and slick look.

Promotions

7.5/10

Bet365 Poker offers some great promotions for its players. They aren't unique and exciting, but they do provide great value for players. You won’t have a shortage of choice when you play at Bet365.

The promotions that Bet365 are currently running aren’t exceptional, but they do provide a great amount of value for players.

Listed below are all the details of the promotions that they are currently running:

$500,000 Summer Cash Dash: over 8 weeks throughout July and August Bet365 are offering players who play in any raked hand of poker automatic entry into the race. Players can be a part of numerous leader boards and a share of $500,000 is up for grabs to players with the most raked hands. Simply play in cash games of .50/1.00 blinds or bigger. The 15 top players in the race will furthermore receive free entry to the $2.5 mil GTD tournament in September.
At the same time have a go at accumulating 1000 Merit Points in a week and you will be automatically entered into a $1000 freeroll.
Also running at this time is the $2,500,000 Most Valuable Players (MVP) Bonus. At the end of the qualifying period the 15 players with the most MVP raked hands will each receive entry to the $2,500,000 GTD Tourney on September 8, at 4am AEST.
Jackpot SNGs – The way these work is that you pay an extra fee in the buy-in which goes towards winning the jackpot. Jackpots range from $2000 to $60,000 depending on the initial buy-in. You have to win between 4-6 SNGs in a row to win the jackpot, depending on the buy-in.

All of the details of these promotions can be found at Bet365. You will also find all of the terms and conditions for the promotions previously mentioned.

Tournaments

8/10

Bet365 offer over 2.5 million USD in guaranteed tournaments every week. You will find that there are a lot of tournaments with small guarantees included. A lot of the tournaments have a $5.50 - $22 buy-in and have $500-$3000 in guaranteed prize money. Their tournaments run regularly because of their high amounts of traffic so you won’t have a problem with finding one that suits you. To get the full schedule of tournaments in prime time for Aussies go here.

The biggest tournament that they run is at 5am AEST on Monday mornings. This has a $215 USD buy-in and is a solid tournament with $250k Gtd.

Here is a round up of the best tournaments that Bet365 are currently offering players:

$2,500,000 Guaranteed Heads-Up Knockout: satellites, including re-buys, freezeouts, sit & gos are available from the 12th of June.
$2,000,000 Guaranteed Stage 1 Satellite R/A $160+$12. Mondays at 2am AEST
$250,000 Guaranteed Freezout $200+$15. Mondays at 4am AEST
$250,000 Guaranteed $200+$15. Mondays at 5am AEST
$150,000 Guaranteed + R/A $50+$5. Fridays at 6am AEST
$50,000 Guaranteed Freezout $100+$9. Sundays at 5.30am AEST
$50,000 Guaranteed $100+$9. Sundays at 5.30am AEST
$50,000 Guaranteed High Roller Monday $500+$30. Tuesdays at 6.45am AEST
$30,000 Guaranteed + Rebuys $200+$15. Thursdays & Fridays at 5.30am AEST
$30,000 Guaranteed Double Stack Freezeout $300+$20. Saturdays at 5.30am AEST
$25,000 Guaranteed + Rebuys $200+$15. Thursdays& Fridays at 6.45am AEST
$20,000 Guaranteed Double Stack Freezeout $300+$20. Wednesdays &Saturdays at 6.45am AEST
$20,000 Guaranteed + Rebuys $30+$3. Daily at 7.15am AEST
$15,000 Guaranteed + Rebuys $200+$15. Tuesdays at 7.15am AEST
$15,000 Guaranteed Double Stack Freezeout $300+$20. Wednesdays & Saturdays at 7.15am AEST
$12,500 Guaranteed Double Stack Freezeout $100+$9. Tuesday to Friday at 7.15am AEST

Traffic

9/10

The traffic that Bet365 has is the 3rd largest in online poker. You will find that there is over 5000 cash game players on average, and you will never struggle to find a cash game at your limit. Out of all the networks with multiple poker rooms on them, i-Poker has the largest amount of traffic. This makes for an entertaining experience with plenty of choice.

There are a large amount of players at the lower limits, but there are still plenty at the higher limits. A large portion of the traffic though is centred around the 25c/50c - $1-$2 blinds as a lot of rooms these days are. Overall, the traffic is solid and definitely nothing to worry about.

Bonuses

9/10

Bet365 offer one of the best bonuses available in online poker and possibly the easiest to unlock. Now Bet365 are giving away even more when you play at the tables. If you download from one of the links above or Bet365 your bonus will automatically be credited to your account. The original bonus offers a generous 200% up to $600 for the first deposit. But now for every 1000 merit points you earn on the tables, you will recieve an extra $10 into your account. So while accumulating points to unlock your deposit bonus, you're on your way to earning more and more.

This is a better than the average for the online poker market, but what makes it stand out from the rest is its rate of unlocking the bonus. You will receive your bonus almost 2 times faster than on any other i-Poker skin. You can’t ask for much more than these two things together if you are chasing a nice first deposit bonus. This is one of my favourite bonuses, if not my favourite. I would recommend this bonus to anyone looking to earn some extra residual income from poker.

Bet365 also offers a VIP program where at the highest level you receive monthly cash bonuses and faster accumulation of Merit Points. This is pretty standard amongst most poker rooms and Bet365 don’t offer anything new in this regard. Although it is nice to have a VIP program, nothing unique or exciting presents itself here.

Fish

7/10

The quality of play at Bet365 is of an average quality. At the lower limits you will of course find more fish. At the higher limits the players will definitely be harder to play against and you will run into more sharks. If you are looking for somewhere swimming with fish, you won’t find it here, but you will find enough of them.

At every table you play at there will be a distinct mix of abilities. There will be strong, weak, tight, loose and standard players. It makes for an entertaining game because the play is dynamic and you can notice the differences in ability. Make sure you take your time when choosing your tables, because table selection can make a huge difference at a room like this. If you aren’t happy with your room then leave quickly until you find one that are happy with.

The same has to be said for the fish level in the tournaments as well. I would say that overall though, the players are better in the tournaments than they are in the cash games. That’s not to say they are strong, they are just of a slightly better quality.

Customer Support

8/10

Bet365 offers all forms of live support currently available to any online poker player, including, email, telephone and chat. The email responses are handled in a timely fashion and have been quite helpful. In the dealings that I have had with them through email, they seem to have their response process in order and it works quite efficiently.

The live chat is the feature that I use the most. If I ever have any questions regarding my account I can quickly get on there and they will answer questions rather quickly, depending on the time you ask. The last time I had queries, my questions were answered within 10 minutes. In peak times though, you may have to wait up to 15 minutes or so. You can also run into a bit of trouble if you have a tricky question. They try to help you out the best they can, but they may need time to find your answer so take that into consideration. When they are busy and have trouble finding an answer it can be frustrating, however, on most occasions you won't have a problem with this.

Overall though, the customer service at Bet365 is above industry standard and one that you will enjoy using.

Bet365 news and update on their best promotions | pokershark said,

November 26, 2008 @ 3:21 pm

[...] Bet365 poker have announced that they are currently running the largest rake race currently available on the internet. The rake race is i-Poker wide so you can enter from online poker sites like Titan Poker. The difference is Bet365 are going to more than double the prizes available in the rake race, setting them apart from the rest of the rooms on the network. Bet365 are offering 500k in prizes during the race. [...]