Summary of Poker Room

The Betfair Poker room offers a good combination of visually-appealing graphics and engaging game play. Within seconds of downloading, registering and installing you can be at a suitable poker table and engrossed in the action. Chat windows are more of a main feature in this application than in others, which provides for more contact between players, and can make for more multi-layered gaming interaction. Played in basic 3-D, avatars and backing visuals are highly detailed. This does not in any way take away from game play, however, which remains very fast. Hands take no more than 2-3 minutes, even at a table of 10 players. The lobby is perhaps slightly dominated by the BetFair advertising campaigns and less aesthetically appealing than game play itself, but tabs are clearly marked and navigation is easy enough.

Promotions and Bonus Information

BetFair Poker offers the traditional sign-up bonus, but in their case the offer is more generous than most at $2500. Don't think you'll be entering your bonus code and have $2500 fly straight into your account though, you have to earn it, along with your poker stripes through playing at real-money tables for BetFair's Player Points. You have a time-limit of 60 days in which to hit as many of the bonus targets as you can, with each target met being awarded with a small bonus instalment. New real-money players are also given a complimentary ticket to Betfair's Weekly $2500 Welcome Freeroll, which runs every Thursday at 19:15 GMT. BetFair also run an Introduce a Friend scheme. This can be done via e-mail, twitter or face to face, as long as your friend enters the unique referral code you send them. Once your friend has earned 500 BetFair points, both of you will be accredited with $50.

Poker Traffic

BetFair poker has a large collection of playable tables, but holding off for your preferred buy-in or blinds price may involve a few minutes of poker downtime. This is particularly true if you wish to gamble for minimal amount of money or if you are wishing to engage only in freeplay. This is helped by a fast-table finder, but there is always the threat of being landed at a table of players with far more money than you. If you're on a budget, hand-picking your tables is always advisable.

Software and Graphics

The software itself creates a highly appealing 'flow' to table play which many other online rooms can end up lacking. Movement of chips and cards across the table is smooth, but it is in the finer details which BetFair scores the most points. Charming features such as each player's green-numbered bankroll revolving upwards or downwards as they bet, win or lose and the name of your current best-hand appearing on-screen mean that players, particularly beginners, will find themselves far less intimidated than in other online rooms. BetFair's real x-factor lies in the fact that they have managed to compile a fairly basic poker program which still maintains a level of colourful visual appeal, as well as being immensely enjoyable to play. Crashes and lags are virtually non-existent, and the window itself is re-sizeable with a 'minimalist' option. This means that other programs can run without any interference, and developers at BetFair have helpfully chosen not to include that annoying feature whereby the program leaps back up like an annoying dog whenever you try and put it down on the desktop. Despite the slightly sinister aspect of no obvious dealer at the table, graphics hit that happy medium of transporting the viewer to another location without overpowering and dominating game play.

Game Variety

BetFair offers cash games, sit & go tournaments, scheduled tournaments and trial ('play money') mode. There are also options to play No-Limit Texas Hold'em, Pot-Limit and Fixed Limit Hold'em games, along with similar choices for Omaha, 7-card Stud, and 5 Card Draw. BetFair also provides links to their Blackjack and Sports Betting options in the Lobby.

Tournaments and Free rolls

Tournaments at BetFair range from free-entry $50 Freerolls to buy-ins of $5000. Although they have Trial Games which can be played for free, the entire BetFair setup does seem more geared towards the serious cash player. Notable Tournaments include the $40,000 Guaranteed Highroller ($500+25), the $50,000 Guaranteed Euro Grand Prix ($150=12), the $18,000 Guaranteed European Re-buy ($20+2) and the $15,000 Guaranteed Night Rehab ($10+1).