Absolute Poker

Absolute Poker, also known as AP, is a member of the new CEREUS Network along with UltimateBet. The CEREUS Network is the third largest poker network in the world, being one of the only ones to accept American poker players. Absolute Poker is a good option for American players with a large variety of games and stakes, a solid deposit bonus, and great customer support.

American poker players should be excited about Absolute Poker's merge with the CEREUS Network. Even with legislation being passed to shut poker down in America, the CEREUS Network is committed to American online poker. Affiliation with poker pros, such as Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, strengthen their position in American online poker. This should ease any concerns on the subject. Several options remain for American poker players such as the CEREUS Network, PokerStars, and Full Tilt Poker.

Players who have not previously deposited at Absolute Poker should take full advantage of their 150% up to $500 initial deposit bonus. To make sure you receive the largest possible bonus, don't forget to use the Absolute poker referral code FTRAP when signing up. Along with the initial deposit bonus, players using this Absolute poker bonus code are eligible to play in twice monthly exclusive money-added tournaments totaling $500 in free money. Players must earn a certain number of Status Points to clear the bonus. Status Points are cleared by playing in real money ring games, tournaments, and/or sit & go's. The bonus is cleared in $5 increments for every 100 Status Points earned. You only have 60 days to earn as much of your bonus as possible so make sure you're ready to play some poker once you deposit.

The main lobby will come up after downloading and installing Absolute Poker. Navigation through AP's games is done at the main lobby. Cash game players can find action easily. Games range from microstakes to midstakes limit/NL Hold 'Em and Pot-Limit Omaha games. There are not many Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, and Razz games past the $1/$2 level. Recently, Absolute Poker introduced mixed game formats such as HORSE and HOSE but there are not many games running above $0.50/$1 blinds.

For tournament grinders, AP does have a nice selection of both scheduled events and SNGs. Sit & go's with buy-ins larger than $20 don't get much action while the others have a large player base. Absolute Poker offers different formats including 1-table, multi-table, and heads-up as well as different styles including Turbo, Ultra Turbo, and Deep Stack SNGs. Other sit & go's are offered (besides Texas Hold 'Em) but they do not get many players.

Players looking for high-stakes action should definitely click on the "Tourneys" tab. The weekly $100K Guaranteed is a $500+$30 buy-in tournament which typically pays around $40,000 to the winner. There are also decent amounts of smaller buy-in events which run daily such as the $1 buy-in $5,000 Guaranteed tourney and their Sniper series (bounty events). There are many Sniper events including the $3K, $4K, $30K, and $40K Guarantees suiting players of all skills and bankrolls.

Many changes have been made to the Absolute Poker software recently and it has risen to have one of the top software interfaces in the business. A player's favorite games can easily be found by using the tabs at the top of the Main Lobby screen. Absolute Poker also provides a filter which allows players to narrow the selection of games. Players can choose between three table layouts. All are very different from the rest.

Once at your table, you may adjust by clicking any edge and dragging your mouse to expand or reduce the size of your table. You may cascade, tile, or stack your tables with the click of a button. Quick resize buttons are available at the top-right of each table. Quick-play buttons are provided at all tables which allow players to choose their action before play has gone to them. These buttons speed up the games as well as help multi-tablers focus their attention on more important things. Finally, the table graphics are simple yet effective. There is no unnecessary motion and the games do move quite quickly allowing for 100+ hands per hour at their short-handed tables.