UB Poker Review

ultimatebet, now known as UB, is the crown jewel of the new CEREUS Poker Network. Online home of poker legends Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, UltimateBet is home to a large number of players including those in the United States. UB has come under scrutiny in recent years for inadequate security and customer support but has promised to upgrade all aspects of their poker room since their merger with the CEREUS network.

Being affiliated with Hellmuth and Duke was quite useful when legislation driven to close US poker sites was passed in 2025. Having two of the most well-liked American poker players on their side surely swayed UltimateBet's choice to keep open doors to American poker players. This choice has served them quite well as their traffic has seen an increase recently along with their partner on CEREUS, Absolute Poker. American poker players have been lucky that sites like ultimatebet, Absolute, pokerstars, and Full Tilt Poker have stayed committed to American online poker.

The UltimateBet initial deposit bonus of 111% for up to $1,100 is one of the largest promotions found online today. By entering the UB bonus code FTR111 when signing up at ultimatebet, you will receive the maximum possible bonus in addition to entry into exclusive monthly freerolls and money-added tournaments. The $5 buy-in FTR5 is a money-added tournament with $300 added to the prize pool. This large a bonus comes with a few stipulations. In order to clear this bonus, players must take part in real money cash games, tourneys, and sit & go's. Generating rake in cash games and fees in tournaments/SNGs will earn Status Points that are needed to clear your bonus. For every 20 Status Points a player earns he/she will clear $1 of their bonus. The bonus is cleared in increments of $5 which means the full bonus amount need not be cleared to receive any money, simply earn 100 Status Points and your real money account will be credited with $5. This bonus is difficult to clear and players only have 60 days from the date of their initial deposit to do so.

Those playing at UB will first notice their wide variety of games and stakes. Ring game stakes start as low as $0.01/$0.02 blinds and go all the way up to $200/$400 with antes. Players can choose from Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, and HORSE. The micro, small, and midstakes games get plenty of action up to $5/$10 blinds. Those looking for even higher stakes games will most likely need to search somewhere else as the heads-up games are typically regulars waiting for weaker opponents.

UltimateBet's tournament schedule is flagshipped by the weekly $200,000 Guarantee which is played every Sunday. The $215 buy-in tournament typically fills the 1,000 players necessary to reach its guarantee. The UBOC (Ultimate Bet Online Poker Championship) is a huge series with several million-dollar prizes including the $1,000 buy-in Main Event. Grinders with less money will find many tournaments from as small as $0.25 to play throughout the day. UltimateBet's SNGs come in a wide selection of games, stakes, and formats. From a dime all the way up to $5,000, players of all levels are certainly covered. The more frequented games tend to be their heads-up format of all buy-in levels and 1-table SNGs from $5 to $20. UB also has Stud and Omaha sit & go's but neither gets a lot of traffic.

UltimateBet has been known for having the quickest software of all the poker sites. Recently they've upgraded their lobby and tables to make the games run much smoother. The lobby uses tabs at the top of the screen to assist players trying to navigate between games, stakes, and formats. Players seeking a more personal touch can utilize the lobby filter to narrow down your games/stakes even more. For a good amount of time players could not resize or "tile" tables; however, the latest UB download allows tables to be sized small enough to fit nine on a screen without any overlap. Also, UB is fully compatible with Mac computers.