Sportsbook Poker Review
Sportsbook.com has a new poker room called Play Aces on the Merge Gaming network after recently moving from the Cake Poker network. This name change gets a lot of people confused so the official name for Sportsbook Poker is: “Play Aces By Sportsbook.com”.
Play Aces by Sportsbook.com is a fantastic poker site, with great software, a great sign-up bonus and some of the best promotions out of any online poker site. Sportsbook Poker is also a great choice for players from the US and Canada, as Sportsbook Poker accepts players from these regions. The players on the site are typically very loose and very poor, meaning that the games are easy to beat and it makes Sportsbook Poker a great choice for any aspiring poker player.
Games offered include Texas Holde’m, Omaha Hi and Omaha Hi/Lo, although the majority of traffic is centred around No-Limit Texas Hold’em. For tournament players there are plenty of options, both in the multi-table and single-table departments. While the traffic is good, it is not as high as other poker networks. However, the number of bad players found at both the cash and tournament tables far outweighs the reduced traffic.
Poker Bonus and VIP Scheme – (9/10)
Sign up and deposit through a pokerbonus.org link and get an exclusive 100% up to $1000 bonus.
Exclusive Sportsbook Poker sign-up bonus code for PokerBonus.org players: PB1000PK
Poker Bonus: Sportsbook Poker offers a generous $1000 bonus at 100% match. To take the greatest advantage of the bonus it is best to deposit at least $1000, even if you do not intend to play with everything. The bonus is paid into your account in $5 instalments, which is preferential to a bonus that is paid as a full lump sum.
Bonus Clearing – Every time you earn 75 VIP points you will unlock $1 of the bonus. When you have unlocked $5 of the sign-up bonus then this amount will be transferred to your player account. You earn 10 VIP points for each $1 paid in tournament fees or rake at a cash table. Therefore, it takes $7.5 of rake to unlock each $1 of the sign-up bonus, equivalent to around 13.3% rakeback. This is quite generous but is not as good as the sign-up bonuses at other poker sites advertised on pokerbonus.org.
VIP Scheme: The Play Aces VIP Programme offers a wide range of rewards to players and accommodates all playing styles, from the casual player to the hardcore grinder. There are 5 different VIP levels and to improve your VIP level you simply have to earn more VIP points. Each VIP level unlocks a greater number of rewards, from cash and reload bonuses to exclusive weekly freerolls. The rewards available for each VIP level can be seen in the following table:
| Green | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIP Points Required | 3,000 | 10,000 | 50,000 | 150,000 | $1,000 |
| Monthly Reload Bonus | 100% ($300) | 100% ($500) | 100% ($1000) | 200% ($500) | 200% ($1000) |
| Invite Only Freerolls | $100/week | $250/week | $500/week | $1,000/week | $2,000/week |
| Points for Tournament Entry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Use Points in Rewards Store | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
As you can see, the VIP scheme is very generous and offers up to $2000 in monthly bonuses.
Promotions – (9/10)
Sportsbook Poker and the Merge Gaming Network have some fantastic promotions for players, with many promotions being larger than that offered on any other poker network. The biggest and by far the best promotion running at the moment is the Mega Million Points Race with the top prize of $15,000 being equivalent to a whopping 150% rakeback! Each time you earn a set amount of VIP points you will be awarded a cash prize. There are 15 different cash prize levels and once you complete one level you will then move onto the next e.g. For level 1 you need to earn 250 VIP points to unlock the cash prize. Once you’ve earned 250 VIP points you’ve met the level 1 requirement and you’ll receive $2.50. Your VIP point total will then reset to 0 and you now have to work your way towards level 2 (500 points) to collect the next prize of $5. The cash prizes rewarded at each level become more at more lucrative, with the early levels offering around 10% equivalent rakeback and level 15 offering a huge 150% rakeback.
Sportsbook poker also have plenty of other promotions, such as a Sit’N'Go leaderboard (top prize $2000), a Tournament King leaderboard ($20,000 worth of prizes) and a huge Badbeat Jackpot which has reached up to $1.2 million in the past. All new depositing players will also get a free entry into a weekly $500 freeroll which is only available for new depositors, a great way to boost your starting bankroll.
Check the Sportsbook.com Poker website to find out the latest promotions running.
Software – (9/10)
Sportsbook Poker has a very smooth running software which also runs very fast with plenty of hands dealt per hour. The graphics are good and you can choose your own avatars which aren’t tacky like some poker sites. For multi-tabling players, the Sportsbook software is both good and bad. The good side is that the software runs well with multiple tables open and you can easily see your statistics which are available on each poker table. The downside is that the software offers no smaller view for each poker table so it becomes harder to spread out all the tables on your screen. However, it is still possible to successfully multi-table on Sportsbook Poker, just with a few more alterations then the software would be fantastic.
The Sportsbook software does have a number of features that are really great and are generally not found at any other poker site:
- Expose 1 Card – Sportsbook Poker is one of the few online websites that gives you the opportunity to expose one of or both of your hole cards prior to mucking a hand. At a live poker room, players can choose to expose one card giving your opponents something to think about. Some poker rooms allow you to show both your hole cards, but Sportsbook poker lets you go one further and allow you to show either both your cards, or just one card. Using this feature you could create a wild-table image for yourself when in reality you are playing a very solid game.
- Rabbit Hunt – This is also another feature that is rarely offered by online poker sites. Rabbit Hunting is where you ask the dealer to deal the turn and river card after you have folded to see if you would have improved your hand.
- Run It Twice – Sportsbook.com Poker now offers players the chance to Run it Twice, an option that provides two outcomes for one hand by dealing community cards twice. The Merge Poker Network, which Sportsbook is part of, was the first site to offer this feature. When players sit down at a Sportsbook Poker table, they can select Run it Twice by checking the box at the bottom of the screen. Once two players who have selected Run it Twice are all-in heads-up, the remaining community cards are dealt twice. This can be done pre-flop, post-flop, or after the turn card has been dealt. The winner of each outcome wins half of the pot.
Easy Competition – (9/10)
Play Aces by Sportsbook.com has a lot of easy competition, especially at the lower stakes where the tables are ridiculously easy to beat. As a result, Sportsbook Poker is still an untapped gold-mine for good poker players, making it a great choice of site to start playing at. Part of the reason for all the bad players is that Sportsbook.com is also a sports betting and casino site. As a result, Sportsbook.com brings in a lot of loose gamblers to the table who are very win against.
Support – (9/10)
Sportsbook Poker offers a number of support features for their players. Available support methods include:
- Online Live Support Chat
- 24/7 Telephone Support
The support are generally very helpful, fast in replying and typically offer satisfying answers to the questions asked.
Deposit and Withdrawal Options – (8/10)
Play Aces by Sportsbook.com has a number of deposit and withdrawal options available for players although it does not have the wide range offered at other poker sites.
Deposit Options: Visa, Ecocard, Cash Transfer, Neteller, Moneybookers.
Withdrawal Options: Neteller, Moneybookers, Ecocard, Wire Transfer, Cheque.
