Online Poker (Home)
Poker on TV  |  Books  |  Strategy  |  Online Poker Reviews  |  U.S. Poker  |  Tournament Tracker  |  Top Sites  |  Player Profiles  |  WSOP  |  Bonus Codes

Online Poker Reviews

1. Sportsbook Poker

2. Full Tilt Poker

3. Poker Stars

4. Players Only

5. Bodog

6. Pacific Poker

7. Superbook Poker

8. Doyle's Room

9. Absolute Poker

10. PKR

11. Ultimate Bet

12. Titan Poker

13. William Hill Poker

14. Party Poker

15. PDC Poker

16. Poker Host

17. Aced Poker

18. Sun Poker

19. Mansion Poker

20. Everest Poker

21. Noble Poker

22. True Poker

23. Celeb Poker

 

SPORTSBOOK POKER REVIEW

 

Visit Sportsbook Poker

 

Sportsbook.com Poker

 Overall:  5/5

 Bonus and Promotions:   5/5

 Fish Rating:   5/5 (100% tuna)

 Tournaments:   4/5

 Software:   4.5/5

 Payouts:  4.5/5

 Customer Service:  5/5

 

U.S. Players Welcome at Sportsbook.com Poker

Available to U.S. Players

 

Visit Sportsbook Poker

Get a 110% Bonus Now

U.S. Credit Cards Accepted

 US CREDIT CARDS ARE NOT BLOCKED: One of the best aspects of Sportsbook Poker is the fact that virtually all US credit cards are accepted for deposits directly through the cashier. The acceptance rate is nearly 100% and you shouldn't experience a block with any US credit card. The minimum deposit is a positive for new players at $20. From personal experience, I can report that a major US bank credit card was used successfully for deposits in under a minute or two. This same card had always been denied at other poker sites.

As an alternate deposit option, ask a Sportsbook Poker support representative to create a UseMyWallet account for you. This e-wallet service is now accepted directly through the cashier and I would highly recommend it based on my experiences. Minimal personal information is required, processing time is extremely quick, and they offer wire transfer withdrawals to avoid the wait-time associated with paper checks.

SPORTSBOOK POKER BONUS CODE FOR $1,000 BONUS PLUS 10% INSTANTLY: BEATTHEFISHPK. Our players are eligible for an instant 10% cash bonus and a 100% play-through bonus, good up to $1,000. Please note that you must visit Sportsbook Poker and download the software from one of our links to the site to be eligible for this bonus.

$500 FREEROLL FOR OUR NEW PLAYERS: Our new Sportsbook Poker players now receive a $500 private freeroll entry after making their first deposit. Freerolls take place every Wednesday at 10:30PM EST and can be found under the "Private" tournament tab.

Sportsbook Poker now accepts players from all countries, including the US and Canada.

   

Overall:  5/5

While I am usually apprehensive about newer poker rooms, I feel strongly enough about Sportsbook Poker to make it the current top-rated overall poker room. There are three aspects of this site that stand out to me as extreme positives in the current online poker landscape: the ability to deposit smoothly using US credit cards, the collection of extremely loose tables, and the combination of an instant deposit bonus coupled with a larger play-through bonus. With their recent move to the Merge network, Sportsbook Poker retains their poor player base and improves their software package significantly.

 

As is typical for sportsbook and casino crossover sites, Sportsbook Poker attracts some of the worst players online. Flop percentages and average pot sizes are more than double than the usual numbers at the larger rooms. In terms of deposits, Sportsbook Poker uses third-party credit cards processors built right into the cashier and even major US banks don't block the transactions. You can fund your account in literally 30 seconds. At this poker room you can actually do what you want with your own money for a change. That is a significant statement in the current US online poker landscape.

 

Besides the excellent deposit system, Sportsbook Poker also has a strong promotional system with an increased 100% deposit bonus for our players, an extra 10% instant cash, and above-average customer service. While it may not have the brand recognition of the larger sites Sportsbook Poker does offer a number of improvements over the juggernauts with block-free deposits and, perhaps more importantly, one of the few remaining havens for loose tables. As this site gets more exposure, I think it will become one of the top destinations for US players.

 

Bonus (100% up to $1,000 plus 10% instantly) and Promotions:   5/5

On the promotional side, I give high scores to Sportsbook Poker for the simple deposit bonus system, which includes an instant 10% cash added onto all first-time deposits. As opposed to the typical pending bonuses offered everywhere the 10% extra is added onto your bankroll and may be used immediately at the tables or for tournament entires. Our visitors receive an increased 100% bonus with a $1,000 cap in addition to an instant 10% cash bonus, which is one of the highest bonuses online. Even though it is only 10%, I highly respect Sportsbook Poker for going against the grain of convoluted bonuses that are designed to rob average players or their full value.

 

In addition to the instant bonus our new Sportsbook Poker players earn an increased 100% play-through bonus, valid up to $1,000. Please note that you'll need to use one of our links to Sportsbook Poker when downloading the software and bonus code BEATTHEFISHPK at the cashier to earn the increased amount. More important than the Sportsbook Poker play-through bonus amount is the fact that most players should be able to earn the full amount without jumping through hoops or exorbitant playing requirements.

 

As is now standard at every poker room, Sportsbook Poker has a player rewards system that gives players VIP points both for ring game activity and tournament fees. The system is based on rake so higher-stakes players will obviously earn VIP points at a higher rate. Fortunately for microstakes players, points are still given for contributed rake as little as 10 cents. The 100% play-through bonus at Sportsbook Poker is disbursed in $5 increments with 75 VIP points earning each dollar. My personal experience shows that this equates to an above-average payout of about $1-2 per hour at each $1/2 NL table.

 

The same VIP points earned at Sportsbook Poker may then be used for rewards like merchandise and freeroll entries. More interesting to me were the abilities to exchange points for cash and the option of a 100% monthly reload bonus. These can be done with larger cash amounts as players earn more cumulative VIP points. Finally, other promotions include a $12,000 monthly Sit and Go leaderboard and a Bad Beat Jackpot that often reached at least $50,000. Overall, the promotional system is very strong with the large 100% deposit bonus, 10% extra upfront with one of the few instant bonuses left in the industry, and the player point system that offers above-average rewards.

 

Fish  5/5

It is refreshing to see a current US poker room still hosting such truly terrible players. With essentially every other US poker room slowing to a crawl in terms of loose action over the past several years, Sportsbook Poker is an isolated throwback to the wild online poker pioneer days of yore. The average flop percentage and pot numbers are incredible at Sportsbook Poker with double or triple the numbers found at the larger rooms. A 40% flop percentage is about average at 9-handed tables with pot sizes ranging between 20-30x the big blind. This is truly a haven for loose tables.

 

As its name implies, Sportsbook Poker began as an offshoot from a long-running online sportsbook. Inherently, sportsbook players are more aggressive and much more willing to gamble than the average poker-exclusive player. As is typical with other crossover gaming sites, the poker traffic is extremely loose. Giving Sportsbook Poker a 5 Fish Rating may not be sufficient.

 

To give you an example of some of the action that you'll find at Sportsbook Poker, I have on more than one occasion run into players who buy in for the maximum and then go all-in every single hand until they go broke. Other players will routinely go, or call, all-in on inside straight draws. I have bluffed at pots in position, drew 3 callers, picked up 3rd pair on the river, and then still won the hand at showdown.

 

At Sportsbook Poker you'll routinely see tournament style plays of preflop all-ins with small pocket pairs matched against weak overcards. The pots usually grow quickly and often preflop with unbridled aggression only surpassed by the number of calling stations ignoring the value of their starting hands. I believe that the high credit card deposit rates at Sportsbook Poker are a major factor in helping to keep the tables loose. With deposits so easy to come by, players aren't required to be constantly aware of their bankroll for fear of redeposit difficulties.

 

I recommend that patient and observant players try to break the bank at this poker room while the tables are still so loose. Sportsbook Poker and its greater network tends to be ignored by the elitist online poker community that focuses exclusively on the larger games and massive tournaments at the bigger sites. The result is a beginner-friendly poker room that is extremely profitable for patient players who tighten up and extract maximum value from premium hands.

 

Tournaments:   4/5

One aspect that smaller networks typically struggle with is tournament traffic. Fortunately, Sportsbook Poker is on an established network with fair existing traffic and an above-average number of events. While Sportsbook Poker cannot compete with the larger poker rooms for sheer tournament numbers they do offer a number of unique variations that require a lower time commitment and, most importantly, provide substantial overlay opportunities.

 

Most of the hosted tournaments at Sportsbook Poker are events with guaranteed prize pools yet the player entries rarely cover the prize pool. For example, one of the more popular nightly tournaments is the $7,500 freezeout yet only 245 players showed up and paid the $20 buy-in. This forces the poker room to add more than $2,000 to the prize pool in order to cover the guarantee. The value in such overlays is excellent with players essentially beginning the tournament with tens of players already knocked out. Most tournaments at Sportsbook Poker have an overlay with the largest usually being the Sunday $50,000 event.

 

The best guaranteed tournaments at Sportsbook Poker draw about 300 or so players and typically have buy-ins ranging from $5-30. Most tournaments offer a guarantee on the prize pool of between $2,000 to $7,500. Some of the better values include multiple daily $7,500 guarantees with a $20 buy-ins, multiple $3,000 guarantees with a $10 buy-in, a $2,000 guaranteed turbo bounty event for $10, and a Saturday $5,250 guarantee for $30.

 

Another tournament style hosted at Sportsbook Poker that I would like to see more sites adopt is the Bounty tournament. The Bounty events are run throughout the day with about half of the buy-in being your bounty. Every time you knock out a player you'll collect their bounty. The rest of the prize pool is distributed normally amongst the top finishers. These tournaments increase action and you have an interesting way to win some cash regardless of how you finish in the tournament. Another totally random tournament variation is the all in or fold event, which air fairly popular despite their lack of required skill.

 

With player traffic continuing to increase steadily, Sportsbook Poker has been able to add a $50,000 guaranteed weekly event every Sunday at 4PM EST. The buy-in is $100, which I feel is just about the sweet spot for larger tournaments. That level is attainable for more casual tournament players but also sizeable enough to offer substantial prizes to the top finishers. Sit and Gos are also popular, especially the shorthanded 6-seaters, without much of a waiting period up to the $20 level.

 

One Sit and Go style offered at Sportsbook Poker that should be at every other poker room is the Double-Up event. This unique structure offers 5 of the table entrants nothing and the other 5 twice the buy-in. It's an extremely addictive style that has become very popular on the network. Even during off-peak hours the Double-Ups fill up fairly quickly up to the $30 level. While the traditional 3-player payout system is still a very effective way for seasoned players to make a consistent profit the Double-Up adds an entirely different set of strategy and is a refreshing change of pace from the typical grind.

 

Software:   4.5/5

One of the main reasons that I was pleased about Sportsbook Poker switching over to Merge was the software package, which, in my opinion, should be rated as one of the top 3 online. This underrated software platform receives little attention from players, but spending time with it uncovers numerous unique features that really should become standard in the industry. The overall graphical look is a sharp bird's-eye overhead view with players able to customize their personal image. The lobby is also fully customizable and each table window can be resized or shrunk down to a Mini mode, which is still clear but can easily be tiled on standard resolutions for multi-table players.

 

Sportsbook Poker also gives players graphical accolades like stars for playing experience or trophies then, when hovered over, show special tournament wins. Other quirks unique to this platform include animated chat emoticons, the ability to rabbit-hunt when you win a hand prior to the river, a deal it twice option for all-ins, a spotlight over the active player, and TV-style average winning percentages when players are all-in. These are excellent features that seem minor but as a whole really make the experience stand out. I'm truly surprised that the larger rooms haven't mimicked the software at Sportsbook Poker.

 

Perhaps more important than the fun but extraneous features is the game speed, which is much higher than average. Full 9-handed NL ring games at Sportsbook Poker usually settle between 70-90 hands per hour, which is at least 30-40% faster than more popular rooms. The software does not feature a player time bank, which helps to speed up the game overall and eliminates the obnoxious posturing common at poker rooms supporting extra time. Sportsbook Poker also features a wealth of betting buttons that increases game speed, including 2x, 4x, half-pot, and full-pot options.

 

US Payouts:  4.5/5

Sportsbook Poker utilizes two of the best remaining payout methods right now in direct checking account payments and Fedex checks. Receiving payouts directly to your checking account is, in my opinion, the easiest withdrawal method out there. You don't have to deal with the bank in order to cash a check, which is convenient for night owls like myself.

 

After initially faxing or e-mailing the site a voided check you can receive future payouts within a few days to your checking account via ACH. You can also choose to have a paper check sent through a courier service. Once they're issued, you'll receive them within 2 or 3 days via Fedex.

 

Customer Service  5/5

My first time playing at Sportsbook Poker left me with several minor questions about how the site worked in terms of bonuses and functionality of the software. Instead of waiting around for an e-mail response I just used their Live Chat option. There was no wait-time in order to connect with a representative and I received accurate answers from someone who seemed to be familiar with the poker room. Sportsbook Poker also provides toll-free phone number support, which as a gesture that I've always respected from any online poker room.  

 

Player Traffic

Sportsbook Poker is attracting fairly strong traffic even though they're on a newer network. With more established skins continually joining Merge I expect traffic for both ring games and tournaments to steadily increase. Typically, you'll find at least 4 or 5 full 9-handed ring games up to the $1/2 NL level and double that in 6-handed tables. You can also find 10-15 or more simultaneous microlimit games at each level. The highest stakes also regularly have a full game or two going, including $5/10 and $10/20 NL. Overall player traffic is at about 5,000 during peak hours and typical tournament traffic is about 200-300 per event.

 

Best Features

US credit cards are not blocked. This has to be the easiest site to fund with virtually all credit cards being accepted.

Awful players. I'm not sure if I have seen a worse population of players at on online poker site.

Above-average player rewards. The 100% bonus is extremely earnable on top of the 10% instant cash.

Strong traffic. Fortunately, you can find 10-15 active cash games at most limits with the bankroll sizes having little correlation to player skill.

 

Game Selection: Hold'em, Omaha, Stud, Draw

 

Limits: Limit: 2c/4c up to $50/$100    No-Limit: 2c/4c up to $50/$100

 

Deposit Methods: Visa and Mastercard. Please see the top of the page for "US Credit Cards" for more information. Sportsbook Poker is the only site I know of that will not encounter a block when attempting to deposit using any US credit card. This has been verified by our site using a major US bank. By far, this is the easiest site for US players to deposit with.

 

Sportsbook Poker also accepts UseMyWallet, which is an e-wallet I've used at several poker rooms. Very little personal information is required, both deposits and withdrawals are made directly to your bank account, and processing time extremely quick. If you don't have an account already, the Sportsbook Poker will set one up for you either via live chat request or e-mail. Other deposit options include cash transfer and Moneybookers.

 

Minimum Deposit: $20

 

Tips: As I've mentioned throughout this review, Sportsbook Poker is a very beatable site overall if you make the necessary adjustments. Typically, you'll have more than one fish at your table with this profile: very aggressive preflop, likes to draw, and puts in too much money with marginal hands. This is an extremely profitable type of player, but it means that you'll probably need to tighten up. While it may be cliche advice by now it is still correct to mostly be playing the opposite style of the majority of the table.

 

Because you'll be faced with so many preflop raises, you can play it safe by waiting for your strongest starting hands. Instead of trying to suck out maximum value with big pocket pairs by setting traps, you can usually make larger-than-average raises and still get plenty of action. You also should isolate the loose players with these premium hands as they hold up much more often against fewer opponents.

 

At Sportsbook Poker, don't hesitate to make a substantial (or even all-in) raise with big pocket pairs or other monster hands for fear of wasting your value. This includes when you hit hands like nut straights, flushes, and full houses. Why bother slowplaying if you can get your big bets paid off? You're still maximizing your EV if you get called occasionally with huge bets as opposed to getting paid off most of the time with conservative bets.   

 

Player Review Received via E-Mail: "I wanted to thank you for tipping me off to Sportsbook Poker. I just signed up there and played there for the first time tonight and I immediately made money. You weren't exaggerating about the Fish there! I also like their bonus structure a lot and it was easy to make a deposit via credit card.

 

When you combine the 100% bonus match and all the fish it is a no brainer...in fact, it seems like free money. I thought the software was ok, but I prefer Bodog because the games seem to move along a little faster. Anyhow, thanks for the tip....I am going to keep playing there and it looks like it is going to make me quite a bit of money. Brian O'Neil -- Arlington, VA"
 

 

Visit Sportsbook Poker

 

 
 

Other Poker Sections

Join our newsletter

Online Poker Reviews

Online Poker Bonus Codes

Top Poker Site Lists

Poker in the United States

Credit Card Poker Rooms

Poker Tournament Tracker

Poker Strategy

Poker Player Profiles

Poker Book Reviews

World Series of Poker

How to Beat The Fish

How to Play Online Poker