Players Only - Merge Network
We have an unbeatable deal on this site which you can see on our
home page. We decided to play a few thousand hands on there to see what it
was like. Here are our findings…
Deposit options are a little limited with only Neteller, Moneybookers
or credit cards but the process was as straightforward as you would
expect. We used Neteller.
The first thing that struck us what that the software seems very simple
to get used to. Very simple to go into the real money tables and then
filter it to show your own preferred levels and games.
From a single screen you are able to add your name to all the waiting lists for the various games of your choice.
We found plenty of action at NL50 and NL20 for both the 6 Max tables
and the Full Ring tables (Full ring are 9 seater, not 10). There was
also good action at NL100 for 6 Max but very little activity for higher
levels at 6 Max and not much to choose from at levels higher than NL50
for the Full Ring tables. This may change during peak US times as this
is a Network that allows American players but for players that are
active at peak European times then the action is a little light at
levels above NL100.
The software was a big surprise. I am a typical player that is in the
position that they have played for years on the same Network and have
therefore become very comfortable with the software I am used to. This
means, of course, it is sometimes hard to adapt to different sites but
I found this software excellent.
Extremely smooth, very user-friendly and some very nice features that help to make the gaming a pleasant experience.
Seat selection is available, which is important for serious multi-
tablers, plus there is an option to ‘auto top-up’ on the cash tables
which is another great feature. All tables are also fully re-sizeable
which is another huge advantage for the serious players
Another thing that really surprised us was the speed of the software. I
am used to playing 6 Max on Ipoker and am generally playing around 70
hands per hour on the non turbo tables. The standard 6 Max tables on
this site are returning well over 100 hands per hour. For the ‘rake
back pro’s’ out there, this can add around 30% to the number of hands
you will play in the same length of time and therefore increase your
rake and ultimately your rakeback.
We tried our luck at a few tournament too and found some very nice ones
during the European afternoon and early evening times. No gigantic
fields and some nice small stakes tournaments with decent guaranteed
prize pools. Some even had a slight overlay too.
When we looked to withdraw we were asked to send ID documents. Although
this was a bit of an inconvenience, once the requested documents were
e-mailed to them, the account verification process was very quick and
we could request our withdrawal back to Neteller. The amount arrived
within 48 hours, which we find to be pretty much standard these days.
We are led to believe that there is more chance of being asked to
produce ID proof if you are a NON US citizen as it is harder for them
to verify your details. As long as the sites are requesting the
standard forms of ID, we can’t really complain too much that they are
taking security seriously.
Our overall opinion on Players Only was very good. Great software and good support.
We would have no hesitation in recommending this site to any player at all.
Contact us
for the details of the offer we have in place for new players that sign
through us and we'll also be glad to give you any information on our
experiences there.
Good luck
‘Tetleyboy'
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Big Bet Poker - Merge Network
We have a fantastic deal on this site which you can read about on our
home page. We played about 3000 hands on this site and here's what we found.....
Initial download and registration was pretty standard. We used Neteller to deposit but other options are Moneybookers and Click2Pay.
Started by playing a few very small tournaments to get used to the software. Immediately noticed that the Tournament page that listed all the upcoming events had little icons that signified the types of tournament it was. The icons would show that it was a re-buy, bounty, turbo or deepstack etc... Nice little touch.
Opening up the tables for the first time we found we were able to select a preferred seating position.. i.e. you could opt to have your seat at the bottom of the window or on the left or right hand side. I play a lot of my poker at Ipoker now and this is the only feature that i actually miss having from my days at Ultimate Bet.
Very easy to use hand history display. One click on the 'history' button and there are your hands displayed.
The software also has two things that hundreds of players have been lobbying Ipoker for a long time to introduce. Time bank and re-sizeable tables. Although, if you make the tables too small then the graphics become very hard to read but once you've played a lot you know what the buttons are anyway so not necessarily a problem.
We also found the software quite quick so you get slightly more hands per hour than many other sites, although we did find it difficult to multi-table more than 4 tables but we suspect this was another case of us not being used to the software.
On the negative side, we did find a few little things that were more of an annoyance, rather than anything major that is likely to put anybody off. In tournaments, the current average chip stack is not displayed anywhere. One little thing I found, to my cost, is that if you tick the 'fold' box and the action is checked around to you, your hand is still folded without giving you the option of 'are you sure you want to fold when it's free to check?'. Once you've been caught by that once you tend not to do it again.
We also highlighted a problem with the graphics and colour scheme. The 'current pot size' figure displayed in the middle of the table was obscured almost to the extent of making it impossible to read. I chatted about this to them and the fact that we would mention it in our assessment. Within hours of me telling them we were going live with our 'Test Drive' report here, they contacted me to tell me that the colour scheme had been amended. They had, indeed, made a slight adjustment and the pot size figure was now clearly visible. This impressed me as just one example of how some of the smaller sites are more willing to listen to customer feedback and want to ensure that the whole experience is as pleasant for the player as possible.
Definitely another positive for Big Bet Poker.
The Customer Support are just for Big Bet Poker players, not the entire Network of sites, and so any questions regarding your account or things specific to Big Bet are answered more efficiently. The operators are not afraid to tell you if they don't have an answer but will make sure they go and get the correct information. This may seem like a strange thing to mention but I'm sure many players have been told things by Customer Support at some sites that turned out to be incorrect, purely bacause the operator didn't know and so either guessed an answer or just agreed with the person that was asking.
Withdrawal was processed using Neteller and appeared same day.
In conclusion, we found our time at Big Bet has certainly meant that we'd be confident that players taking up the great offer we have negotiated with them will mean that the player will not be put off by the software. Of course, it is different to other Networks, but after a short time getting used to the different sounds and graphics, it's as smooth and user friendly as any other site you care to mention.
Contact us for the details of the offer we have in place for new players that sign through us and we'll also be glad to give you any information on our experiences there.
'Tetleyboy'