Betfred Poker Overview
Betfred is the world's largest independent bookmakers and the official bookmakers and gaming partner for Wembley Stadium and Manchester United. Betfred was established in 1967 by brothers Fred and Peter Done, and Fred is the one whose picture you see all over the website and the poker software. Betfred Poker was launched in 2005 as part of the iPoker network, Europe’s biggest poker network, so during peak hours you can expect to see around 20,000 players online, and at other times around 12-16,000.
Even though the iPoker network does not allow U.S. players, poker rooms such as Poker770, Titan Poker and Nuts Poker are recuperating fast due to a high influx of European players.
Betfred Poker Game Features
Betfred Poker offers only the most traditional of poker games: Hold’em, Omaha Hi and Hi/Lo, 7-Card Stud and 5-Card Stud; and tables are usually well populated, and sometimes with long waiting lists.
Texas Hold'em is available in all limits, with a good range of stakes. Limit Hold’em goes from $0.02/$0.04 to $300/$600, and off-peak action is often good up to $10/20. No Limit blinds range between $0.01/$0.02 and $100/$200, with good off-peak action up to $5/$10. Pot Limit stakes go from $0.02/$0.04 to $50/$100, but it is almost actionless. There is also a wide variety of No Limit heads-up, from $0.25/$0.50 to $300/$600 and usually very busy up to $5/$10.
Omaha High is available only in Limit and Pot Limit, with stakes between $0.01/$0.02 and $50/$100. There is not much going on in the Limit tables, but Pot Limit has decent action up to $1/$2.
Omaha Hi-Lo is also available only in Limit (from $0.02/$0.04 to $200/$400) and Pot Limit (from $0.01/$0.02 to $50/$200), and although there is hardly anything going on in Limit, Pot Limit had some action at the lowest stakes.
Betfred Poker has only recently added 7-Card Stud and 5-Card Stud, and this is why they are only available in Limit. 7-Card Stud stakes go from $0.02/$0.04 to $50/$100, and 5-Card Stud tables range between $0.05/$0.10 and $100/$200. In spite of this variety, there is no action outside peak hours and even then not much.
There are also beginners’ tables for Hold’em and Omaha High, with stakes from $0.01/$0.02 to $0.50/$1 and lots of practice going on at all times. Waiting lists are long for these tables, so try to catch them off European peak times.
An interesting innovation is the idea of No Disconnection Protection tables, ideal for those with good connections who do not want the All-in protection used against them. These are available for Hold’em, both Omaha Hi and Hi/Lo and 5-Card Stud.
Betfred Poker has plenty of tournaments to choose from, and their Sit & Go offer is particularly attractive. Single-table Sit & Go have 5, 6 or 10 seats, and there are also 2- and 3-table Sit & Gos. Most Sit & Gos are Hold’em Limit, but there are also some in Pot Limit and Limit, as well as Omaha Hi and Hi/Lo in Pot Limit and Limit. Buy-ins range between $0.10 and $1000, so you can definitely find one at the stakes you like. There are also plenty of freerolls, which can be entered for a certain amount of BP (Betfred Poker loyalty points). Standard time between blind raises is 10 minutes, but Betfred Poker also offers Turbo tourneys (4 minutes) and Superturbo tourneys (1 minute).
Besides these, Betfred Poker also offers a multitude of satellites, specials and freerolls, as well as No Limit Hold’em Beginners tourneys with buy-ins between $1 and $5, and heads-up tables with buy-ins between $1 and $1000 for Hold’em and Omaha.
A very exciting special Sit & Go are the 6, 10 and 12-seat Jackpot Sit & Gos, where you can get an attractive jackpot if you win several of them in a row. For example, Betfred Poker will pay $2,000 to the winner of four consecutive ‘Dirty Dozen Jackpot Sit N Gos’, which have a $2 Buy-In.
Betfred Poker also offers plenty of scheduled tourneys, freerolls, satellites and guaranteeds with buy-ins between $0.50 and $440. Most tourneys are No Limit Hold’em, with some Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo as well. Standard time between blind raises is 10 minutes, with 4 minutes for Turbo and 1 minute for Superturbo tourneys; and there are also “speed” tourneys where the decision time is shorter for faster-paced action. There are several beginners’ tourneys a day, where a skilled new player could win $50 or $100 for free.
Betfred Poker Software Features
Betfred Poker’s Main Lobby is not very attractive, but at least it is functional. It has a standard distribution: a tree menu with on the left and the full table list in the middle, including name, type, stakes, players, average pot, players to see flop, hands per hour and players waiting. There is a very useful filter, which shows you only what you want by game, limit, stakes, seats, full status, and access (open, restricted, beginners). There is also a quick search tool for ring tables and tournaments.
I was quite underwhelmed by the fact that there are only 10 avatars available, but it all became clear once I entered a room: Betfred Poker uses a swish 3d table display, and the avatar you chose becomes a 3d rendering. Hopefully they will add more in time, especially more female ones.
Dealing is fast, sounds are discreet and appropriate, and checking and folding are silent. A round clock shows the remaining decision time for every player, and the pot size is always on display. You can choose to see your hand value or disable this option. The chat window has several options, but chat can only be used by the players in the game – observers cannot join in.
Betfred Poker has superb multitabling options, with no limit to the number of tables you can play and an option for a reduced display so you can see all your tables at once.
Statistics and hand history are available for the table you are playing, and you can access your entire game history using the “My Account” button. There is also an option to display the hand history locally.
You can add player notes, mute a player or add them to your buddy list by clicking on their avatar. Betfred Poker also offers a Find Player feature, so you can locate your favorite fish.
Betfred Poker uses Playtech software, with sophisticated analysis tools to detect collusion and a hi-tech random number generator to ensure fair shuffling at all times. They also use a high-quality encryption system to protect financial data.
Betfred Poker stands out for its innovative 3D display, which would benefit from more female options. Their abundance of options for table viewing is a plus. And as an exotic extra, Betfred Poker accepts deposits in 16 different currencies!
Betfred Poker Support
Betfred Poker offers quite a few options for player support. There is access to live chat support in the software, and the Support staff is polite and helpful. However, the chat window stays on top of everything else – something that must be fixed. You can also contact Betfred Poker via email, toll-free from the UK, not-toll-free from the rest of the world, and fax. Email support responded in half an hour, and their answer was accurate.
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