(click to download)
BetFred poker lobby
(127 kb)
Default table
(88 kb)
Minitable
(43 kb)
30" monitor, 6 tables
(579 kb)
30" monitor, 16 minitables
(756 kb)
Betfred is a skin on the iPoker network. This means that BetFred is one of multiple poker rooms that use the same software and of which the players play at the same tables. Americans are not accepted at the iPoker network, and therefore most of the players you'll play against will be Europeans. The iPoker network is the largest network. Therefore there will always be games going, shorthanded or full ring, with plenty of fish in them.
Cash games - A wide variety of games are being offered, but you won't find games going at all of them. The poker variants that do have a fair amount of traffic are: hold'em (limit and no limit), omaha (pot limit), omaha H/L (pot limit) and 7 card stud. For players at the start of their poker career they offer stakes as low as 2 nl (with a big blind of 2 cents) and 5 nl (5 cent big blind). Instead of a $25 buy in level, iPoker has a $20 buy in level between 10 and 50 nl. This makes the jump from 10 nl a little smaller when moving up, but at the same time might make it harder to move to 50 nl. The full ring no limit micro stakes tables are the home of an outstanding amount of players buying in with a short stack (40 big blinds or less). For me that really spoiled the fun in playing poker and therefore I now prefer the shorthanded game when playing on the iPoker network. Here you'll find relatively less people who buy in short.
Tournaments - At BetFred you can find Jackpot sit & go's besides the normal sit & go's. If you manage to win a certain amount of these sit & go's in row (depending on the buy in) you will win a nice jackpot. You do pay a higher amount of rake in these sit & go's though, so if you don't think you will ever make this string of wins you might be better of playing the normal ones. The multi-table tournaments have a very good blind structure with blind levels of 10 minutes for the regular tournaments and 20 separate levels until blinds of 1000/2000 with an ante of 200 are reached. For the micro stakes player the $1 dollar rebuy and add-on tournaments that are hosted several times a day can be very profitable.
| Tournament type | Starting stack | Level dur. (min.) | Level # 1K/2K blinds | Antes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTT's | regular | 1500 | 10 | 20 |  |
| turbo | 1500 | 3 | 20 | |
|
| deep | 3000 | 10 | 20 | |
|
| SnG's | regular | 1500 | 9 | 12 |  |
| turbo | 1500 | 4 | 12 | |
|
Freerolls - BetFred offers $50 freerolls three times a day with a maximum of 1000 entrants. With 100 places in the money these tournaments will give you a decent shot at winning some real money (literally).
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The software runs smoothly. The graphics are somewhat unattractive, and the number of options available make the software fit for its purpose but nothing special. Screenshots of the lobby and the normal and mini table are placed in the right column. Multitablers might find the screenshots of 6 default tables or 16 minitables on a 30 inch monitor without overlap especially interesting.
Lobby - There are enough filtering options in the lobby to easily find the game that suits you.
Poker tables - At Betfred you can either choose to display the tables in normal view with a resolution of about 800 x 620 pixels or to use miniview with a resolution of 520 x 350 pixels.
Multi-tabling - You can play up to 16 tables at BetFred. I could never find a fully working betpot AHK-script for iPoker myself, but even without it the software is good enough that you can play as many as 16 tables simultaneously. There is another program called minimaximod which is mainly meant to restyle the looks of the iPoker software but also includes some hotkey features.
Tracking software - Tracking software like PokerTracker and Hold'emManager can be used on BetFred. This enables you to keep track of your opponents and improve your game by reviewing your sessions.
First deposit bonus - BetFred offers a 100% first deposit bonus up to a maximum of $600. The bonus is released in $10 increments to your account every time you have earned 500 player points which are awarded in real money games. After three months the bonus will expire.
Loyalty bonus - BetFred also offers a VIP system to give their players some rake they paid in return. There is no skin on the iPoker network giving direct rakeback as this is against the network rules. Depending on the amount of player points you earn you can participate in freerolls up to $5000, convert your points to cash and receive a bonus as high as $400 every month. With that BetFred claims to rightfully call itself 'The Bonus King'.
Visit the website of BetFred Poker >>
All real money games are played in dollars, but you can have your account in euros. This way you don't have to worry about changing currency exchange rates and conversion fees when depositing and withdrawing. As soon as you sit down at a table BetFred will convert your money into dollars. When you leave the table, BetFred uses the same exchange rate to convert your dollars back to euros. BetFred accepts a number of deposit methods, including the among poker players widely used e-wallets Neteller and moneybookers. BetFred is also a leading online casino and sports bookmaker, which indicates a solid financial foundation.
BetFred offers 24 hour online support as well as support by e-mail, fax and phone. I have not (yet) had to deal with BetFred support, so I can't tell you how adequate they will be in resolving your issues.
BetFred offers a nice variety of games of which not all have enough traffic to find a game going at every moment. The most played games, hold'em and Omaha, do however have a very decent amount of traffic. The availability of nano stakes makes betfred a fine poker room to start out and learn the game. Micro stakes full ring players have to be prepared to play against an above average amount of shortstackers who really influence the game. There are a fair number of tournaments hosted with a good structure. Players who sign up at BetFred can expect to receive a nice bonus and automatically participate in BetFred's VIP club.
If you think BetFred might be the poker room for you based on this review, then you might want to visit BetFred Poker to open an account for free.