Opinions wanted on Absolute Poker...

[silversurfer]

Going to be clearing the 210$ bonus at Absolute next month.

A few questions...

Anyone know what they count as a raked hand? Their website and FAQ are FAQing useless.

Based on that answer, any recommendations on what tables/limits to clear the bonus at? Obviously, they aren't half the size of a PP/Stars-type site, and I won't be able to quad juicy 25 pl tables (I recommend this over limit tables in terms of clearing a bonus, by the way) as I could at those sites. They seem to have a good amount of 6-handed tables, but I'm not used to 6-handed play, so I don't think that would be a good idea.

All advice welcome. Thanks.

[air]

I believe Raked hands count if the rake is 25 cents or more.

[crownjules]

I've been working the bonus at the $1/2 6max games. The action is usually very fast and I'd say 70-80% of hands are raked. 2100 raked hands seems like a lot, but it really flies by on those tables.

[CheeseBurger]

I love absolute. I'm also playing 1/2 and it seems to be real soft. The only issue is number of tables. Unless you play 6 max there is only going to be 1 or 2 tables going during the day, and then later at night it will jump up to 5 max.

[Iron]

I'd also recommend the 6 max 1/2 games. I was playing their 9 player tables, but the bonus was taking too long to clear and there aren't many tables going. The 6 max tables have some pretty soft competition.

The minimum rake is needed for an ARP at 1/2, and 10 arps for each $1 of bonus. Pretty much every hand is raked at the 6 max tables (it's around $5 pot for min. rake).

[MicroBob]

For some people their software and tables can be a real resource-hog for some reason.

If I play 3 tables there it goes REALLY slow for me.
This is really the only site where this is a problem on my computer....I'm not the only to have made this complaint though.


I haven't played there for several months because of this....and I've heard that some people who had similar problems aren't experiencing it as much anymore since a couple of new versions and upgrades so this might not be a factor at AP anymore.


I hate the sound FX there anyway....and I don't like to play without the noises because I'm more likely to miss when it's my turn.


Customer support is decent most of the time with some spells of incredible incompetence.

I have since learned that phone support is MUCH better there. Very polite and helpful over the phone.

An e-mail to support stands a decent chance of getting lost and never getting responded to for some reason (I've had this happen 2 or 3 times).
Other times I've gotten an e-mail response within 10 minutes. Very inconsistent...either really good WHEN they actually respond...or REALLY bad when you get lost in the shuffle somehow (maybe more likely to happen on weekends perhaps??).


Again though...since i haven't played there in several months my thoughts on AP may no longer be relevant.

[droolie]

Their tables godawful on the eyes. You really have to clear on a 6-max table. Sign up through PSO and you'll get a nice bonus on your bonus.

http://www.bonuswhores.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3638

[Siegmund]

Yes. It's a real chore trying to get your eyes to pick out who has cards and what they show.. tiny lil cards in a big sea of fancy graphics!

To count as a raked hand, you need to be dealt cards and the house gets at least 25 cents. That means every raked pot in the $1/2 game, but only about 2/3 of them in the 50/$1 game.

[gila]

Hey Bob, the software is running MUCH better lately. I do not know what they did, but they pretty much fixed the problems. I used to not be able to multi-table there and now I can do three no problem. They are now on par with the other sites as far as table speed is concerned.

[silversurfer]

Excellent advice. Thanks, all.