| Community |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Find Action |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| In the Tank
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| On the Rail
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Links |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At TwoRags.com, we're committed to providing accurate information to the
poker community. If you see entries or information that you believe to be in
error, please email us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Absolute Poker Comprehensive Poker Site Review
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| We've always liked Absolute's generous sign-up and weekly reload bonuses but felt the software and graphics could use improvement. Fortunately, over the last year, Absolute has significantly improved its software--1) you can now choose from a variety of background graphics, 2) your hand histories are available real-time and 3) the Sit n Go blind structure and payout is consistent across all buy-ins. With these improvements, we would encourage you to visit (or revisit) the site. There's a wide selection of limit and NL ring games, SnGs which seat quickly, and hourly NL tournaments with modest buy-ins and manageable fields. If you're a value player, check out the guaranteed MTTs; some of them (including the big weekly tournament, $100k Gtd, $200 buy-in, Sat 4:30p EST) undersell, providing overlays. Although there's no live or phone support, the email support team is very responsive. Note, if you're an enrolled college student, there's a number of programs oriented toward college students (College Poker Challenge, Win Your Tuition, internships, be an on campus agent, etc.). Be sure to check them out. |
|
|
|
| Note: traffic estimates are observed data circa Feb 06 unless otherwise noted |
| Ring Games
|
| |
# of players |
% of total |
| Limit |
700 |
48% |
| No limit (NL) |
600 |
41% |
| Other |
0 |
150 |
10% |
| |
full |
s/h |
| Table size |
9 |
6 |
| Approximate mix (%) |
25% |
75% |
| Activity - Limit |
tables |
players |
| 2c/4c |
17 |
90 |
| 10c/20c |
14 |
61 |
| 25c/50c |
12 |
66 |
| 50c/$1 |
11 |
59 |
| $1/$2 |
18 |
110 |
| $2/$4 |
8 |
44 |
| $3/$6 |
16 |
72 |
| $5/$10 |
10 |
48 |
| $10/$20 |
5 |
15 |
| $15/$30 |
5 |
10 |
| $25/$50 |
4 |
13 |
| $40/$80 |
1 |
0 |
| $75/$150 |
2 |
4 |
| Activity - No Limit |
tables |
players |
| 5c/10c |
24 |
130 |
| 10c/25c |
22 |
119 |
| 25c/50c |
16 |
94 |
| 50c/$1 |
13 |
84 |
| $1/$2 |
5 |
17 |
| $2/$4 |
4 |
16 |
| $5/$10 |
1 |
3 |
| Lobby view |
Flop % |
yes |
|
| Avg pot |
yes |
|
| Hands/Hr |
yes |
|
| Real-time HH? |
yes |
|
| HH stored on computer? |
yes |
|
| Mucked hands in HH? |
yes |
|
| Player notes? |
yes |
|
| Session stats at table? |
yes |
|
|
| Tournaments |
| |
# of players |
| Multi-table tournaments (MTTs) |
6 000 |
| Big weekly MTT |
Add to Calendar |
| |
Buy-in |
$150 + $12 |
|
| Entrants |
660 |
|
| Prize pool |
$100,000 gtd |
|
| Overlay? |
yes |
|
| Day/time (EST) |
Sat 4:30 PM EST |
|
| Big daily MTT |
Add to Calendar |
| |
Buy-in |
$50 |
|
| Entrants |
50 |
|
| Prize pool |
$2,500 |
|
| Time (EST) |
9:00 PM EST |
|
| |
# of players |
| Sit n Gos (SnGs) |
1 200 |
| |
full |
s/h |
| Table size (SnGs) |
9 |
Full and h/u tables only |
| Approx mix (%) |
100% |
|
| Range of buy-ins |
50c to $200 (up to $1000 h/u) |
|
| Time to seat |
|
| 50c + 10c |
<1 min |
|
| $1 + 20c |
<1 min |
|
| $2 + 40c |
<1 min |
|
| $6 + $1 |
<1 min |
|
| $10 + $1 |
<2 min |
|
| $20 + $2 |
<3 min |
|
| $30 + $3 |
<3 min |
|
| $40 + $4 |
<10 min |
|
| $65 + $6 |
10+ min |
|
| $100 + $9 |
10+ min |
|
| $200 + $10 |
10+ min |
|
| Blinds increase every? |
| |
Regular |
10 hands |
|
| Turbo |
No turbos available |
|
| Other |
NA |
|
| Link to blind structure page |
|
Link |
| Hourly NL tournaments? |
yes |
$1 to $100; freerolls
|
| WPT/WSOP satellites? |
yes |
| Tournament listing |
Link
|
|
| Max tables at once (ring) |
6 |
|
|
| Max tables at once (tournaments) |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Ring game play clears bonus? |
yes |
|
| Players are awarded 1 pt for each raked game played (min 25c rake); each pt is worth 10c. You'll clear a $100 bonus with 1000 raked hands; at 40 raked hands per hour, you'll clear the bonus in 25 hours (1000/40 = 25).
|
|
| Tournament play clears bonus? |
yes |
|
| You'll receive 1 pt for each $1 of tournament buy-in fees; each pt is worth 10c. You'll clear a $100 bonus with $1000 of buy-in fees; put differently, you'll need to play 500 $20 STTs (500 x $2). This is much higher than at other sites.
|
|
| Miscellaneous |
Match |
Max |
| Deposit bonus |
100% |
$750 |
| Reload bonus (Weekly) |
20% |
$200 |
| Minimum deposit (NETeller) |
$20 |
|
| Minimum cashout |
$50 |
|
| Customer support |
NETeller cashout |
40 hours |
|
| |
Response to email |
10 minutes |
|
| Accurancy of responses |
70% |
|
|
| Endorsed by |
Affiliated Sites |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Generous sign-up (200% up to $750) and weekly reload bonuses
- Good selection of active NL and limit games; the SnGs (up to $30) seat quickly
- The MTT fields are manageable (hundreds, not thousands, of entrants) and often results in overlays
- The SnG blind structure favors skilled players
- There are hourly freerolls for players with limited budgets
- You can now choose your table graphic (available for download from Absolute's website)
- The new hand history features are first-rate |
|
|
|
- The default table graphics are...well...you'll want to download the alternative table graphics (mods) from Absolute website
- An accurate blind structure for the SnGs isn't posted on the site; see ours instead
- The micro SnGs (50c to $2 buy-in) have fees of 20%
- The play is relatively slow; players get a lot of time to act
- Tournament play counts toward clearing bonuses, but the clearance rate isn't very favorable |
|
|
Why you should play the site
|
|
- Absolute offers weekly reload bonuses and draws enough traffic to clear them; it's a good site to build (or rebuild!) your bankroll
- You can play as many as 6 tables at once and the site is PokerTracker compatible
- Sit n go's seat quickly and the blind structure favors better players
- The weekly $100,000 Gtd (Sat, 4:30p EST) doesn't conflict with the big weekly Party or Stars MTTs
- You can select your own background graphics, hand histories are available real-time and the SnG blind structure is consistent across buy-ins |
|
|
|
- There's a balanced mix of limit and NL games
- The reload bonuses are geared toward ring game players
- The max number of tables you can play is now 6; you now clear bonuses 2x as fast
- With the recent software upgrades, HHs are stored locally on your hard drive and are accessible real-time
- PokerTracker reads Absolute hand histories automatically |
|
|
For the tournament player
|
|
- The $100k Gtd MTT (Sat, 4:30p EST) sometimes offers an overlay of 20+%
- There are hourly NL MTTs with reasonable buy-ins and manageable fields
- The SnGs have a blind structure that favors skilled players; see our blind structure charts
- The play in the higher buy-in SnGs was loose relative to the gradual blind structure
- The play is the lower buy-in SnGs was as poor as we've seen
- The bonus clearance rate for tournament players is unfavorable |
|
|
|
- The weekly $100K Gtd sometimes offers an overlay or 20+%
- Absolute will give you an unrestricted $10 bonus the first time you use NETeller
- There are hourly freerolls to qualify for the AP Challenge, Absolute's $1000 weekly freeroll
- The definition of "raked hands" is favorable
- The fees in the micro SnGs are 20% |
|
|
|
- There's some action junkies here; the hourly freerolls accept 2,000 max and always fill up
- Don't be fooled by the attrition rate in the freerolls; 80% of the field is gone within 1 hour, but they still run about 5-6 hours
- If you're an enrolled college student, there's a number of programs oriented toward college students (College Poker Challenge, Win Your Tuition, internships, be an on campus agent, fund-raising, etc.) |
|
|
|
| Activity - Limit |
Avg # of tables |
Avg # of players |
Comments |
| 2c/4c |
17 |
90 |
s/h |
| 10c/20c |
14 |
61 |
s/h |
| 25c/50c |
12 |
66 |
90% s/h |
| 50c/$1 |
11 |
59 |
60% s/h |
| $1/$2 |
18 |
110 |
50% s/h |
| $2/$4 |
8 |
44 |
50% s/h |
| $3/$6 |
16 |
72 |
40% s/h |
| $5/$10 |
10 |
48 |
40% s/h |
| $10/$20 |
5 |
15 |
50% s/h |
| $15/$30 |
5 |
10 |
75% s/h |
| $25/$50 |
4 |
13 |
80% s/h |
| $40/$80 |
1 |
0 |
|
| $75/$150 |
2 |
4 |
|
| Activity - NL |
Avg # of tables |
Avg # of players |
Comments |
| 5c/10c |
24 |
130 |
|
| 10c/25c |
22 |
119 |
|
| 25c/50c |
16 |
94 |
|
| 50c/$1 |
13 |
84 |
|
| $1/$2 |
5 |
17 |
|
| $2/$4 |
4 |
16 |
|
| $5/$10 |
1 |
3 |
|
| Link to our complete compilation of action by size of game |
|
|
|
|
| Big daily MTT |
Add to Calendar |
| |
Buy-in |
$50 |
| Entrants |
50 |
| Prize pool |
$2,500 |
| Time (EST) |
21:00 |
| Big weekly MTT |
Add to Calendar |
| |
Buy-in |
$150 + $12 |
| Entrants |
660 |
| Prize pool |
$100,000 gtd |
| Day/Time (EST) |
Sat/16:30 |
| Hourly NL tournaments? |
yes |
$1 to $100; freerolls
|
|
|
|
|
Sit n Gos (active tables)
|
|
| Game |
Avg # of tables |
Time to seat |
Comments |
| 50c + 10c |
30 |
<1 min |
|
| $1 + 20c |
25 |
<1 min |
|
| $2 + 40c |
44 |
<1 min |
|
| $6 + $1 |
22 |
<1 min |
|
| $10 + $1 |
28 |
<2 min |
|
| $20 + $2 |
16 |
<3 min |
|
| $30 + $3 |
4 |
<3 min |
|
| $40 + $4 |
7 |
<10 min |
|
| $65 + $6 |
2 |
10+ min |
|
| $100 + $9 |
1 |
10+ min |
|
| $200 + $10 |
1 |
10+ min |
|
|
|
|
| Link to blind structure |
Link to site's tournament listing |
|
|
|
| Absolute's software always included many useful features (table stats from the lobby, session stats, player notes, etc.), but with a recent upgrade, players can now select from a variety of table graphics, access and review hand histories real-time and multi-table up to 6 tables at once. The lobby is attractive and offers specific table data (flop %s, avg pot size, etc.) easing table selection, but the default table graphics make it hard to follow the action at the table. We recommend changing the table graphics to one of the choices available from the site's web page. On the plus side, the betting buttons are big and intuitive (note: the raise button is a RAISE TO button); it's easy to see betting amounts. Session stats are available at the table and appear in a separate window which you can move to a suitable spot on your dektop. As mentioned above, hand histories are now stored locally on the users hard-drive; they're accessible real-time and viewable via an effective replayer. Other items to note...players get lots of time to act leading to somewhat slower play; both player cards visible during all-ins in both ring games and tournaments; the site allows transfers to other players and offers private tournaments (one of the few sites to do so). |
|
|
|
| With a recent upgrade, hand histories are now stored on your hard drive and available real-time (the layout is similar to that of PokerStars); in addition, the hand replayer has been improved and is very effective. PokerTracker automatically reads Absolute hand histories. |
|
|
|
| Players |
yes |
| Avg pot |
yes |
| Flop% |
yes |
| Wait list |
yes |
| Hands/hr |
yes |
| |
|
|
|
| Session stats |
yes |
| Player notes |
yes |
| Bet amounts |
yes |
| Pot amounts |
yes |
| Max tables (ring) |
6 |
| Max tables (trnys) |
6 |
| |
|
|
|
| Choose own image |
yes |
| Visible profile |
no |
| Player search |
yes |
| Transfer money to player |
yes |
| Private tables |
no |
| Private trnys |
yes |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Date |
User |
Click below for review or trip report |
|
|
If you play this site we would love to hear your experiences.
Please click here.
You can also enter a trip report to share a story about a poker session at this site.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
