Absolute Poker welcomes players from the United States regardless of the particular region of the country that they might be from and they quite boldly declare this on almost all of the material that you read from their website.  They put a lot of time and effort into promoting their website to players from the United States and for that reason they have been rewarded by a number of players leaving websites like Party Poker when they closed down their operations to US players a couple of years ago.

Absolute Poker - Poker Software

The overall poker software is decent in Absolute Poker, although at the same time it is also important to remember that a large portion of the software is not unique.  They share a lot of their sound bites with Poker Stars, while a large section of the design is modelled after Paradise Poker.  This melding together of different aspects into a wholly different software package has been somewhat successful as while the graphics and sounds have created a very realistic gaming experience, at the same time the functionality of the software is somewhat reduced by delays every now and then.  These are not enough to detract from the playing experience however.

Absolute Poker - Game Play

In terms of game play, all of the major poker variants from Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha and Stud variations of the game are available.  You can play these in at least two of the three betting structures available on the website (limit, pot limit and no limit) and at the same time you can also use Absolute Poker to play games for as small as pennies a bet or as large as hundreds of dollars per bet.  With Absolute Poker, the choice is most definitely yours to make.

Absolute Poker - Tournament Information

Absolute Poker is actually probably known more for its tournaments than for its cash games and this is one of the reasons that more American players like to play on Absolute Poker than on many of the other mid-sized poker sites that are accepting of players from the US.  Their poker tournaments include freerolls, guaranteed prize pool tournaments, regularly scheduled tournaments, sit and go tournaments and specialty tournaments like qualifiers, shootouts and freeze outs.  Sit and go filling speed is moderately slow, but you can play ring games while you are waiting so this deficiency is minimized.

Absolute Poker- House Rake

The rake schedule that Absolute Poker utilizes is actually one of the more complicated rake schedules in the online poker business.  The actual rake that is taken varies between 5% and 10% depending on the game being played, the betting structure, the limits and the number of players at the table.  A fully detailed rake schedule can be found at http://www.absolutepoker.com/banking/rakeSchedule.asp.

There are two main bonuses to take note of from Absolute Poker as well as a number of minor promotions.

The main bonus is a 100% first time deposit bonus that you can use to get a maximum of $500.  At the same time however, Absolute Poker is known as one of the most generous online poker sites vis-à-vis reload bonuses and this is for good reason.  Absolute Poker reload bonuses occur at least once a month and they can allow you to make a few hundred dollars a month just from Absolute Poker alone.

Absolute Poker- Traffic Report

The competition at Absolute Poker used to be full of weak-tight players, but the influx of US players that they got two years ago has allowed them to host games that are high-action, especially at the lower levels.  Between $2/$4 and $10/$20 however you will find that many of the different games are full of people that are trying to collect the bonuses; this means that you are apt to find a lot of rock gardens in those limits.

Absolute Poker- Player Options

Multi-tabling is allowed at Absolute Poker and it is pretty much just limited to the number of tables your system can handle, although the software itself tends to slow down as you add more tables.  The software window itself allows you to choose a four colour deck if you want, with other player options including the ability to chat, take notes on your opponent, see your session statistics and request a hand history.

Absolute Poker- Customer Service

Customer service is available around the clock from Absolute Poker.  Your first source of customer service is the FAQ that they have on their website.  If that particular form of customer service fails to help you, then you can e-mail then choosing from the following e-mail addresses:

support@absolutepoker.com for general enquiries

promotions@absolutepoker.com for questions about bonuses

techsupport@absolutepoker.com for questions regarding the software layout

cashier@absolutepoker.com for questions regarding your particular banking difficulties

Absolute Poker- Deposit Options

The following deposit options are available to you:

1) Visa
2) MasterCard
3) Moneybookers
4) Fast Bank Transfer
5) ClickandBuy
6) Click2Pay
7) PaySafeCard
8) Ukash
9) Check By Mail
10) Bank Wire
11) UK Debit Card
12) NETeller

Absolute Poker- Cash Out Policy

Absolute Poker does not allow cashing out of amounts less than $50.  For every non-credit card deposit option, cash outs will be done through the same method, with credit card depositors getting to choose the method they would like the cash out.  For any cash outs that are larger than $3000 in American currency, you will also be required to submit a document to verify that you are the individual that the account is registered in.