Pros:
- Soft competition thanks to the sportsbook and casino
- Very solid lobby software for Mac
- Good tournament and Sit & Go schedule
- Cash games at all levels including the micro-stakes
Cons:
- USA players are not allowed to play here
- Somewhat dated table graphics
- Promotions don’t compare well with other poker sites
About bWin
The Ongame Network’s flagship site is bwin.com, which is based in Europe and does not accept players from the United States. The main reason you would want to play at bwin.com is because they have a downloadable Mac-compliant software client and their player pool is regarded as being extremely soft. If you are not a high volume player and want to play against a bunch of fish, you might have found your site here. The lobby software is fantastic and will get you to whatever game you are looking for in a matter of seconds. The table software offers great controls for betting but has somewhat dated graphics.
Tournaments
Tournament players will have plenty to do at bwin.com as there are tons of small stakes buy-in tournaments running around the clock. Daily freerolls give you a chance to win some money and risk nothing, and the “Lucky Dollar” tournaments cost just $1 and offer prize pools in excess of $500. Some of the featured tournaments include the $20,000 European Daily that has a $100 buy-in and the $25,000 Highroller event with a $500 buy-in. Other tournaments like these run every single day – tournament players will love the schedules offered here.
Cash Games
The cash tables at bwin.com run a little different than in other sites, as short-handed tables are played with five players and full ring games have ten. The smallest games on the site have $0.02-$0.04 blinds. There are plenty of levels in the Micro and Small Stakes games if you are looking to build your bankroll. During peak hours there are plenty of Medium Stakes games, defined as $0.50-$1 blinds through $2-$4 games. For a site of this size there’s actually a fair amount of High Stakes games, starting at $3-$6 tables with regular $5-$10 games happening as well, although both levels at the High Stakes are exclusively 5-max tables.
Traffic
The Ongame Network is the fifth largest in the world, meaning bwin.com gets its fair share of traffic, especially during European peak hours. There are plenty of cash games to jump into at all stakes levels and the tournaments are very well populated regardless of buy-in.
Promotions
The promotions that run at bwin.com aren’t quite up to par with the other sites. At the time of this review, they had three promotions running.
- Final Table. A new Sit & Go format that offers exciting action.
- UK Contender Series. Tickets are awarded every month for freerolls that offer big prizes.
- League of Champions. A series of freerolls that allow players to win a VIP package that includes game tickets and spending money.
Overall
For those of you that love to play in soft tournaments and don’t play a high volume amount of cash tables, bwin.com might be for you. Since the competition is pretty soft there’s ample reason right there to check it out. The software here is pretty solid and you’ll find the lobby to be very easy to use. Overall, this is a great site for Europeans to enjoy on their Apple computers.
Visit: bwin.com