Ladbrokes Poker Review
Ladbrokes Poker Review
Overview
Ladbrokes Poker is one of the top Texas Holdem sites for overseas poker players. Since joining the Microgaming Network Ladbrokes has seen a recent boost in player action throughout all of their Texas Holdem games. Even more interesting is that members can choose to play against the entire Network or just compete with those playing specifically on Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes has top notch software, good customer support, and a large variety of games and stakes.
In addition to Texas Holdem, Ladbrokes also offers Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 5 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw, 7 Card Stud, and Razz. For those interested in more than just poker Ladbrokes also offers an online casino, sportsbook, bingo hall, and even financial market betting. These extra games tend to attract a lot of weaker players into the poker room who enjoy gambling it up. The toughness of play is definitely softer due to the fact that they do not accept play from Americans. Being a European-based site tends to bring in a lot of loose gamblers who will help your bankroll swell in no time.
Tournament and SNG grinders will be pleased to know Ladbrokes.com has a healthy variety of formats and big guaranteed tournaments. SNGs run 24 hours a day starting at less than $1 and have many different blind structures including turbo games and even the very popular double-or-nothing events. While the scheduled tournaments have yet to truly take off, they should be receiving more and more traffic as the Microgaming Network continues to grow.
Texas Holdem
One of the reasons Ladbrokes is a top Texas Holdem site is there is considerably more action in their Texas Holdem games than every other form of poker combined. The Microstakes cash games start as low as €.02/€.04 blinds and are very easy to beat. Whether you're playing Fixed Limit, Pot-Limit, or NL Holdem there will be plenty of games to choose from at the lower stakes games all the way up to €1/€2 blinds. Ladbrokes runs heads-up games as well which start at €.05/€.10 and go up to €50/€100. The higher stakes cash games do not receive a lot of action and tend to be full of solid regulars waiting for fish to sit. While Ladbrokes is a top Texas Holdem Site for micro and small stakes play, there is still not enough action at the higher stakes for more skilled players.
The most popular SNGs at Ladbrokes are their NL turbo, super turbo, extreme, and double-up structures. Buy-ins start as low as €.50+€.10 and include 5-handed, 10-handed, and heads-up play. There are always multiple smaller stakes games running in each format which is great for those looking to boost their winrate. No matter the time of day you will be able to find plenty of action up to the €20 buy-ins. Those wanting to gamble it up at higher stakes will have trouble finding games. The highest stakes offered are €100+€9 and rarely fill up. The majority of the games are dead past the €20+€2 level.
For tournament players Ladbrokes starts at €1 + €.10 and is highlighted by their Saturday €5k Guarantee with a €100+€9 buy-in. The lower buy-ins can get up to 1,000 players and even then tend to have some nice overlay. There are many different formats including re-buys, turbo blinds, and deep-stack events. Their tournament schedule is not quite up there with other top Texas Holdem sites but it is growing, and Ladbrokes seems committed to competing with other European sites in the near future.
Bonus
Ladbrokes.com is home to one of the most lucrative initial deposit bonuses on the internet. Instead of the industry average match bonus, Ladbrokes offers the possibility of a 2,000% up to $1,000 initial deposit bonus. By using the code FTRBONUS when signing up you could potentially turn as little as $50 into $1,000! The amount of money you earn depends solely on how many raked hands you play with in 45 days of your initial deposit. A "raked hand" is one where you were dealt cards and the rake reached at least $.25. The following shows how many hands it takes to clear certain bonus numbers
$50 - 600 Raked Hands
$100 - 1,200 Raked Hands
$250 - 3,000 Raked Hands
$500 - 5,500 Raked Hands
$1000 - 10,000 Raked Hands
It's fairly obvious it will take quite a large amount of hands to receive $1,000 in bonus money. Players have a month and a half which should be enough for those enjoy who grinding small stakes games. While you will participate in more raked hands at higher stakes, the action at those levels is fairly non-existent which will hurt your chances to receive the maximum bonus. The best strategy for those with a bankroll large enough will be to play multiple stakes in order to play the required number of hands. Once your 45 days are up you must submit a claim found on the Ladbrokes Poker site in order to receive your bonus. It is important to note that you must fill out the form to receive your money.

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