BETONLINE poker review

Anyone who knows their online gambling history will be familiar with the BetOnline brand. Still, you may not know that they’ve got a thriving online poker scene. They’ve been running a real money online poker operation for over a decade, and I decided to check it out for myself.

I created my account, made a deposit, and started playing. I looked at everything BetOnline had to offer, whether it was cash games, tournaments, Sit N Gos, or mixed games–if there was a game running, I played it.

However, I did more than just look at the quality of the games. To give you a complete picture of the site’s user experience, I looked at the customer support team, the site layout, the banking options, the bonuses and promotions, and much more!

Once I had all the data I needed, I analyzed everything, using my decade of experience in the industry to create this review.

PROS AND CONS

When choosing a poker site, weighing the pros and cons to see if it’s worth your time and money is essential. In this review, I’ve outlined what I feel are the critical points to consider when looking at BetOnline Poker.

BONUS AND PROMOTIONS

BetOnline Casino hasn’t remained at the top of the poker industry for over two decades without serving up some serious promotions. The promotions page is packed with goodies to keep your balance healthy throughout the week.

POKER GAME SELECTION

BetOnline Poker has an extensive range of poker games and some unique twists on classics.

CASH GAMES

BetOnline offers a great variety of cash-game options, with limits starting at as little as $0.05/$0.10 and going as high as $5/$10. I found that the cash games were always busy all hours of the day, so you won’t have any trouble finding a table. The games on offer at BetOnline are No-Limit Hold ’em, Omaha, Omaha 8 or better, and 5 Card Omaha.

One thing that I liked was the straddle games that are available for PLO and PLO5. These games give players the option to straddle preflop, making the games a lot more interesting. I would like to see the same option applied to the Hold’em table, as it would help prevent the solver-geeks from taking over.

However, I was slightly disappointed that they only had fast-fold poker (called Boost Poker) available for $0.05/$0.10 and $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold’em. I’d like to see that implemented across the stake levels and have PLO options in the future.

SIT AND GOS

The Sit N Go games are the bread and butter of BetOnline Poker–there’s a vast selection to dive into. The various Sit N Go options offer prizes from a few bucks to tens of thousands of dollars. So, naturally, I played a lot of Sit N Gos at a BetOnline; after all, who can resist such a large prize?

The Sit N Go games at BetOnline are split into two; you’ve got your classic Sit N Go games on one tab and the Windfall Sit N Gos on the other. The classic SNG selection at BetOnline is extensive, with almost every type of Sit N Go imaginable. They have double-or-nothing games, turbo games, hyper turbo games, PKOs, 6-max, 9-max, 8-max, and heads-up games, so no matter what you enjoy, you’ll find it here. The games range from $1.50 up to $60, and there are SNG satellites that are even cheaper.

The other Sit N Go format is the Windfall games. These games sit you down with two other players, and your prize pool will be selected at random. You can choose between three different game types, Flips, Windfall, and Jackpot SNGs. The Flips games are what they sound like – a flip. When you buy in, you’re put all in on the first hand, and the winner of the flip wins the game. Jackpot and Windfall SNGs allow for more play, but the action is still fast-paced, so you need to accumulate chips. The buy-ins range from $3 to $30, where you can win up to $150K in the $30 Jackpot SNGs.

POKER TOURNAMENTS

BetOnline offers up a solid range of poker tournaments, catering to all budgets and days of the week. Whenever I logged onto the site, there was a tournament running that I could hop right into, often with solid guarantees. However, it would be nice to see a larger range of options, as a few early bust-outs could see you with nothing to play for an hour or two.

The tournaments offer the chance to grab huge prizes with decent prize pots. Some of the tournaments currently running include the Sunday Majors, Nightly Monsters, Progressive Bounties, Rebuy Frenzy, and Omaha events. 

The poker platform does a great job presenting its tournament offering with clear rules and transparent prize pools.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO PLAY?

While many people focus on the games a site offers or the bonuses and promotions they can claim, they often neglect one of the most important aspects – what it’s like to play on the site. Having quality poker software is one of those things that you don’t often notice when you have it, but boy, do you notice it when it’s not there! Anyone who’s tried to grind on a poker site with shitty software will tell you that. 

So, the big question is, what’s it like to play on BetOnline? In short – amazing! The software is fantastic; it looks great, it’s really easy to use, and it has pretty much everything you could want from an online poker site. In fact, there’s very little to nitpick about the site, as everything is geared towards creating an optimal poker-playing experience.

The tables look sleek and modern, with all the information easily readable. There are a number of customizable options available, allowing you to change the cards, the table felt, and the background color. You can even select a four-colored deck to make it easier to spot flushes.

One of the best things about playing at BetOnline is the number of settings you have to choose from. That may not sound like a blockbuster feature, but having the ability to alter the site to your wants and needs helps to create an optimal playing experience. You can change the animation, you can change how player chats appear on the screen, and you can even change the volume of the sound effects on a granular level.

However, the best of the settings available are those that affect the gameplay. While some sites won’t let you alter the betting buttons, BetOnline allows you to have up to 7 different bet buttons, all of which are fully customizable. You can choose to set the buttons as a percentage of the pot, a certain number of BBs, a fraction of the pot, or a multiple of BBs. There are even two separate options for preflop and postflop, giving you full control over how you bet.

Navigating your way through the BetOnline Poker lobby is also a breeze, as every tab is clearly labeled at the top of the screen. All you need to do is click on a tab and choose the game you want to play from the options below. There’s even a filter option if you want to find a specific game that you’ve been itching to play.

WEB VERSION VS POKER CLIENT

One of the selling points of BetOnline is that you can choose to play it from the poker client or through a web browser. While many people prefer to play via the poker client, playing from a browser has become increasingly popular, as it gives you access to the games without the need to download software onto your machine. This makes it perfect for people playing on devices such as Chromebooks that can’t install standard software. Plus, BetOnline offers its full range of games to both browser and client players, so you’ll never miss out on the great games it has to offer.

The web version of the BetOnline lobby is very similar to that of the poker client, so if you jump back and forth between the two, there’s little chance of you getting confused! While we’d like to show you what the poker client looks like, the software cannot be picked up by any screen-capturing software, so you’ll have to take our word for it that the two look similar!

The design of the lobby is great, as it provides a clear, easy-to-navigate way to find all of your favorite poker games. The poker formats are clearly delineated into different tabs, and once you click on your chosen tab, it’s easy to find the game you want to play.

One thing you’ll notice playing on the web browser is that each table is loaded within a unique window, so you’ll need to have pop-ups enabled if you want to see what’s happening! Once you’ve loaded your tables, you’ll find that both the web and client designs are, again, very similar, but they look so good you won’t even care. Everything is readily available from the table, so whether you want to top-up, change some settings, or add another table, you can easily do it while you’re playing.

MULTI-TABLE

The multitabling options on the site are good, but this is one of the few areas where it could use a slight improvement. When tiling your tables during a multi-tabling session, BetOnline will order your tables in the middle of the screen. However, if you have too many to fit across your screen, you have to select the “Resize and Tile” option, which makes your tables small enough to fit across your screen. I’d prefer to see them make full use of both dimensions available on my monitor, as the text gets a bit hard to read when the tables get small enough!

That’s really the biggest gripe I could find while playing at BetOnline, which is a testament to just how good the software is. If having quality software is important to you, I can highly recommend playing at BetOnline.

FEATURES OF THE SITE

BetOnline is a site that does a lot of things right. While there are no stand-out features that elevate this site above its peers, it’s the collection of small quality-of-life features that make this site a grinder’s dream. Let’s take a look at some of those features.

WHAT IT’S MISSING

While there are plenty of things that are great about BetOnline, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I couldn’t find at least one or two nitpicks to talk about. So, in the interest of balance, here are a couple of things that I think BetOnline is lacking.

DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS

BetOnline Poker makes it easy for players to fund their play with diverse payment options. Thanks to the robust SSL encryption layered into the platform’s security, I always felt safe when making a transaction with the site and never had any problems finding a banking method to use. The payment options include all reputable banking services, such as Visa and Mastercard, American Express, Discovery, and crypto. You can send funds through Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. If you’re new to digital currencies, you can consult the help guides that educate you on making crypto deposits and withdrawals.

Cashing out your winnings is fast and free, with the crypto options offering the quickest route to your winnings. The cash-out times for regular payments take a little longer due to the manual processing. In contrast, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are self-sufficient, and I found the withdrawal times much quicker.

MOBILE GAMING

I found the mobile version of the poker platform clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate. The simple menus and intuitive structures mean you can seamlessly move around the site and pick out games and tournaments. In addition, the full suite of poker games is available on mobile, so you aren’t restricted. There are apps for both Android and iOS users, with the iOS app being recently released by BetOnline. However, if you don’t want to download an app, you’re free to play directly from your web browser.

The mobile site allows instant access to the other product offering, including the racebook, eSports betting, and casino. It was nice to have a one-stop betting site on my phone, as the mobile site is something I used a lot during my time. In addition, the process of making payments has been streamlined on mobile, and the gameplay window is immersive, so you can enjoy an uncompromising experience from the palm of your hand. However, the site can be a little slow at times if you are not connected to a strong network, so it’s better to be linked to solid Wi-Fi.

CUSTOMER SERVICE OPTIONS

BetOnline Poker has a comprehensive help centre where you can find answers to the most general questions across games, bonuses, payments and more. In addition, you can reach out to the customer support team through live chat, email, or phone if you have a more pressing issue. The customer support operation is available around the clock, and the support agents provide a friendly and efficient response. The email reply times are also top-notch, with a response reaching your inbox within 24 hours. That being said, I recommend contacting their live chat team if you want a quick answer–they’re extremely helpful and can often resolve your issue there and then.

WHAT MAKES THIS POKER SITE UNIQUE?

BetOnline Poker has several standout points that make this site an attractive proposition. The first is the large choice of crypto payment options, not only does it accept Bitcoin and Ethereum, but you can find a variety of other popular digital currencies, such as Cardano and Tether.

When it comes to gameplay, users can enjoy an intuitive gameplay window with simple controls, so newbies and pros can bet with little effort. The poker platform is backed by a huge team of experts that keep up with the latest industry innovations, always refining and improving the product. Finally, the site brings in a lot of poker traffic, so there’s plenty of action taking place at any time, with most made up by US players.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

BetOnline Poker has done a great job maintaining its position in a crowded market. This online poker platform has seen some developments over the years to keep up with players’ demands, and I enjoyed the wide array of tournaments on offer. I also found the frequent promotions to be a nice boost to my bankroll.

The mobile version of the site provides on-the-go poker without compromise, which is a critical box for me, and, I’m sure, for many other players.

Overall, BetOnline is committed to providing a top-tier experience for its players, and that’s why I think it’s one of the best out there.

Is BetOnline not for you? Check out how other poker sites compare:

Rating

Welcome Bonus

Known For

Type of Player

Mobile Capabilities

Payment Speed

Min/Max Withdrawal

RECOMMENDED

Play Now

Rating

5/5

Rated 5/5 stars.

Welcome Bonus

150% Up To $1500

Known For

Anonymous Tables

Type of Player

Beginner

Mobile Capabilities

Mobile Browser

Payment Speed

1-2 Days

Min/Max Withdrawal

$10/$9,500

Play Now

Rating

4.5/5

Rated 4.5/5 stars.

Welcome Bonus

100% Up To $1000

Known For

Crypto Payment Options

Type of Player

Intermediate

Mobile Capabilities

Mobile App

Payment Speed

1-7 Days

Min/Max Withdrawal

$20/$2,500

Play Now

Rating

4.9/5

Rated 4.9/5 stars.

Welcome Bonus

100% Up To $500

Known For

Anonymous Tables

Type of Player

Beginner

Mobile Capabilities

Mobile Browser

Payment Speed

1-2 Days

Min/Max Withdrawal

$10/$9,500