UB Bonus
UltimateBet.com, now known as UB, is the flagship skin of the new CEREUS Poker Network. Sponsored by poker greats Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, UltimateBet is home to a large number of players. American players are also welcome as UB is one of the US friendly poker sites on the internet today. UB had been criticized in recent years for lax security and bad customer support but has promised to upgrade all aspects of the site since their union with the CEREUS network.
If you're a fan of large bonuses, your search ends here because the UB Bonus is quite impressive. With a whopping 111% match on all initial deposits for a maximum of $1100, UB.com proposes a great bonus for new registrants. The only thing you have to do is type in the UB bonus code of FTR111 when you make your initial poker deposit. However, it's first important to grasp the technicalities behind how you're going to get your UB bonus.
First some base info. Your first step is to, of course, make a UB download. After you've got the software running, you have access to the cashier. When you make your first ever real-cash deposit, UBPoker gives you additional dollars equal to 111% of the money you deposited, up to $1100. These additional dollars are not yet yours to keep. In order to use your bonus dollars, you need to get Status Points. You will do this by playing poker hands in real cash games, whether it be cash or MTT poker.
Now you will see how the UB bonus clearing works. For every 20 Status Points you obtain, $1 of your extra money is released. Every time you get 100 status points, you get a deposit of $5 put into your bank. If you make a first deposit of $1000 (and thus receive $1100 extra dollars), you need to acquire 22,000 status points to free the full $1100. There is one problem, though: you are only allowed 60 days to earn all of your extra dollars before you lose the ones that remain unreleased.
The next question is how do you obtain these Status Points? For tournaments, you receive one status point for any $0.30 of entry fee (so in a $30+3 tournament, you'd obtain 10 status points). For ring games, you obtain Status Points depending on how high stakes it is. This is the chart they use to decide your Status Points:
No Limit
$0.01/0.02 - 1 point apiece per 15 hands
$0.02/0.04 - 1 point for every 10 hands
$0.05/0.10 - 1 point apiece per 10 hands
$0.10/0.25 - 1 point per 5 hands
$0.25/0.50 - 1 point apiece per 3 hands
$0.50/1.00 - 1 point for every 2 hands
$1.00/2.00 - 1 point apiece per hand
$2.00/4.00 through $5.00/10.00 - 1.5 points for every hand
$10.00/20.00 and higher - 2 points per hand
Limit
$0.01/0.02 - 1 point per 20 hands
$0.02/0.04 - 1 point per 20 hands
$0.05/0.10 - 1 point per 15 hands
$0.10/0.20 - 1 point for every 15 hands
$0.25/0.50 - 1 point per 10 hands
$0.50/1.00 - 1 point for every 5 hands
$1.00/2.00 - 1 point apiece per 2 hands
$2.00/4.00 - 1 point for every hand
$3.00/6.00 - 1.5 points for every hand
$4.00/8.00 and up - 2 points for each hand
So, for instance, you'd have to participate in 22,000 hands of $1.00/2.00 no-limit poker within 60 days in order to clear the total $1100 bonus. If you're playing lower stakes like $0.10/0.25, you'd be required to participate in 110,000 hands. If you think that you can do this, then UB.com clearly proposes a good bonus deal for you. One huge benefit of this bonus is that because you get the cash in $5 allowances, you can deposit as much as you would like and not need to worry about being unable to clear the bonus. You might not get the maximum value, but something is of course better than nothing.
And finally, I'd like to end with some caution: for new players especially, the temptation to try to clear this bonus quicker by gambling with higher stakes is always there. Don't let this affect your bankroll management! When you're at low stakes, the UB bonus can be a long grind, but attempting to play higher than your bankroll can handle will probably harm you more than it will benefit you when it's all said and done.
