Bwin Poker
One of the granddaddy’s of online poker, Bwin was established back in 1999 and acquired the Ongame Poker Network in 2005 to become one of the largest poker networks in the world. Bwin Poker has everything one would expect from the biggest poker room on the network – a killer website, fantastic graphics, excellent software, great game selection and plenty of player traffic.
Catering to a large international player base, the Bwin Poker is available in over 20 different languages. However, at this time Bwin is no longer accepting US players.
Bwin’s software is one of the best and kink-free in the industry, scoring high on all levels for usability, flexibility and visual appeal. Everybody can play at Bwin Poker regardless of their operating system; a no-download flash version is available, and both Mac and PC users have the added option of a download version! The software allows players to customize just about everything including multiple table settings, sound effects, deck colors, and even customized avatars. Other interesting features include full game/player statistics, multi-table functionality (up to 12 tables) and even language/time zone options.
Game selection at Bwin is pretty decent with Texas Holdem, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, and Five Card Draw to be found at all regular limits and table sizes. Stakes start at $0.10/0.20 all the way up to $1,000/2,000. If you’re looking for tournaments, Bwin hosts tons of tournaments every day from freerolls and qualifiers to daily/weekly guaranteed events ranging from $25,000 to $75,000. The Grand tournament, Bwin Poker’s flagship tournament, takes place on the last weekend of every month and has a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000.
Bwin’s player base is large. You can find up to 5,500 ring-game players and 15,000 tournament players during peak hours (May 2009). Even with plenty of players coming over from their other betting sites, the players at Bwin are not to be underestimated. Expect some decent competition from fairly competent players at the mid-high levels, though there are still plenty of fish to be found at the lower levels.
Customer support is available via phone, email and fax. However, the support center is only open from 10:00am – 22:00pm (GMT+1). It is a little surprising that 24 hour support is not offered given Bwin’s extensive international player base, and a live-chat option would greatly improve our estimation of their customer service.
Overall, Bwin poker scores high with its clear record and long history in the online gaming industry, flexible software that delivers, plenty of games and tournaments to choose from, and a nice large player base that provides for players at every competition level.
