Betfair Poker Room Review

Poker Room Reviews > Betfair Poker Room Review

Pros

  • Multi-tabling support (up to 16 tables simultaneously)
  • Uses iPoker Software
  • Welcome Bonus up to €1,000
  • Daily tournaments
  • Dedicated apps for Windows, iOS

Cons

  • Limited multi-tabling support for Instant Play
  • Does not accept players from the US

Table of Contents

History of Betfair

Considered the largest poker room that uses iPoker software, Betfair Poker has been around for more than a decade now and is seemingly not slowing down any time soon. Betfair’s poker room debuted in 2004 during the online poker boom of that time and was initially powered by Cryptologic’s poker software (licensed from WagerLogic Limited). However, the partnership with Cryptologic (which at that time was one of the largest poker networks) didn’t last long, as Betfair moved to purchase PokerChamps the following year. The justification for the purchase was for the company to use the PokerChamps platform and its software company Aglet for its own stand-alone poker room. Unfortunately, the platform suffered from a lot of bugs and the company had to again move the poker room in 2007 to avoid compromising its users’ playing experience further.

After breaking away from PokerChamps, Betfair proceeded to join the Ongame Network. The move proved to be a good decision since Ongame proved to be stable and had none of the bugs that plagued PokerChamp’s platform. The poker room stayed with Ongame platform up until 2013 when the company decided to again move. With NYX’s platform steadily losing players, Betfair decided to join Playtech’s iPoker2 Network instead.

Betfair Live Tournaments

Much like the rest of the poker rooms under the iPoker network, Betfair Poker has not sponsored any live tournaments. Instead, the poker room has largely focused on attracting more casual players with its wide selection of online tournaments.

Betfair Poker Online Tournaments

Players get to choose from a number of online tournaments to play once they’ve registered for their Betfair Poker accounts. For players who want low buy-ins but still want to win big, the poker room offers fun Twister Sit & Go tournaments. What’s so great about these tournaments is their multipliers (from 2x to as much as 1,000x) that give players the chance to win as much as €50,000 (depending on the buy-in). Ifplayers are more into higher-stakes,competitive poker then they might also want to check out the rest of Betfair’s tournament lineup. Tournaments that feature €5,000 in guaranteed prizes include Tea Time, Deep Run, Brawl, and Master. Buy-ins for these typically start at around €20 and – depending on the tournament – could go as high as €100. Players looking for even larger prize pools can try €10,000 Special One and Phoenix tournaments that have €10 and €20 buy-ins respectively.

The poker room also features a Sunday Premium tournament with a €50 buy-in and a whopping €25,000 in guaranteed prizes. There’s also €10 Starter and Phoenix tournaments with €3,000 in guaranteed prizes on both. Also, depending on the day, players can expect the poker room to schedule even more tournaments.

Betfair Sponsored Poker Pros

Since it does not sponsor any live tournaments, Betfair Poker has largely held off from also sponsoring professional poker players. Perhaps the closest to a sponsorship Betfair had was when it acquired PokerChamps back in 2005. At that time, PokerChamps was known for having then 3-time champion Gus Hansen as the face of the platform (as well as being an investor). Unfortunately, Betfair didn’t offer a sponsorship for Hansen following the acquisition of the platform.

Betfair Welcome Bonus

By registering for a Betfair Poker account, players will get to enjoy a generous welcome offer. The poker room will instantly provide players with a 200% match bonus that can go as high as €1,000. In addition, players will get a €5 multi-table tournament token, a casino slot bonus worth €10, as well as increased Wild Twister token earnings for their first 90 days. Much like other online poker rooms, players can convert their bonuses to real cash just by joining cash games/tournaments. As of this writing, the poker room converts the bonuses in increments of €10. Before the poker room converts their bonuses though, players will first need to accumulate Status Points. Every time they spend €1 in rakes or tournament fees, the poker room will give players 25 Status Points. For the poker room to release a €10 increment, players will need to make sure that they at least have 1,250 Status Points.

Playing Betfair Poker on your Devices

There are a number of ways for players to access Betfair Poker. For players who prefer to play from the comfort of their homes, a dedicated client is available for them to download and install on their desktops/laptops. It should be noted though that the dedicated client will only run on computers that use the Windows operating system. If they’re on Mac or Linux then players would have to make do with accessing the poker room through the Instant Play option. For those who would like to play on the go, Betfair Poker has them covered as well. Players with iOS devices should have a relatively easy time searching for the poker room’s dedicated mobile app in the App Store. If using an Android device, however, players will need to access the site on their device’s browser instead. This is because Google has walled off real money gambling apps from its Play Store. With that said, players should still be able to enjoy everything the poker room has to offer regardless if they’re on a dedicated mobile/desktop app or on their browsers.

Betfair Licensing

Betfair Poker is currently managed by a company that’s headquartered in Malta called PPB Entertainment Ltd. It has a license regulated by both the UK Gambling Commission (for players in the UK) and the Malta Gaming Authority. In addition to these, Betfair also has licenses from regulatory bodies in Australia, Denmark, Italy, Gibraltar, Spain, and even the USA. It’s important to note though that some of these licenses are limited to the sportsbook or online casino.

Ownership of Betfair

As of this writing, Betfair Poker is owned by Paddy Power Betfair. This is a company born out of the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair back in 2015. Initially, the brand was owned by Betfair Group plc. This company was founded in June 2000 just when the online casino gaming and sportsbook industry was just taking off. Founded by Andrew Black and Edward Wray, the brand started out as a sports book and betting exchange mainly targeted at players residing in the UK. By the time 2004 came around, the brand had then debuted its own poker room. At that point in time, the company that owned the Betfair brand was still called The Sporting Exchange Limited.

Paddy Power on the other hand, was founded earlier in 1998. It initially started out as the merger of three bookmakers: Stewart Kenny, John Corcorran, and David Power. These bookmakers owned a combined 42 shops and were based in Dublin, Ireland. By 2000, the company was successful enough that it managed to launch its first website as well as be floated on the Irish Stock exchange. In 2003, the company then launched a proper sportsbetting and casino site that was aptly named Paddy Power Games and Casino.

Before long, both of these brands found success in the UK and European market. After some growing pains with its first two poker platforms, Betfair partnered with NYX to make use of its Ongame poker platform in 2007. While it, too, had its fair share of problems, this partnership was generally good enough for Betfair to stay with Ongame up until 2012. With its platform starting to lose players, however, Betfair found itself jumping to Playtech’s iPoker2 Network. The move paid dividends as Playtech’s platform was decidedly more stable than prior poker room platforms that the company used.

Betfair Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Does Betfair Poker take US players?

Answer: Betfair Poker unfortunately does not accept players in the United States. While it is possible for American players to access Betfair’s betting exchange through TVG, it is limited to just those in the states of Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey. More importantly, players in these states won’t be able to access the main site’s poker room or its online casino.

Question: Does the software allow for playing at multiple tables at once?

Answer: Much like most modern poker rooms, Betfair Poker features support for multi-tabling. Players who use the poker room’s dedicated desktop client should have no problems managing a maximum of 16 tables at once. However, the same can’t be said for Instant Play. It’s important to note though that players who try to access the poker room on their browsers/Instant Play will be limited to just one table at a time. Much like with the desktop client, players should also have no issues buying in to multiple tables on the poker room’s mobile apps.

Question: Is there a VIP & Loyalty rewards program for frequent players?

Answer: The Betfair Poker VIP Club is designed to reward online poker players for their continued deposits and activity. This program has three levels and players automatically start out at Bronze. In order to progress to the Silver and Gold levels, players will need to meet specific point-accrual requirements. Every time a player spends at least €1 in rake or tournament fees, the poker room will reward him/her with 25 Status Points (30 if £1). The players’ VIP Level will then determine the amount of VIP Poker Points (VPPs) they’ll receive for their activity in the poker room. For Bronze- and Silver-level players, their VPPs issued in a given month are equal to the Status Points they’ve earned multiplied by 3. Topping that, Gold players will enjoy a 5.25 multiplier applied to their Status Points for their monthly VPPs. Once they’ve managed to accumulate at least 3,750 VPPs, players can then have these exchanged for €10 to be credited straight to their poker room accounts.

Question: What are the wagering requirements of the signup bonus?

Answer: Betfair Poker’s welcome bonus package has surprisingly reasonable wagering requirements. The main 200% match bonus that can go as high as €1,000 can be redeemed for real cash in increments of €10. To accomplish this, players need to earn 1,250 Status Points. As mentioned earlier, earning 25 Status Points will require the player to generate at least €1 in rake and/or tournament fees. The poker room will give players 90 days from their initial deposit to fully redeem their bonus. As for the €10 casino game bonus, the poker room will require players to wager 40 times the amount before any winnings that resulted from it can be credited to their accounts. Importantly it should be noted though that the poker room only gives players 7 days to use this bonus before it expires. Unlike the match bonus and the casino games bonus, the Twister and multi-table tournament tokens don’t have any wagering requirements.

Question: Can I wager my welcome bonus on casino games or on the sportsbook?

Answer: As detailed earlier, Betfair Poker’s welcome package consists of a 200% match bonus and a €10 casino games bonus. The 200% match bonus can’t be used on any of the games on Betfair’s casino section (or in the betting exchange). On the other hand, the casino games bonus is only usable on titles that are on the poker client as opposed to what players will find in the online casino. Conversely, players won’t be able to use bonuses from the online casino or betting exchange sections in the poker room. It should be noted though that once players manage to redeem the bonus for real cash, they can opt to have the money transferred to their main Betfair wallet. Once here, players can then proceed to deposit these funds to their betting exchange or online casino wallets.