The Full Betsafe Poker Review

What You Can Expect from the Betsafe Poker Bonus

If you’ve come in search of a welcome bonus, you’re in luck. Unlike some of its competitors, this operator does provide a specific Betsafe poker bonus for its new players. On the face of things, it seems pretty lucrative – promising a 100% deposit match of up to £2,000. Let’s see if there’s more to it.

First of all, in order to become eligible for the deal you will need to register an account with Betsafe online poker. If you already have an account with which you access the site’s casino and sports betting fare, you can use these details. Next, you need to download the poker client and choose an alias. This is easy to do and doesn’t take too much time.

Now for the fine print – the bonus match is released in 10 parts over the course of 60 days. You can work towards the bonus requirements in any of the site’s tournaments, and you can check in on your progress at any time by looking at the “My Bonuses” section of your account.

Additional Deals and Promo Codes

While many other sites provide promo codes for additional deals, Betsafe does not currently have any promo code offers. If you click on the ‘Promotions’ section of the site, you’ll get a full overview of what’s on offer – which currently consists of just the welcome deal, tournament info and VIP rewards.

The VIP rewards are pretty interesting, though. All players qualify for the scheme, with points being accumulated every time you play in tournaments or cash games. The more points you collect, the higher you can climb through the VIP tiers, increasing your cashback award percentage.

How to Make a Betsafe Poker Account

Opening an account to play Betsafe online poker is no different from registering with any other kind of website. As stated previously, if you already have a Betsafe account for any other reason, you can use your pre-existing login details. If not, get started by clicking the green ‘Open Account’ button at the top of the screen.

This will open a new tab, in which you’ll be asked to enter your full name, address, contact details and preferred currency. One of the things we really appreciated about this registration form is that it includes the option to set a deposit limit right away, for anyone who wants to be extra careful with spending.

The Games in Full

A slightly frustrating aspect of the website is that you can’t get an overview of the available games without first opening an account. This makes it more difficult for prospective players to ascertain whether or not the gaming selection is worth their time before signing up, which feels like a missed opportunity.

After doing some sleuthing, we found that the game selection is actually quite decent – which further begs the question, why hide it? Anyway, you can expect to find crowd-pleasers like Texas Hold’em, Omaha Poker and 7-Card Stud as well as lesser-seen variants like 2-7 Open-Face Chinese Poker.

A Look at the Tournaments

When it comes to Betsafe poker tournaments you can choose from single table and multi-table affairs. However, it’s worth noting that the only scheduled tournaments are multi-table. Much like the games themselves, you can only check out the schedules once you’ve made an account and logged in.

Playing in scheduled events requires players to register in advance, as there are limited seats available and they can sell out quickly. If you change your mind and decide against playing, there is a window of time within which you can de-register and be refunded your buy-in and entrance fee.

Single-table tournaments can be accessed from the ‘Choose Your Game’ section in the main poker lobby. Once the requisite number of seats have been filled, the game will commence. This means there’s a bit more waiting around involved with single-table tourneys as opposed to multi-table.

Tournament Player Traffic

As alluded to above, spaces in the multi-table tournaments regularly sell out fast due to high traffic. Of course, this is more of an issue for peak times – which, when playing in GMT, is in the late evening. This is a blessing, as tournaments that do not meet the requisite numbers of players are automatically cancelled at Betsafe online poker.

The Low-Down on the Cash Games

Cash games are another section of Betsafe’s offerings where the operator could afford to be a bit more transparent. A quick glance at the poker page offers no indication of their existence, which might be a bit worrying for those expecting to find details upfront. After digging around, we managed to find them.

There are three options for cash games on the site – Bad Beat Jackpot, Blaze Poker and Anonymous Tables. BBJ has become a player favourite thanks to the fact that there are no admin fees – meaning 100% of the pot is distributed among the players. Blaze Poker is a must for players looking for speed.

The Traffic Volume During Cash Games

Generally, cash games at Betsafe experience lower traffic than the tournaments, likely because they’re not immediately visible to users perusing the site. No doubt a lot of potential players are turned off by what appears to be a lack of cash games, which is a shame, as the fare on offer is of high quality.

Getting Poker on the Go

When it comes to mobile gameplay, Betsafe really excels. Not only goes the operator have its own app, but it also has a series of apps for each of its gambling verticals. This includes the Betsafe poker app, which can be downloaded on both desktop and mobile devices.

However, unlike some competitors, you cannot play Betsafe poker online through your mobile browser. In order to play, you’ll need to download the app. In fact, downloading the app is also a prerequisite for opting into the welcome bonus – so whether you want to play on the go or not, you’ll need to clear space for the betting software.

Assessing the User Interface

As with the rest of Betsafe’s products, Betsafe poker is very well-presented and easy to navigate, regardless if you have prior experience with poker sites. The design is slick and modern, in stark contrast to some of the garish colour schemes we’ve seen elsewhere on the internet.

From the navigation at the top of the screen, you can easily switch from the poker site to the other services offered by the operator. The menu in the column to the left allows players to click between tournaments, game selection and the currently available promotions. Finding your way around couldn’t be easier.

Notes on the Poker Software

If you’re at all familiar with online poker platforms, then you’ll know that most operators belong to poker networks. This allows them to host their games safely and efficiently while benefitting from traffic from other operators. Betsafe Poker is no different and belongs to the OnGame network.

OnGame is widely regarded as a high-quality network, and works closely with software development powerhouse NYX. The stand-out feature of the software is the Essence Rake Algorithm, which utilizes the operator’s UX design to attract more players to the tables.

The Betsafe Poker Payment Options

Naturally, you can’t get very far in online gambling without any money. In order to buy in and place bets, you’ll need a variety of secure and speedy payment methods at your disposal. Luckily, Betsafe poker has payment methods by the bushel, meaning you can choose the one which suits your needs best.

One of the standouts among the operator’s payment methods is PayPal. PayPal is, arguably, the most popular payment method among online players – and it’s the one we consistently recommend to our readers. This is because it is one of the safest and fastest options currently available online.

In addition to this, you’ll find pre-paid card options like paysafecard. Mileage will vary depending on your choice, so we’ve broken down the limits and processing times for each of the methods below.

Accessing Customer Support

Customer support is a hugely important aspect of any online gambling experience, yet it’s one that players often take for granted. Take it from us, you neglect to check out a site’s support options at your own risk. Should anything go awry, you need to know that there’s help at hand.

Luckily, Betsafe poker’s support is world class. You can contact a real, human customer service agent at all hours of the day and night via the site’s live chat function. If you’d rather talk things out the old-fashioned way, there’s also a hotline you can call to be patched through to an agent.

Safety, Security and Licensing

If you’ve visited our site before, you’ll probably be sick of us emphasizing how important safety is to us. Frankly, we feel you can never be too safe when playing online, so security is something we pay extra special attention to when writing reviews. As part of this, we never recommend sites unless they’ve met our high expectations.

There are no differences in the security features of Betsafe’s poker site as opposed to its other services, which is a good thing. The operator carries a valid licence from Britain’s Gambling Commission, which is the official state regulator for the UK. The site has also partnered with a variety of responsible gambling organizations for your safety.

A Few Parting Words

Overall, there’s a lot going on here to recommend it to prospective players. The offers available are strong and rewarding, the interface is intuitive and simple, and the tournaments are well-attended by international players. If that all appeals to you, you’ll likely find Betsafe poker a perfect fit.

All that considered, there’s always room for improvement, even at the very best sites. For example, Betsafe could afford to be more transparent with its tournament scheduling and game selection – just for the sake of window-shopping players. By and large, though, it’s a worthwhile operator. If you want to find out more about the brand, you can read our main Betsafe review.

Answering Your Questions

We sincerely hope that this page has answered all of your queries about Betsafe poker. If there’s anything you feel we missed, or if there’s a specific piece of information you’re unsure about, feel free to check out some of the questions and answers from our readers below.

What is Betsafe poker black?

Betsafe has two poker rooms, and Poker Black is one of them. This room is available on the MPN platform, whereas the other room comes courtesy of OnGame.

What is MPN poker?

MPN is the poker network offered by software developer, Microgaming. If you'd like to learn more about the company's many casino games, you can check out our Microgaming page.

How does Betsafe Blackgold rewards work?

Blackgold rewards are Betsafe poker's VIP scheme, in which all players are eligible to earn points as they play. Opting in is automatic, and you can earn a percentage of your points in cash. For more information, jump back up to our promotions section.

Why can't I see the schedule for single table tournaments?

There are no schedules for single table tournaments at Betsafe poker, only for the multi-table tournaments. You can read more about both in our tournament section.