Bluff?s Resident Surfer: Just Call Me The Dude

I know that?s a line from one of the all-time great Coen brothers? flicks, but that?s what you call me - the Dude. And with that in mind, venture along if you will, through the cyber space of Ultimatebet.com - one of the leading poker sites on the Internet.

Ultimatebet is the ultimate. What sets it apart from many of its competitors is the amount of information that is presented on the site in a nice clean logical pattern. Navigation was a breeze, and I found that even before downloading the software, there were a number of choice spots to check out first. "Learning to Play" - good spot for newbies - this covers Getting Started (how to download the games), Rules of Poker Games, Poker Strategy, and a Game Tutorial which pretty much explains the whole website. "Online Poker Game" and "Strategy and Pro Players" are two other excellent places where you find articles written by "leading poker players and authorities". They made me realize that they would all kick my butt in any game.

UB?s news and events were informative (naturally), but one thing that made me double take was "Wedding Bells Are Ringing For Two UB Players." Perhaps this is a place where I could meet chicks! Downloading the software and opening an account was definitely the next thing on the agenda.

Downloading was a relatively mindless experience - took about five minutes to fill out the username info and to receive the activation email to open an account. Once in, I was blown away by the amount of people that were waiting for me to join a table. Over 10,000 players! Out of those 10,000 - perhaps - maybe that babe was there, anticipating my skillful play.

But when I got to the tables, the people were invisible - just chairs with usernames. At least they were pretty chairs - and, admittedly, the graphics are very nice, with a 3-D effect of the game being held on a Caribbean terrace overlooking some warm ocean bay. I found maneuvering about was quite easy with the navigational buttons - they were all where you would expect them to be. I jumped into a table of 7 stud, and man you have to be quick when playing cyber 7 stud - no hanging around. I lost a few hands in a row - being a little spendthrift - but then I did nail a straight (one suit off from being a straight flush) and a full-house, one right after the other. That?s no bluff.

One neat little option that isn?t available at a number of other poker rooms is the "Hand History". All players? hand histories are available for perusal, and to copy and paste, for each game as it completes. This is good for those players who have the time, patience, and smarts to analyze player activity. You could actually stalk certain players to see if they have recognizable weaknesses or strengths - but I guess that?s for the hard-core dudes. I?m just there to have fun.

I had a very groovy time, and UB has me hooked. There is obviously a huge UB poker community that is enjoying this "ultimate" betting experience. Even though all the people are invisible, I have faith that the dude - this dude - will find that dudette that likes all versions of poker - if you know what I mean.

The "Dude" is a professional lurker and caped crusader who is probably checking out your website as you are reading this. When he is not surfing for justice, The Dude masquerades as his alter ego, Brian Bailey, keeping online casino gamblers safe as mild mannered Casino Meister at www.CasinoMeister.com .

 

(© 2005 BluffMagazine. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed)