William Hill Poker

Summary (6.5)

Established in 2002, WilliamHillPoker.com has always been considered one of the classier providers of online poker. Employing the sophisticated poker client of PlayTech on the iPoker Network, William Hill Poker offers a user-friendly online poker experience, shared with the industry’s third largest player base.

WilliamHillPoker has a full-throttle tournament roster packed with massive SNG progressive, weekly $250k Guarantees and a monthly $1-million GTD. Compete you way into a seat at a major live poker event, or one of hundreds of online events, like the ECOOP V, worth at least $4.5 million overall.

The distinguished reputation of WiliamHillPoker.com has followed the online poker room for years, and the site continues to improve over time. From promotions, bonuses and freerolls, to some of the most excessive tournament schedules in the business, players who try WilliamHillPoker tend to become loyal, life-long members.

Software (8)

Powered by PlayTech, WilliamHillPoker presents a solid poker client that runs very fast and smooth. The download is small and easy to install. Graphically crisp, players can choose from a variety of pre-designed avatars that look pretty nice at the tables. It may not be the best software in the business, but it’s certainly well designed for quick, user-friendly game play.

All of the vital statistics are displayed in the lobby and at the tables. Recent hand histories are provided in a graphic presentation. Players can request complete hand histories as well. Filtering options help players narrow down the ring games and tournaments to pin point exactly what they’re searching for in an online poker game. A few special features include a full screen mode to help players concentrate on the tables at hand.

The only shortcomings are a player clock that is longer than usual, which can slow down the overall game pace, and no instant-play software. The poker client is not Mac-friendly, compatible with Windows PC only. The only way for Mac/Linux users to participate is to run a PC Emulator in the background.

Traffic (7)

The poker tables at WilliamHillPoker are brimming with activity, averaging 65,000 players at peak hours, thanks to its shared player base with the iPoker Network. Ring games attract about 10,000 players, especially populating the Texas Hold’em tables in Limit and No Limit stakes. Tournaments are often inhabited with up to 55,000 players overall.

Tournaments (8)

Tournament fans will find plenty to appreciate at William Hill Poker, starting with an expansive Sit’n’Go menu that includes intense jackpots. The Fort Knox SNG awards a $50k jackpot to any player who wins 6 in a row. The same conditions are worth $25k in the Rio SNGs. Win 5 consecutive for $15k in the Maui SNGs, or take on the easiest task of all at the Dirty Dozens SNGs, defeating 4 tables in a row for the $2k jackpot.

Over on the scheduled side of the tournament roster, there are many daily and weekly Freerolls to pad your bankroll. Most are small prize tourneys for new depositors, but special big-money Freerolls are often held for everyone. The largest guaranteed events are a weekly $50k, $100k and $250k GTD, plus the $1-million monthly GTD.

Game Variety (6)

The game variety at WilliamHillPoker.com is pretty standard, except that the typical 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo game has been replaced with 5 Card Stud. The full game variety includes Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Stud.

Fixed Limit stakes range from $0.02/$0.04 to $300/$600, while No Limit and Pot Limit stakes start at micro-limits of $0.01/$0.02, scaling up to $100/$200.

Soft Competition (6)

The iPoker Network has always been known to reveal juicy competition at the lower stakes tables. 40-50% viewed-flop percentages are common, and with a little extra searching, a 60%+ table shouldn’t be too hard to find. Simply put, skilled players can easily take down some quick pots at WilliamHillPoker.com. Most tournaments are loose to start, with cheaper events staying soft throughout. The biggest tourneys, like the weekly $250k GTD, monthly $1 million GTD and live event satellites are much tougher.

Sign Up Bonus (8)

When making your first deposit at William Hill Poker, you’ll receive a welcome bonus of 150% up to $600. This bonus is only available at EveryPoker.com and is currently the highest of all William Hill Poker bonuses. To claim it, you must enter William Hill Poker promotional code free600 when you sign up for an account.

As you play, the bonus will be automatically releases in $5 increments for every 350 WHPoints earned in ring games and tournaments. Any pending bonus that remains uncleared will expire after 60 days.

New players are also rewarded with 5 New Depositor Freeroll entry tickets. 4 tickets are for the weekly $1k New Depositor Freerolls, with the other ticket to enter the New Depositor Prize Freeroll, where players can choose their prize from an extensive list that includes a laptop computer, PS3, Sony Handycam, Canon Digicam and more.

Loyalty Rewards (7)

The VIP Club at WilliamHillPoker.com is designed to benefit all members of the online poker room. All players can convert their WHPoints to cash. As you climb the VIP ladder, you’ll be eligible for anything from reload bonuses to live event sponsorships.

Promotions (6)

Current promotions at WilliamHillPoker.com include Jackpot Sit’n’Gos (see tournaments above), Best Hand of the Day bonuses, a Bad Beat Bonus, Live Event Satellites and more.

The Best Hand of the Day Bonus awards $100 to the first player each day who achieves a Royal Flush using both hole cards in a Texas Holdem ring game of $0.50/$1 stakes or more.

To hit the Bad Beat Bonus, a player must lose at a Texas Hold’em ring game with Quad Jacks or better, where both hole cards are used in the hand. The bad beat bonus is worth $150. Be sure to email customer support to claim the bonus.

Live event satellites are currently awarding prize packages to the Irish Winter Festival and the ECPoker Tour Malta. In-house events include new Super Series tournaments, where WilliamHillPoker adds money to daily tournament prizes with buy-ins of $5-$10.

Omaha fans will appreciate the Monday Night Omaha special tournament. A $100+$9 buy-in gets you a seat in the 6-seater Omaha tourney with a guaranteed prize pool of $12,500. “Omaholics” also have their own leaderboard competition worth $130,000 to the top Omaha players each month.

Support (7)

WilliamHillPoker.com supplies plenty of customer support options, available 24/7. The email support is generally very fast. Toll-free telephone and fax support is available in the UK and Canada. Log in to the poker lobby to access live chat support.

Deposit & Cashout Methods (8)

Deposits: Visa, MasterCard, Visa Delta, Visa Electron, Diners Club, Solo, Maestro, Laser, PayPal, ClickandBuy, Click2Pay, NETeller, Moneybookers, GiroPay, Sofort, Dankort, Nordea, iDeal, Enets, Przelewy24 and POLi.

Cash-outs: Visa, MasterCard, Visa Delta, Visa Electron, Laser, PayPal, QuickCash, ClickandBuy, Click2Pay, NETeller, Bank Wire Transfer and Personal Check/Cheque.