The Cereus Poker Network was launched in late 2008. This network consists of two well know poker rooms; Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. These two rooms have been plagued by allegations of cheating (from the inside) players for the last couple years. Absolute Poker admitted that several employees cheated players by using “super-user accounts”. Basically, these accounts could see the whole cards of everyone else at the table. These super-users played mostly high stakes games. All effected players were refunded though. Absolute Poker in particular has really cleaned up their act. A recent software update in January of 2010 included 70+ casino games.
Absolute Poker ( www.AbsolutePoker.com ) was caught not by the agencies that are supposed to monitor poker rooms for this very reason but by members at a popular poker forum. The facts were so overwhelmingly against Absolute Poker that they eventually admitted to the charges and have since paid all effected players back with interest. Ultimate Bet’s recent debacle is pretty much the same story as Absolute’s except for the fact that they handled the situation much worse. I still work with Absolute Poker and they seem to be doing everything in their power to prevent this from happening again. There are thousands of players out there that are keeping a very close eye (monitoring/comparing hand logs) on Absolute Poker plus numerous 3rd party companies so I feel its an extremely safe room to play at.
Cereus Poker Network Software
The Cereus Poker Network is not like other online poker networks. There are only two rooms and it has 70+ casino games built into the software. Network traffic has doubled in the last couple years and now peaks at around 30,000 players. The software is Multi-tabler friendly and has a nice selection of poker and casino games:
- Texas Hold’em
- Omaha
- Omaha HiLo
- 7 Card Stud
- Stud HL
- Razz
- H.O.R.S.E Poker
- H.O.S.E Poker
- 7 Blackjack Games
- 2 Roulette Games
- 23 Video Poker Games
- 11 3D Slots
- 10 Regular Slots
- 9 Progressive Jackpot Games
- Pai Gow
- Ride’m
- Baccarat
- Casino War
- Draw Hi-Lo
- 4 Keno Games
Cereus Poker Network Security & Stability
Both companies are owned by Tokwiro Enterprises. Tokwiro acquired both rooms while the cheating was taking place so its impossible to say if they knew about it from the start or they just bought a lemon. Absolute Poker seems to be making a comeback though and are being monitored very closely.
Best Cereus Poker Network Room
Absolute Poker – Since the Cereus Poker Network only has two rooms on it choosing the best is easy. Absolute Poker has a much better overall reputation. Both rooms had their reputations stained a couple years ago due to rogue employees exploiting their knowledge of the software to cheat high stakes players. That was under the old management though and all effected players were compensated.
Absolute Poker handled the situation much better than Ultimate Bet though so that is important to me. Right now they are offering a 150% bonus up to $500, along with regular reload bonuses. To claim this bonus you must enter the referral code BIG500 during registration, read our Absolute Poker Review for more info.
Other Cereus Poker Network Rooms
Ultimate Bet – I probably wouldn’t play any high stakes poker here due to the scandal a couple years ago. Instead of owning up to it like Absolute Poker did they tried to cover it up. They have recently rebranded though. I don’t know if that means they are under new management. One thing I like about UB Poker is that they pay you 5% interest on your bankroll balance. Their first deposit bonus is a 111% match up to $1,111. Read this UB Poker review for more info.