The Ritz Club Poker uses the Cryptologic Network developed by Waterlogic (same Poker network as Inter Poker, Betfair Poker, William Hill Poker etc.). So in effect, if you join The Ritz Club Poker, you will be playing against Betfair, Inter, William Hill players as well as a number of other rooms. However, by playing via The Ritz Club Poker room, you have the panache of joining one of the most exclusive institutions in London - the Ritz Club - which is strictly a member's club and membership is by invitation only. The Ritz Club manage the Ritz Casino at the exclusive Ritz Hotel on Piccadilly in London. You can't get more exclusive than that. And you guessed it, many of the Ritz Club members have joined the poker fray via the Ritz Club Poker room, so you could easily be hob-nobbing with a few Lords, Earls and perhaps even royalty! However, the customer help desk is useless. Very friendly and answer promptly - however, they have no clue what they are doing.

This aside, the poker site is becoming fairly popular which is not surprising as two of the UK largest gambling institutions as well as the ever popular Inter Poker use the same network and software. During peak times, up to 8,000 active players are logged on whereas off peak, this can drop down to below 1,000, although this is getting an infrequent occurrence.

Up to £75 sign up bonus for first time depositors.

• Texas Hold Em
• Omaha
• Omaha Hi/Lo
• Seven Card Stud

The Ritz Club Poker poker player tables are clear and uncluttered. The Player's Name and the size of his stack are superimposed over the chair. The cards are clear and easy to see. Only problem is when you try to play two or more tables as the screens auto flicker when it is your turn. This can make you click the wrong button at a different table than you intended to. You can check from where each player is coming from by moving the cursor over the name plate; don't really know how useful that is but guess there must be a reason for it.

The chat function is very small and open to observers whose comments are in green whereas players chat is in blue. Luckily, it is possible to block observer comments as sometimes there can be some very annoying individuals watching the play. Please note that observers can't chat unless they have an account balance over £1,000.

When it is your turn to play, you have the option in player preferences to set the sound on or off. A useful function is to select the voice option which will call out "It is Your Turn". This is extremely handy if you are making a cup of tea, or not by the screen as you will have time to get back to the table to make your play.

You can write notes on various people that are present at the table and then look them up when you see them again. Any player that you have written a note on will have a white sheet of paper icon appear within the name plate.

The Ritz Club Poker has plenty of Texas Hold Em ring games at all times of the day. However, there are few players of the other forms of poker if any at all. Texas Hold Em is the name of the game at Betfair Poker. Betfair Poker has some of the highest limit stake tables online with a maximum of £150/£300 where average played hand is around £1,500 ($3,000). A lot of short-handed tables (max. 6 players).

The Ritz Club Poker multi-table tournaments are reasonable whereas their Sit and Go tournaments are poor. It is difficult to get to play in a single table tournament as you can be waiting a very long time before it starts; only for the most patient. The multi-table tournaments occur approx. every 30 minutes or so. The tournament list has grown considerably in 2005 and now has a much wider range and frequency than a year ago. As with almost all online poker rooms, there are qualifiers to the big poker events.

DEPOSIT OPTIONS:
VISA, MasterCard, UK debit cards (Delta, Switch, Solo), NETeller, check, direct bank transfer, Western Union, Moneybookers.

CASH OUT OPTIONS:
NETeller, UK debit cards, Credit Card, Check, bank transfer, Moneybookers.

There is a 24-hour 7 days per week telephone help desk. Customer support available to all via toll free telephone numbers: From the United Kingdom call 0800-389 2768; all other countries can call toll free on: Int'l code +800-0874 0274. Customer support is just terrible - they have no clue what they are doing. All are in training and be prepared for a frustrating time. Very friendly but expected far better quality of support from such a high flying branded poker room.

The Ritz Club Poker has an interesting loyalty scheme whereby every player receives £5 for every hour they play for real (excluding tournament play), upto a maximum of £25! It's as simple as that. Only play on tables of 1/2 Limit or 0.5/1 No Limit/Pot Limit or above qualify for clearing this promotion.

Proposition - Paid to Play for up to 2 hours
If you are waiting for a game on a full table a message may pop up offering you a cash incentive to go to a particular table and start a game. If you accept the offer you will be taken to the game, if you do not accept the offer you will remain on the waiting list for the table you wish to join, and you also have the option to exclude yourself from receiving such offers in the future.

You get paid per hour pro rata for any amount of time you play on the specified table, but NOT if you are waiting or sitting out. If at any time you either sit out of the game or leave the table the prop player incentive scheme comes to an end. The Prop Player Incentive Scheme also comes to an end after two hours of play on the specified table. Please note that the Prop Player scheme is only available for higher cash tables.