I wanted to write a room review on the rooms that I am visiting in my bonus whoring process. This one has been slow going, but I think a favorable review is in order for the Golden Riviera & River Belle. I will review the sites on a few items that I personally find important. If you would like more added, please let me know and I will review additional rooms in the future should any suggestions come up. Also, if you play anywhere that I play and I don't like it. Sorry. If it works for you, cool. If it works for me and you hate it, sorry. Still works for me.
(One point of note, this is a modified review of the Golden Riviera as part of the Prima network of games. I have since then added the River Belle, but they are essentially the exact same room. This was great when I signed up as both had good bonuses, but the River Belle recently changed their bonus from a 9x to a 17.5x. Make sure and check your negotiations before signing as a bonus like this is very hard to clear at almost any level.)
The points I will be covering are:
- Game availability (at the levels I am playing, I will add more to this next time, I didn't think about it this time).
- Game quality/challenge
- Looks/graphics/gameplay
- Support/Connectivity
- Overall Enjoyment
- Any final thoughts I may have
1. Game Availability - Regarding spread. They spread lots of community games: Hold Em', Omaha, Omaha H/L. They also spread 7 stud, and strangely enough (for me) they spread 5 stud - an almost dead game in this age. Ranges go from nickel-dime to 100-200. Good spread of games, more than I will ever need. The problem is that they have no one to play these games. There are usually 1-2 full ring games going of your choice games in peak hours and nothing else. If you don't like shorthanded, prepare to wait for ring games (waits were less than 10 mins in all cases), prepare to not play here, or prepare to lose a lot of money.
2. Quality/Challenge - This game was easier than the 4/8 game that I played at Choctaw. Average to the flop is 35%, most players are very new. The ones to watch out for are the ones with big stacks...they usually do have them for a reason. I was rarely called to the river and made specific attempts to bully people out of pots and was successful more often than I expected to be. Games are VERY soft on the limit levels. I have no experience in the NL, but I would generally assume the games at these low levels will be very soft here as well.
3. Looks/Graphics/Gameplay - They are a little on the weak side. I personally prefer the UB look with BIG cards, nothing but names and, no timers. However, much like movie subtitles...I found the timer to be useful. The avatar setup is nonexistent, just the way I like it. Names chip count...nothing more. Sound is a little strange, and is really confusing at first, if you are multitabling, you have no clue why they are beeping at you. Finally, my only real pet peeve. The controls are backwards from UB (my standard). I called a few more bets than I would have liked in this game because I wasn't paying attention and hit call, instead of fold.
4. Support/Connectivity - Connectivity is great. I never had a problem logging on, as the authenticator is only used when sending the card packets to your computer. What I did have a problem with is the bank. It's a multi authentication process...and it killed my lame ass DSL. If you have a slow connection, this is still a good place to play as I never lost connection, but you need to extend your patience as the bank will drive you up the wall. Solid DSL connections should have no problems at all. Regarding support, again...fair. It's quick in response, and very friendly and helpful. Directions on the site are weak, so expect to email support if you have questions, although they were always quick and friendly in their responses (less than 1 day).
5. Overall Enjoyment - I really enjoyed it here. It's about a 6 on my list. It's not the best looking or the most convenient for my old systems, but it's solid, the players are soft (even if they talk very little), and I made money, even if I did get a little wild while I was waiting for the bonus in the end. I played .50-1 and 1-2 when the games were ring, since I was clearing a bonus. The Mesa Air of poker rooms...you've heard of them, and you would fly them on a cheap ticket...but it's no Jet Blue for sure.
Final thoughts - They use bots. One bot is known and I was warned about by other players, which makes me think that they are using bots to clean up on the players and the rake. This doesn't matter to me, because I can outplay a bot fairly easily (and I did...often). But that puts a sour taste in some people's mouths...even if it doesn't in mine.
River Belle Bonus
