Anyone else try this yet? You and your opponent play the exact same hands, same shuffle, and the same AI opponents. So if after 30 hands I have won $50 and my opponent has lost $25, I would be credited with a $75 win. There are two ways to play, either live where you each play hand-for-hand and get to watch your opponent play as soon as you've completed that hand, or as a sit-and-go winner take all challenge where all 30 hands are played individually, not knowing your opponent until the end. Most tables are 50bb but some live tables feature 1000bb games.

Initial Thoughts
You are always only playing against the programmed AI opponents, so whoever is better at exploiting essentially a table of "bots" will win. It took maybe 500 hands develop an easy and basic strategy that was beating them and surprisingly others on the site had not yet figured out. There are clearly already multiple types of villains that do all sorts of funky things. It will be interesting to see if the AI strategies change/improve in the future.

The live games are fun and go very fast. Because the bots are exploitable you get to play a lot of hands and very quickly since the first to finish the hand gets to watch their opponent play it it out. It feels in a lot of ways like rush poker due to the pure speed but also like and incredibly personal HU game to see who can win more given the same circumstances.

Profitability
The most +EV way to play is different from a regular 6-max cash game and most people on the site have yet to figure this out and properly adjust. If the site can attract US players thanks to PayPal and debit cards there will be a lot of potential for profit. I think if fish can find it, they will stay. I stopped my normal grind for almost two weeks just to mess around with Skillbet because it was a lot more fun.

Traffic
Right now there are six active live games running, the highest buy-in being $30. Action at $75 and above has been slow but there have been many epic battles already at the highest stakes games. Obviously the traffic needs to pick up, but at least the winner-take-all challenges are always playable.

Rake and Bonus
The live game rake structure is fairly standard: 5% of the pot capped at $3. You cannot lose more than your buy-in which range from $3 to $600. The challenge games range from 18% rake at the $1.5 buy-in level to 6.28% at the $25 game, currently the highest buy-in offered. The bonus is also very standard. For each $1 in rake you earn 7 Skill Points. Then every time you accumulate 120 skill points $5 bonus is moved from your bonus account to your cash account. Effectively, it's like rakeback of ($5)/(120/7) = ($5*7)/120 = 35/120 = 7/24 = 29.166%

Is there LHE?

Cheers,

--
Kahn

Right now all the games are NLHE but I would imagine once traffic pics up limit would be a great game for the concept given that playing vs computer programmed opponents in this fashion is already happening.

I wish I could say it would be here earlier -- but I seriously doubt we'll have it in the next eighteen months

Damn, I think it'd be a perfect game for this concept.

Cheers,

--
Kahn

No Limit is so much better, imo!

His point is that computerized opponents are much, much further along in developing a very difficult strategy to beat. Put simply, limit computer programmed opponents play significantly better than no limit, given the fact that the game is simplified into 3 options each round instead of essentially infinite.

Thus the game would become much more about who is the better poker player and not who can better figure out how the computerized opponents play and exploit them.

That being said, NLHE is still king of the castle and most the most fun I agree LuckyLadyBlue! Also, the target market remember is the USA, where "no limit Texas hold'em is" and will remain "the Cadillac of poker!" this decade.

i agree with limit holdem being a good addition, but with that said no limit AND limit are in their own league so obviously having both would be better than having only 1.

Obligatory play me for a free $10 challenge!

https://www.skillbet.com/vs/Headsupstud

i already have an account so i cant play u, sorry dude

Bad booboo

Do you offer play money tables? Unfortunately I can't play for real money in my state but i'm interested in trying this format

they have play token ones that you can try out.

https://www.skillbet.com/vs/joemomma

just click the link and challenge me. Its free and the winner gets $10

A few weeks ago I requested a cashout of $100 by check. In less than a week I had received the check, deposited it at my bank, and it had cleared. Definitely enjoying the site, especially when I can play without worrying that anything I win I may never see.

Also, I had a question. Are there any future plans/ideas for adding multiple player tournaments (as in more than 2 people)? I am not sure how the logistics would work since if everyone gets the same cards, technically two people could join, and one person could play the hand faster to see what cards come out on the board, then have the second person play their hand based on this.

So obviously there would need to be something worked out to avoid this problem, but just wondering if any ideas were in the works.

Thanks

Also, one other thing for iphone/ipad users. I have the Iphone 4, and I downloaded the 'Photon' app for $3.99. Photon is a web browser that enables flash videos/games etc. on the iphone and ipad. I have been able to play Skillbet no problem from my iphone with this browser...which is awesome on my lunch break at work, in the car (when I'm a passenger lol), etc.

Yes. Here's how we envision it.

4 or 8 people enter tourney (let's say 4). Then we have 2 separate matches/challenges. Then the winner plays the championship. It would be cool to deal all 4 or 8 same cards, but we have not found a way to avoid collusion. So I think it would need to be a bracket tourney, which I think is also cool.

OMG that is soooo cool!!! Thank you much!! I can't wait to try it.

Not a bad idea...I like it.

Also, do you offer any reload bonuses? I have since deposited again since withdrawing and forgot to check before depositing.

Thanks

Only for US players at mo then?

I also cashed out some of my initial deposit. I should have taken a picture like an overenthusiastic Yelper.

So cool!! I tried it for ipad and it worked very well. But the buttons were pretty small on my iphone. Did you do anything to make the buttons easier to press on the iphone?

Not at this time, but we can hook you up for giving us that awesome ipad/iphone idea!! What's your user name?

Awesome, thanks! My username is hamdog

On the iphone I zoom in so the bottom of my screen is the buttons, and the top I can just see the cards of the players on the top of the table but not their avatars. I don't really have much trouble with the buttons this way. Also, I make sure to use the double arrow on the top right of the app to make it fullscreen