UltimateBet.com, currently known as UB, is the main skin of the new CEREUS Poker Network. Sponsored by poker greats Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth, UltimateBet is home to a large number of players. If you're a US player getting sick of being unable to play on certain poker sites, you'll be pleased to know that UB is one of the US friendly poker sites online today. UB had come under scrutiny in recent years for inadequate security and bad customer support but has vowed to upgrade all aspects of the site since their union with the CEREUS poker network.

If you're a fan of large bonuses, look no further because the UB Bonus is very impressive. With a huge 111% return on all first-time deposits for a maximum of $1100, UB offers a great bonus for new players. Just type in the UB referral code of FTR111 as soon as you make your beginning poker deposit. As exciting as this sounds, it's first important to comprehend the technicalities behind the methods you will use to acquire your UB bonus.

Let's start with the basic info. Your first step is to, of course, make a UB download. As soon as you've done that, proceed to the cashier. When you make your initial real-currency deposit, Ultimate Bet gives you bonus dollars equal to 111% of the money you deposited, up to $1100. These bonus funds are not yet released. In order to release the bonus dollars, you need to get Status Points. You will do this by playing poker hands in real money games, whether it be ring games or MTT poker.

Now for the nitty gritty of the UB bonus clearing. For every 20 Status Points you get, $1 of your bonus cash is given out. Any time you get 100 status points, you get a deposit of $5 into your account. If you make a beginning deposit of $1000 (and thus receive $1100 bonus dollars), you have to pick up 22,000 status points to release the full $1100. Be careful though: there are only 60 days to clear all of your bonus dollars before you forfeit the ones that remain unreleased.

You might be asking how Status Points are accumulated? For tourneys, you get one status point for every $0.30 of entry fee (so in a $30+3 tournament, you'd obtain 10 status points). For cash games, you earn Status Points according to the stakes you're playing. This chart shows how the points are dished out:

No Limit
$0.01/0.02 - 1 point apiece per 15 hands
$0.02/0.04 - 1 point apiece per 10 hands
$0.05/0.10 - 1 point per 10 hands
$0.10/0.25 - 1 point apiece per 5 hands
$0.25/0.50 - 1 point for every 3 hands
$0.50/1.00 - 1 point per 2 hands
$1.00/2.00 - 1 point per hand
$2.00/4.00 through $5.00/10.00 - 1.5 points per hand
$10.00/20.00 and higher - 2 points apiece per hand

Limit
$0.01/0.02 - 1 point for every 20 hands
$0.02/0.04 - 1 point per 20 hands
$0.05/0.10 - 1 point for every 15 hands
$0.10/0.20 - 1 point for every 15 hands
$0.25/0.50 - 1 point for every 10 hands
$0.50/1.00 - 1 point for every 5 hands
$1.00/2.00 - 1 point apiece per 2 hands
$2.00/4.00 - 1 point per hand
$3.00/6.00 - 1.5 points for every hand
$4.00/8.00 and up - 2 points for every hand

So, for instance, you'd have to participate in 22,000 hands of $1.00/2.00 no-limit poker within 60 days to be able to clear the total $1100 bonus. If you're playing lower stakes like $0.10/0.25, you'd have to see 110,000 hands. If you think that this is something for you, then UB.com clearly proposes the best bonus option for you. The good news is that because you get the cash in $5 allowances, you can deposit as much as you desire and not need to worry that you can't earn the entire bonus. You perhaps won't get the maximum value, but a little free money is always better than nothing.

And finally, I'd like to end with some caution: for new players, the temptation to try to earn the extra cash quicker by gambling with higher stakes is always present. Don't lose sight of bankroll management! At lower stakes the UB bonus will take a long time to earn, but attempting to gamble higher than your bankroll can handle will more often than not harm you more than it will help you when it's all said and done.