I’ve seen this move coming for quite a while. I’ve always wondered when it was going to happen. It was just a matter of time before the owners of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, Tokwire Enterprises, merged the two companies together to take advantage of economies of scale. I suppose that “merged” is a poor choice of words. Instead, “combined user bases” would more accurately describe what CEREUS is all about. With two sites that have been ravaged by cheating scandals over the last year, the newly-formed CEREUS is an opportunity for both sites to start anew. This article reviews CEREUS and its effect on the online and Mac poker world.
You may ask yourself what will happen if you regularly play on an Absolute Poker or Ultimate Bet account. Will you be able to continue to play? Will you have to sign up for a new account? UB explains what you can expect to happen: “As part of the network, Ultimate Bet will retain all the unique assets that create the ultimate poker experience, but we will share more players, more action, more tournaments, and add incredible new features.”
Although little is known about CEREUS right now since the announcement was made just over 24 hours ago, here’s what I expect to occur as a result:
1. It’s apparent to me that the user bases of both sites will increase as a result of players from Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet playing on the same platform. This is the same reason why smaller poker rooms on the iPoker and Bwin networks, for example, are so popular. The more players you’ll see, the better your overall experience will be.
2. I would expect to see a $500K Guaranteed tournament on the CEREUS network every weekend. Right now, Absolute Poker holds a weekly $150K Guaranteed on Saturday. Ultimate Bet runs a $200K Guaranteed every Sunday. While it’s conceivable to me that these two tournaments will remain, but now be open to members of both sites, my guess is that CEREUS creates a brand new high-stakes tournament to compete with those you’ll find on Full Tilt Poker ($750K Guaranteed) and PokerStars (the Sunday Million).
3. Tokwire should have learned its lesson by this point. I’ve read a lot of information on sites like 2+2 and PocketFives that features customers who greatly dislike UB and Absolute. These are the same people who still claim that the site is run by scammers. I obviously wouldn’t know first-hand, but it seems to me like CEREUS will be an immensely popular and, more importantly, safe network to play on. With two big-time scandals in the books, I would hope that the vulnerabilities at both sites are taken care of.
4. Keep an eye out for some interesting promotions. UB’s Sniper Tournaments and Absolute Poker’s diamond giveaways are two examples of unique promotions that I would expect to see more of at CEREUS. With more players and more money at stake, I’d expect the newly-formed network to up the ante.