Review of Bugsy's Club

This review of Bugsy's Club will focus on their startup poker site and their original theme. They've built a loyal player base through their poker leagues, which rewards their top players each month. This site has a community feel to it, which attracts many beginners looking to get comfortable playing online poker. What's lacking at Bugsy's Club is player traffic and big promotions, but I think they have potential if they really make an advertising push.

Categories Reviewed at BugsysClub.com

Fish: 3.5
While many tend to think that the only players hanging around such a small poker room would be sharks, this is not the case here. Half of the table routinely sees the flop, and it's as if Oscar the Octopus personally taught these players how to play poker. In case you don't know, octopi are notorius for awful game play. Unfortunately, the ring game traffic is mostly made up of micro-limit no-limit hold 'em tables, but I do like that you can find the occasional $1/2 or $3/6 no-limit games going on here. The higher stakes tables are mostly shorthanded, and you can still smell fish at these higher limits. As usual, I recommend that you never slowplay against poor opponents - they could be drawing to anything under the sea.

Sharks: 2.5 (inverse rating)
While a lot of the play is poor, when a higher limit game gets busy, it is a bit tougher than the micro-limit counterpart. Still, I think this site mostly serves up newcomers from their sister poker school site. You shouldn't run into a lot of trouble with these tables unless it is from the occasional bad beat.

Bait (promotions): 2
I think that Bugsy's Club could be solid contender if they would pay more attention to their promotions. They offer a decent deposit bonus of 50% up to $300, but it is almost impossible to earn. You'd need to play lots of raked hands at tables above $1/2, which are often unavailable during off-peak hours. The limits required are also out of the range of low-limit players, so very few will actually earn any portion of this bonus. One promotion that I do like is the "Bugsy's League" standings. If you plan often enough at the right limits, you can earn a pretty nice monthly bonus. Each player is ranked, so it brings in a competitive element. You can check your standings at any time. You can also win a free WSOP seat as well, but you'll have to play through many rounds of qualifiers.

Skin (software): 3
The software is decent, and I give them credit for creating their own unique graphics. Unfortunately, they need to jump ahead a few years in the technology department. Players who like detailed visuals will easily lose patience with this software, but it is playable software. The game speed used to be horrendous at this site, but after some recent upgrades the tables actually run quite fast. The lobby is also easy to navigate.

Prey (tournaments): 2.5
As general traffic to this site is low, tournament traffic is also staggering for now. Their main events are freerolls that usually seat about 800 people. Unfortunately, these are very small events that pay out $50 or less. They do run them quickly, however, so if you do play in them you won't take up too much time. Besides that, the occasional small-stakes tournament fills up with a buy-in of $10 or less. They also offer some quirky events like 10c buy-in micro-limit tourneys. Once the WSOP freerolls get underway, they become very popular. Sit 'n Gos also have a fair amount of traffic, but only for small buy-ins.

Overall Bugsy's Club Rating

Pearls (positives)
Bugsy's Club has an original feel and is professionally maintained. The competition is also pretty fishy.

Hooks (negatives)
The low player traffic will make it difficult to find the game you're looking for and they offer very few tournaments.

The Hammer (overall rating): 2.5

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Tips for Playing at Bugsy's Club

Meat (tips)
You'll often run into the Ace-anything mentality when you're playing with inexperienced opponents. They see the big card and toss in a bet regardless of their kicker, which can cause them big problems later on the hand. However, these players can be very dangerous when they hit 2 pair on the flop. I have lost many big pots (yes, even sharks lose sometimes) when I've held A-K and the flop comes with an Ace and 2 rags, like A-2-8. Obviously, I'm going to bet out, but I'll get raised from the fish with the 2 pair. Indignant that he could have possibly hit the flop better than I have, I'll usually end up all-in in this situation. The only justice is when a K or another 8 comes. My favorite is when the 8 hits and I beat him even though I didn't pair my kicker. I love when that happens and they go berserk!

Blubber (babble)
Ah, Bugsy… him and I go way back, actually. He was the first real shark in Vegas, so he and I got along quite well. I liked his idea to bring a gambler's paradise to Nevada, and we actually drew up the plans together. Since I had been playing poker for quite some time, I suggested that he incorporate it into his casino as the main skill game of choice. Unfortunately, he chose to go with house-favored casino games and the rest is history. Poker has been a bottom-dwelling, back-alley game until its recent surge. If only Bugsy would have listened to me back then… I do commend him, though, for his generosity - he actually build a special tank for me to hang out in when they opened up the Flamingo.

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