Review of Doyle's Room

My review of Doyle's Room goes into detail of this growing poker room. The main draw from this site is that the Doyle Brunson, the great legend and poker ambassador, has signed his name on to the deal. Aside from the chance to get to play with Doyle, this site features lots of player perks such as free copies of Doyle's Super System II and multiple daily freerolls.

Categories Reviewed at DoylesRoom.com

Fish: 4.5
While you would expect that players who know about Doyle Brunson would know a thing or two about poker, that's not the case at Doyle's Room. I find this site to be extremely fishy but also extremely aggressive, which can make you feel a bit off-balance. Players here seem accustomed to drawing at every possible opportunity, which is great until they hit their miracle card on the river. I don't usually swim up north to England because the water is too chilly for my taste, but that's where at least half the fish on this site are from. I guess their waters are overstocked. This sort of play continues into the higher limits.

Sharks: 3 (inverse rating)
While most tables are dominated by loose and aggressive fish, Doyle's Room also has its fair of sharks that lurk beneath the surface. They don't dominate the tables, but you should be aware of their presence. The sharks at this site are usually tight-aggressive players who will rarely play a hand but will come on strong when they do. Smaller games have a shark or two at the table, but the more experienced players tend to stick to the higher limits.

Bait (promotions): 4
I think that Doyle's Room is pretty generous in terms of their bonuses and promotions. If you just want a strict cash bonus, you can get a 35% bonus with your first deposit. I took advantage of their second bonus option, which allows you to get a copy of Doyle's new "Super System II" book free. Better yet, it's a collector's hardbound edition, which isn't available in stores. If you play at smaller stakes, you're probably going to be playing for a few weeks before you earn enough Action Points to receive the book. Once you do, however, they have it delivered to you within a week. Another nice promotion is the multiple freeroll tournaments available with an Action Point buy-in. As that buy-in increases so does the prize pool, which can be as large as $5,000. You can also add "TexDolly" to your DR buddy list to see when Doyle Brunson is playing online. He doesn't come on often, and he plays at the highest possible limits of course.

Skin (software): 3.5
There isn't a whole lot to the Doyle's Room software, but it gets the job done. One nice new feature they've added is the ability to always show the active pot, so you know exactly what your pot odds at any given moment. Another unique feature is the tab at the bottom that allows you to click and automatically bet in multiples of the big blind. You can also choose from a list of avatars at the table. My favorite part about their software is the speed of the games, which are very fast.

Prey (tournaments): 4.5
Doyle's Room is one of my favorites to play tournaments on because of their unique offerings. Where else can you find 1c rebuy tournaments? They also provide quirky limits for Sit 'n Gos, all the way down to a nickel. At the same time, they also cater to larger players with mid-limit tournaments and guaranteed big prize pools. Their only problem is lack of traffic for larger buy-in tournaments. Doyle's also limits freerolls to players who have Action Points, which is great to limit the field.

Overall Doyle's Room Rating

Pearls (positives)
Doyle's Room has some neat tournament options and a good number of fishy games that move along quickly. They also offer some unique promotions.

Hooks (negatives)
They still have basic software and a good number of sharks.

The Hammer (overall rating): 4

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Tips for Playing at Doyle's Room

Meat (tips)
With so many players who love to draw at this site, raising your strong hands is more important than ever. Raise preflop, and continue your aggression if you don't think that someone outflopped you. When you see two suited or connected cards on the board, you have to immediately bet to protect yourself against draws, especially when you're up against multiple opponents.

Blubber (babble)
One time I actually was online at this site and saw Doyle pop on at the same time. Doyle's Room lets you see what table your buddy is playing at, so I immediately sat in as an observer at his high fixed-limit game. Of course, many others online had the same idea and the chat box was full of observers trying to talk with Doyle. Do you know what the most common type of question was? How to deposit money, or if they could win seats to the WSOP through tournaments. It made me want to lay the Hammer down on them right there and take a few fingers as a souvenir. If you get the chance to ask a living poker legend a question, why would you ask this sort of nonsense? Save it for the poker room manager.

♣ ♣ For further details and ratings for DoylesRoom.com, you can visit our basic Doyles Room review.

     

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