littlewoods poker review

Here at ukpokerreview.co.uk we have a passion for poker, as I am sure you guessed. I have been playing on and off for just over a year now, mainly playing low stakes. I was looking for a bit of a change, as I don’t like playing on the same site all the time; a change is as good as a rest. I thought littlewoods was just another place trying to get on the poker train that has long left the station. However they offer many of the normal games, with a few different extras on the side.

The download
The download was quick and it was easy to set up my account and deposit my cash. Like other sites there is plenty of support if you have any trouble in trying to deposit your money. I was up and running within 5 minuets and ready to sit down at a table and play some poker. You can deposit and withdraw money in the following ways:
• Debit/credit Card
• NETeller
• Click2play
• Wire Transfer
• Cheque (withdrawal only)

The tables
The tables on offer are good, with all the normal games you would expect to see. They also offer Black Jack Holdem, where you play Black Jack against other players, showing only 1 card. If anyone has ever played on pokerstars.com then you will be very at home on littlewoods poker, as the tables have very much the same look and feel. Littlewoods don’t seem to offer as many tournaments, but they do offer a MTT with a bit of a twist, called Head Hunter. As far as sit and go and cash tables go, then you will find a game easy to hand and be able to join in and be up and running in no time. The tables are a simple layout and easy on the eye graphics and you can even add an icon of your face (just the same as pokerstars). You can see your hand history very easy, which will help you understand how the other players are playing (which is normally very tight and aggressive).
I have had a couple of games on the site and find the level of play to be tight aggressive play. People are very aggressive when you try and talk to them also and I found some to be very rude. I don’t mind a bit of friendly banter, but one guy was very abusive. Which can all be good fun, but generally it wasn’t a fun experience. I wouldn’t say this isn’t a general rule though and people can be ignored by right clicking on their name and choosing ignore. SO a simple solution to all them annoying players banter.

Bonus Amounts
All sites offer some kind of bonus to new people signing up and you normally have to play a number of ranked hands and generate a certain level of rake before your bonus will be paid out. Little Woods offer up to £100 sign up bonus. This bonus is gained though by playing video poker and gamble on other games. My understanding is that you don’t get it by playing poker on the site. So don’t get too excited about it.
On the positive side though, if you play on the site regular you can get up to £100 a month. This is gained through playing poker though; by building up a number of points. So if you play on the site regular, then you can be rewarded. Full t&c’s are on the site and not controlled by us. But as bonus amounts go it is not one of the best around.

My thoughts
I have always said that I will give my honest opinion about a site, so here goes. Littlewoods poker is not a poker room I can honestly say I would play too regular. The main reason for this is that it is in £ and not $, which for some reason just doesn’t feel right, I feel like I am not getting value for money, with the minimum STG at £1, it is only like playing a $2 game on other sites. They do also have some really nice features and I do really like the layout of the table. The fact that it is very similar to pokerstars.net, will make people feel very at home.
Littlewoods Poker also offers a very unique way of paying out some MTT tournament money, known as Head Hunter. Head Hunter is a fantastic new type of MTT; where you earn cash for every player you eliminate a player, along with still receiving your share of the prize pool for making it to the money! There is a page on the site dedicated to the formula of how the pay out works, so head on over there and see how many people you can take down in a MTT. Littlewoods reasoning behind this type of poker and pay out was to benefit people who always seem to take out other people and then have a bad beat and are out of the tournament, with little more than the buy-in fee. Which I think is a really good idea. If you are a big MTT player and often take people out of a tournament, only to be later taken out by a bad beat, then head on over and have a game. See what price you will get for your head. If you take out another player with a bounty on their head, then you will also get this bounty added to your account after the tournament has been ended.
I wasn’t too fond of this site at first, but I am warming to it and like the Head Hunter.

UPDATE
The Head Hunter’s MTT pay’s out for each head you take. 50% of the buyin fee goes to prize pool, 50% then gets split to the price of peoples heads. You get 75% of each head you take and 25% goes on your head. E.g. if you take down someone who has a bounty of £1 then you get £0.75 and £0.25 is added to the price to anyone who takes you down.
I think after playing a little more on the site I have started to like it more and enjoy the games. Games do last a lot longer than I have found on other sites though, which I put down to the majority of players being very tight, but aggressive also.