Okay - well I wasn't too sure about this site when it was first recommended to me, but I think it is a bit too good of a deal to pass up. The site is Games Grid and they've been around for a while with backgammon and other similar games. They just opened a poker site though and are offering an impressive bonus (1000% up to $5000 bonus...). The releasing requirements seem pretty easy to me, though I just signed up tonight - so I'll have to see.

Not many players as can be expected, but I think this bonus might just be too good to pass up (even a $50 deposit is $500 bonus).

If you do sign up, feel free to use me as a referral (starstealer), though I imagine its a lucrative place - so maybe BTP should become an affiliate.

In any case, whether you use me as a referral or not - check it out.

(www.gamesgrid.com)

/d

I'm intriqued. What's the interface like? Looks, speed, etc...

Well, I still haven't played much there, and there are issues. (For more on my initial impressions, check my journal):

1. No wait lists. This isn't a big deal now because the tables are sparsely populated anyway. Later, it could be though. I'm told this is already being tested for production.

2. No hand histories. Again, until this becomes a contender among other poker sites, I don't think this is a big deal - but it would be nice. I'm told that it will be coming soon.

3. Looks: well, its a bit of bland brown for the most part, but the setup is reasonable. The table lists for ring games are all just put together - I suspect once they have more occupancy, they'll add in separators for the different games. As it is now, it is very easy to find the games that are populated.

The tables are circular and are 9 handed or less. No avatars - so its sparse. However, it does have an easy look - so it is easy to read and understand what is going on. The action buttons are reasonably placed.

In terms of speed, without having stats, I wouldn't really know. It has an element of "seeming" slow - but in reality I think this is more of a perception as the cards come out at a reasonable speed, but the action buttons take a 1/2 second to appear initially. When I get an opportunity, I'll try counting out the hands and see what falls.

Overall, I'm not overly impressed with it, but from comments made by the host of the site (to a friend of mine), there are plenty of updates coming.

Actually, I haven't found the tables to be tight at all - but it is definitely a different dynamic than some other sites.

In any case, just an update on the bonus - it seems to clear in $1 increments (5 points) rather than in $5 increments. Not that this is a huge deal - but I figured I should say so - because it is different than as posted. Also any bonus money earned is not cleared until 1am the next day - so it may take a little bit for it to show up in your account.

/d

Signed up for Grid, and man, there aren't a lot of games going on there... the format isn't as bad as I had expected... The lack of players, though, has to affect your ability to cash in that 1000% bonus, no? I mean, no multitabling, I couldn't find a game going higher than .25/.50...

Hmm - I've yet to see a time when they didn't have at least a $1/$2 or a $2/$4 game going (limit anyway - I'm not sure about the NL offered). In fact, every time I've been on, there was at least one $10/$20 game going (shorthanded - 4 players I think).

Apparently the peak time for it is late afternoon to early evening (mostly recreational players coming from the backgammon side).

I think the action is definately picking up a little in the evening as the last few days there have been at least 5 full tables of 24 limit going and a smattering of other stuff. The bad thing is they still don't have a waiting list feature so you just have to open up the tables and jump in when someone leaves.