On Tuesday, UB.com was launched, replacing Ultimate Bet. The new site, which features a revamped logo and retooled lobby design, went live as part of a software update issued during the early morning hours. PocketFives.com fired up our Mac version and we were met with an 8,600 KB update, which took about two minutes to pull from the UB.com servers upon launch. You can check out the new yellow and black UB.com logo to the right of this paragraph. Let’s take a look at what else is new.

2009 marks Ultimate Bet’s tenth year in operation and, as such, the time was ripe for an extreme makeover. Tokwiro Chief Operating Officer Paul Leggett commented in a press release distributed by the site on Tuesday, “The launch of UB.com is not just a new domain with a different logo, it's much more than that. It's a complete new direction for UB. It's software built with the serious poker player in mind. It's a new television show that is truly about poker, not just another reality or game show. And finally, it's tournaments and promotions that poker players care about.” UB.com will sponsor “Poker 2Night,” which debuted on Fox Sports on Wednesday night.
The tournament schedule is being overhauled, with 30 new guaranteed tournaments adding $1 million to the purse up for grabs on UB.com each month. Upon logging into UB.com, you’ll notice its new logo in the upper left corner with player and table totals given right below it. In addition, color-coded icons appear next to each table in the lobby, with a legend at the bottom of the master list for reference. There are a variety of lobby filters now available, including the maximum number of players (heads-up, four, six, and nine), stack sizes (50 min BB, Deep Stack, and Standard Stack), and table type (Turbo, Normal, Bad Beat Jackpot, Ante, and 7-2). You can also elect to hide full and empty tables.

Other filters include number of players to the flop and number of players at each table as well as the stakes and maximum buy-in. Off to the right of the cash game lobby, you can scope out the details of the players seated at each table. Right below that is a link to Ultimate Buddy, which retains its old name. In the upper left of each table are text links for Lobby, Cashier, Hand History, Options, and Blackjack, the latter of which is written in red. A generic square UB.com logo serves as the avatar for those players who have not yet uploaded one.

In October, UB rolled out synchronized breaks, following a precedent set by sites like Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Breaks take place at 55 minutes past every hour and give players a chance to walk away from their computers to grab a snack, take the dog out, or catch up on the real world without missing any hands. In September, UB introduced a downloadable Mac version as well as an Instant Play option that launches the online poker site’s software in a web browser.

Ultimate Bet has been referred to by its two-letter acronym for quite some time now, leading to Tuesday’s permanent changeover. In response to the move, the PocketFives.com community has been buzzing, with online poker player dandickau chiming in, “The new look will take some getting used to but it looks alright. It sucks that you can no longer see your account balance in the lobby. I use that to record how much I won/lost during my sessions and I probably look at it like 20 times per session.” Some PocketFivers have experienced compatibility issues with Windows 7, while others have been clamoring for a layout manager to arrange tables for them. Those with the former issue were asked to uninstall and reinstall UB.com, which seemed to do the trick. Check out a UB.com thread in Poker Discussion.

Joe JoeSebok Sebok (pictured at right), Annie Duke, and Phil Hellmuth front UB.com, which, along with its sister site Absolute Poker, makes its home on the CEREUS Network. The latter pro, an 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, commented in a press release, "In the ten years since I have been involved with the UB brand, I have never been prouder to represent the company as much as I am right now. We have great people captaining the ship, we have a great vibe, and some serious swagger. I look forward to the day when we are the largest poker site on the planet." Hellmuth is a centerpiece of the annual UB.com Aruba Poker Classic, which plays out each year from the Radisson Resort on the tropical island.

Visit Ultimate Bet today to check out the brand new UB.com.