Betfair joining the Ongame Network

Those of you who play at Betfair Poker (not open to American players) may have seen on their website the announcements of their upgrade later this month to "Betfair Poker 2" (so-called).

If you thought the screenshots of the new software looked strangely familiar, you are right. It`s not really an upgrade of the existing software. They are ditching their custom system and migrating to the Ongame network.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about it. Betfair has reasonable player numbers and will raise Ongame to rough equality with Ipoker and Party in that respect, but it`s a shame to see one of the bigger independents sucked into corporate anonymity. It reduces our range of options.

It must be said, though, that Betfair`s current software is ugly and creaky. It certainly needed modernising.