Bonus Whoring...scourge of my life

[TightEnd]

OK, hands up if you are like me?

You can't resist the lure of something for nothing...so online bonus promtions are irresistible

You get near to clearing it and then the inevitable bad beats/bad play/lack of discipline happens

Often because you are playing only to clear the bonus, particularly for those with time limits


Stars has a 20% bonus on deposits up to $600 before tomorrow night (this is so widely known, forgive the advertising, I have no relationships with stars other than as a player)

Should I bother?

How do you guys clear them most profitably?

[ACE2M]

http://www.tightpoker.com/bonus/

[Sheriff Fatman]

The Stars bonuses (and also Paradise) are the easiest ones to deal with as they don't expire and are stackable so all I do is make the qualifying deposit within the deadline and then clear them as and when I feel like it.  At present I've got 5 Stars bonuses stacked and waiting to clear and about $600 of Paradise bonuses.  I don't play there with the sole intention of clearing the bonuses - they just clear as and when I meet the requirements.

The main source of time-restricted bonuses are the Party Skins, which tend to give between 7 and 30 days to meet the raked hand requirements.  Fortunately for me, the limit ring games on Party are my regular game so I just deposit for the bonus and continue to play my regular game, albeit from whichever skin I'm clearing the bonus from.  Quite often the bonus is an 'irrelevance' compared to the amount of money I win or lose as I clear it but its still free money.  If I don't clear one then I'm not too worried, there'll be another one available soon enough.

A good example of this is the current Multipoker offering - there are 5 100% bonuses ($100, $200, $300, $400, and $500) at present, each with 20 days to clear them.  Its possible to deposit for each of them so I'm planning to make the deposits for the lowest through to the highest and then see how far I get towards clearing them.  I'd need to play 30,000 raked hands in 20 days for the full $1500, which I have no chance of doing, but I'll probably get a few of them done.

As for the other bonus offerings I tend not to chase them specifically as they are either a pain to clear (e.g. UB) or the games/software aren't worth the hassle (e.g Crypto skins, Pacific, CelebPoker).  If its not one of your regular sites then you'll invariably be playing off a lowish bankroll and will probably be playing lower limits than usual.

If you've got a rakeback account somewhere you'll be far better off playing there than chasing bonuses all over the place.  If you can clear a bonus on a rakeback site then better still (although some sites will deduct the bonus from your rake figures so be careful).

Sheriff

PS:  The comment regarding limits are aimed at TightEnd specifically.  If anyone reading this is playing on a bankroll of $1000 or under then actively chasing bonuses is actually a very good way of building it up, as its likely that you won't be dropping down limits to do so.  I, like many others, actively did this when I started out and its a great way to learn the game.

[TightEnd]

thank you, extremely useful advice

[BigArmo]

Got to admit i always take Stars up on there bonus offers no matter whats in my account,i got my $120 bonus last night no hassle paid soon as i hit 600fpp.
Think chasing bonus on sites u don't play that often can become expensive but if my regular site wants to give me 20% i'll take it  .

[Div]

I've got several hundred dollars of Stars bonuses stacked i.e. sitting waiting to be cleared at my leisure.

I always try to play the Party skin bonuses - just battering through 3 or 4 low limit tables simultaneously. When it goes well, it's easy money. But it can be a bit boring, and also intensely frustrating if you run into a school of lucky fish.

There's only so many times you can see guys cold call three bets with 84 suited and hit two pair on the river to crack your Aces, before your sanity starts to falter.

It's definitely the way to go if you are starting out and trying to build a bankroll from scratch. Just set up a Neteller account and use that to switch your money between sites.

[matt674]

Got to admit i always take Stars up on there bonus offers no matter whats in my account,i got my $120 bonus last night no hassle paid soon as i hit 600fpp.
Think chasing bonus on sites u don't play that often can become expensive but if my regular site wants to give me 20% i'll take it  .

and your bankroll needs all the help it can get!!!!

p.s. now you got your $120 bonus thru - how about you pay me back that 50 cents you owe me?

[tikay]

What a great post by Sheriff Fatman.

[Maroon]

What a great thread.

At micro limits is it a case of calling almost every hand preflop and folding if missed in order to hit required number of raked hands asap or is it still best to play a solid game and take longer to clear the bonus?

[redsimon]

What a great thread.

At micro limits is it a case of calling almost every hand preflop and folding if missed in order to hit required number of raked hands asap or is it still best to play a solid game and take longer to clear the bonus?

Depends what the bonus criteria are. On Party/Stars/UB its being dealt in, on Prima/Tribeca skins its active participation. On the former I play tighter than a gnats chuff , the latter I try only to get involved with premium hands at low limits.

I have largely given up on Party though as their time limits are too tough for part timers like me

[Maroon]

Thanks.

How often do Stars and Party etc offer reload bonuses?

[Ironside]

stars offer a reload bonus when ever there is a big promo about to start
or sometimes during a holiday period

the bonus is only available for normally less than a week

but once you deposit you can wait as long as you want to earn the fpp


problem with stacking bonuses for me is i like to be able to move money around the sites at a drop of a hat

and i believe you cannot make a withdrawl while a bonus is waiting to be earned

[Maroon]

Nice one, Iron.

That's one of the great things about this forum, you get the heads-up on pitfalls etc.

[redsimon]

problem with stacking bonuses for me is i like to be able to move money around the sites at a drop of a hat

and i believe you cannot make a withdrawl while a bonus is waiting to be earned

Thats 100% untrue as far as Pokerstars, Paradise and Ultimatebet is concerned

[Ironside]

problem with stacking bonuses for me is i like to be able to move money around the sites at a drop of a hat

and i believe you cannot make a withdrawl while a bonus is waiting to be earned

Thats 100% untrue as far as Pokerstars, Paradise and Ultimatebet is concerned

i learn something new everyday

i have never tried doing a withdrawl at stars with a bonus waiting because i know some sites dont like it