Pokeroom Reload Bonus $150 MAX/15% -THANKS

[goodguy_1]

We celebrate Thanksgiving by giving you a reload bonus.

To qualify for the 10% bonus, enter the deposit code THANKS on your next deposit before November 28th. If you choose to deposit via NETeller we will give you an extra 5%! The deposit code is valid for a single deposit only.*

NETeller - 15% bonus up to $150.
Other payment options - 10% bonus up to $100.

[TylerD]

Thanks for the info.

Are Pokerroom bonuses stackable? 30 day expiry, 700 points right?

[MicroBob]

Thanks for the heads-up goodguy.


Yes they are stackable....but the 'later' one will not appear until after you clear the first one.

60-day expiry (not 30).

7x bouns: So $150 bonus is 1050 points (if you use neteller).
It will take a decent while to clear but I think it's worthwhile (others argue that it is not though).



Also - if you play 4-tables for 6 or 7 hours trying to clear this then you will be in the running for their 'daily winners' contest (or whatever it's called). Top 40 or 50 in points from midnight to midnight (eastern time) win cash.
I won $18 during one of the bonus-clearing periods without even realizing they had this.
So a $200 bonus was really a $218 bonus for me.
In other words, it's slightly better EV to try to clear this bonus in the course of a couple of days rather than stretch it out with a little play at a time over a couple weeks.

Plus...I earned enough points that week to enter their Saturday $6k 'freeroll' (that costs points to enter....but they call it a freeroll).
I finished 5th and won $200 in that.....so that was ANOTHER bonus for me.

Both of these things (the daily-points contests...and the weekly freerolls) don't sound like much....but as long as we're bonus-whoring we might as well be aware of the additional value one can extract while hanging out at pokerroom.

[westmt01]

Do you know if this is an account-specific bonus, or is it open to everyone?

[goodguy_1]

-yes they are stackable.
-they do have expirations dates but PR will let you slide for weeks/months over the expiry date..not always thu
-1050 points to clear a $150 bonus on a $1000/15% Neteller deposit-7 points per dollar bonus.700 points for $100 bonus-yes

[SomethingClever]

Is Pokerroom one of the ones where you need a PIN to cash out?

2nd question: Is there a sign-up bonus as well? Can I get both?

[westmt01]

[ QUOTE ]
Both of these things (the daily-points contests...and the weekly freerolls) don't sound like much

[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like a lot to me! Your bonus was basically $418 if you add in the freeroll. I'll take it!

I think Pokeroom is a great place to play, I just wish they offered reload bonuses more often.

[goodguy_1]

good point on the daily top 50 thing...You can clear this in 2 days playing hard.One day is doable but it is really pushing it-for me at least.Pokeroom used to allow you to play 6/+ tables at a time... about 3/4/? months ago they cut it back to only 4 so its tough to clear in one day unless you're on a mission..

[serling]

Another nice thing is that you can rack up points by playing their casino end.

I've always worked off Pokerroom's bonuses through blackjack over a stretch of a few days. That usually also earned me some extra money from their daily top-earners as well as tickets to their weekend freerolls (that I always forget to play!).

serling

[MicroBob]

It was actually even MORE than that.
I stacked a $200 sign-up bonus along with a $150 reload.

So it was $418 + $150 = $568.
And I did pretty well at the tables as well (another $500 or so I think). It was a very good week.


And yes....you can get the sigm-up bonus AND take advantage of the reload as seperate deposits.

A few months ago cardplayer.com was offering a 40% up to $200 sign-up bonus at pokerroom....so check over there and see if they still have that. Otherwise you'll be doing getting 20% up to $100 probably.

Remember, you won't see the 2nd bonus on your account page until after you clear the first one.....
And you have to clear them both within 60 days and it will take you awhile to clear $350 worth of bonuses (if you get the $200 from cardplayer).

[goodguy_1]

[ QUOTE ]
And you have to clear them both within 60 days

[/ QUOTE ]

over the last year almost every bonus probably 3 or 4 that I've cleared I've done AFTER the expiry date.I've had bonues pending 4-6+ weeks after they were supposed to expire.

About 2 weeks ago I was going to play off a pending $150 bonus that was long overdue.I had like 700 points to clear..well a strange thing happened..they credited me with a $100 bonus not the $150 and purged the bonus from my account so there is a limit to their flexibilty on this.I even called up PR customer service explained to them that they had credited me with 2/3's of my original bonus amount on only 350 out of the required 1050 playing points..for $100 bounus it would have been 350/700 but I still made out well.They appreciated my honesty and let it stand...I think what happens is they will let these bonuses hang around for awhile then they purge them...
I dont think this is account specific but I have been a PR member for 4-5 years..It was the first room I played at.

[richie]

Does anybody know if this bonus is doable at low limits, say 1/2 or perhaps 2/4? Last time I played there was several years ago and I gave up on the bonus as it was taking FOREVER /images/graemlins/mad.gif. Thanks in advance, Rich

Also, can you withdraw your money prior to completeing the bonus?

[BusterStacks]

I'm contemplating doing the sign-up bonus plus stacking the reload, but can someone clarify how the points are accumulated?

[goodguy_1]

you can burn it off pretty fast playing multitables of 5MAX.I do $2-4 and $3-6LHE.They also now usually have 2 decent $0.50/1.00 PLO games going--usually the pots are small but most tables have 2-3 total complete morons..paying off non-nut hands that make the games worthwile..
That being said reality is that PR doesnt usually have anywhere near the action as Party.
Best thing to do with these bonuses is really not feel forced to play them..just play them when you see decent games..so maybe you burn the bonus over a week or two rather than 2,3,4 days..that way you dont force yourself to play in poor games.
Often PR short games during the week have anemic pot averages.It may NOT be worth it to bonus whore unless you play short well..staying at Party is probably easier..plus this is NOT an easy bonus to clear..you need to work for it..PR has some pretty lame pot averages in their full games..

PR's rake schedule on $2-4 and $3-6 5MAX is lower than Party..at least it used to..havent checked in awhile..

[MicroBob]

goodguy is right about the numbers....but i've had semi-decent success finding complete idiots on the short-tables (2/4 and 3/6 mostly).

it will take a long time to clear at 1/2 because of how the points are structured but it is do-able I think.
2/4 is better...and the short-games treated me even better still.
I only play there when clearing off bonuses....which isn't really that often....so I might have been stopping by there at a couple of really good times.

[SomethingClever]

How many hands do you define as a "long time" at 1/2?

[lefty rosen]

What is the quality of player like these days at Pokerroom? When I first played there the 1/2 players were total space cadets(about as bad as Party or or Pacific), but they also had some regular cannons who would make a 1/2 or 2/4 table be 10BB per hand until they tapped out.......

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
How many hands do you define as a "long time" at 1/2?

[/ QUOTE ]

How does a million-and-one sound??

Honestly I don't remember...I only stayed at 1/2 for a little while before I gave up and decided to clear it at a higher level.
I actually tried it at NL-25 but that was ext to impossible (whereas on party-bonuses NL-25 is an easy way to clear bonuses).


Of course, if you deposit there and decide that it's going to slowly at 1/2 and you don't want to try 2/4 then there's nothing stopping you from just cashing everything out and not finishing the bonus.
I would recommend giving it a shot....if you like the room then stick around and clear it.....if you hate it then leave and you won't be any worse off.


To answer the other Q.....as I mentioned previously I had also found my fair share of space-cadets in the ring-games at pokerroom.

The tourneys are pretty good too.

In the main-lobby there is a chat-page and some of the questions in there from newbies are INCREDIBLE.
"What does 10+1 tournament mean"
"What does $10k guaranteed mean? Does it really cost $10k to enter?"
"Why did it put my chips in before I got cards?" (answer: "ummmm....that's called the Big Blind.")

etc etc.

My main issue with pokerroom is that I have had disconnect problems.
Also - you can't turn the animation off I think....so if you want to hear sounds you are stuck hearing a LOT of dealing cards and the annoying shuffle sound that it makes...etc etc.

[richie]

Thanks for the info, Goodguy. I'll have to download the software again and check out the traffic. May not be worth my time (vs. lost time at crypto and Party). /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Overdrive]

[ QUOTE ]
Does anybody know if this bonus is doable at low limits, say 1/2 or perhaps 2/4? Last time I played there was several years ago and I gave up on the bonus as it was taking FOREVER /images/graemlins/mad.gif. Thanks in advance, Rich

Also, can you withdraw your money prior to completeing the bonus?

[/ QUOTE ]

I cleared the last Pokeroom bonus by playing their $1-2 stud game. The 1/2 stud at Pokeroom has a very reasonable .10 cent ante and the 1/2 stud pots are naturally usually higher than 1/2 limit so you earn more points quicker.

[Overdrive]

[ QUOTE ]
Is Pokerroom one of the ones where you need a PIN to cash out?

2nd question: Is there a sign-up bonus as well? Can I get both?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, they don't require a pin.

[Fraubump]

Like Stars, you can clear bonuses with SNGs (or other tourney fees), though the rate is worse: At Stars you clear at 5 FPPs/$1. At PR, it's 7. Both give you 5 FPPs/dollar of entry fee (at Stars you can tweak it up to 6 if you only play the 50 cent tourneys). Still, for those who exclusively play SNGs, this is better than nothing. If you exclusively play 10+1's, this comes to 210 sngs to clear the $150 bonus. If you 4 table them, that's about 50 hours, so about $3/hour. The higher you play, the faster it'll go.

[richie]

May try it this way. I have been clearing the Absolute bonuses by playing O/8 and 7CS/8, alot easier than the tight HE games. Thanx for the info--time to brush up on my stud game /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[richie]

Another idea to try. Haven't played too many SNG's lately, could be a nice change of pace (along with the idea of playing some stud-LOL). Thanks for the info /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Overdrive]

[ QUOTE ]
May try it this way. I have been clearing the Absolute bonuses by playing O/8 and 7CS/8, alot easier than the tight HE games. Thanx for the info--time to brush up on my stud game /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Lately I have been clearing almost everything playing Stud when I can. The tables are nowhere as near crazy tight as some hold em tables are now, especially on Crypto. Also stud pots are just naturally higher than hold em so at sites that require raked hands you get points quicker than hold em. Stud is where it's at for me right now.

[El Barto]

Any good way to use up points other than entering tournys?

I see they have a new store. http://www.pokerroom.com/shop/

[serling]

Whew -- I finally cleared this bonus. It was more worth it for me playing 4 hours of blackjack here than days and days of poker. It was touch and go for awhile but fortunately made it into the positive.

Just something to consider, if you've bonus whored the casino sites and are still itching to play bj somewhere. It worked out to an average $37.50/hour, plus the cashback for being in the top 50, plus the $3K and $6K freerolls.

Now back to working off Party's poker bonuses!

serling

[dfscott]

[ QUOTE ]
Whew -- I finally cleared this bonus. It was more worth it for me playing 4 hours of blackjack here than days and days of poker. It was touch and go for awhile but fortunately made it into the positive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow -- only four hours? What was your bet amount? I was doing the math on this, and their website says you get .05 points per dollar wagered at BJ. That means that the playthrough for the full $150 (1050 points) on BJ would be $21,000!

Doing the math from wizard of odds (I'm guessing you can double any 2, but I wasn't sure), it looks like there's only a .2371% HA, so it's still profitable (EV=$100.21). But I don't know how to calc the variance, and over $21,000 I worry that it could be a lot!

[Oblomov]

Can anyone post a link to this bonus. I can't find anything on their site.

[Festus22]

In standard Festus fashion, I am light years behind the times and do not have a real money account at PokerRoom. Interestingly enough, it was the first online site I ever played holdem and built up $200K in play money.

So - I see you can play 4 tables. That's very good. What's the competition like at $2/4? How is it to clear bonuses at that level? Is there a decent sign up bonus? Do they offer reloads frequently? Any other recommendations?

I'm sure I could find all this stuff out elsewhere but why seek Luke when Yoda is right here?

[MicroBob]

If it's $21k of play at BJ (I'll trust your math on this):

Let's see.....
2 hands of $10 each....maybe 150 rounds per hour (if you are making your decisions quickly) for 300 total hands per hour = $3k per hour.

Okay...that falls a little bit short.

Maybe 3 hands of $10 each at 150 rounds an hour = 450 total hands per hour = $4.5k/hr.
This would clear the bonus in less than 5 hours.


Not sure how quickly one can typically play BJ online....but 300 rounds per hour at $5/hd also wouldn't surprise me either.

there is no shuffle time and you are just playing basic-strategy (not sitting there agonizing over each decision like a regular casino BJ player), etc etc.

The BJ aspect is interesting.....and if it gets you in the top 40 for the points thing too then maybe it is worth it.
Time-wise it seems like a decent-move.
I might consider doing it that way....but I'm not positive yet.
Even with the time-saved I just hate playing a game that I know is -EV (even though it becomes +EV with the bonus).

[MicroBob]

All of this stuff is already in the thread actually.

2/4 full-ring is kinda tight sometimes. I think the 5-max games are pretty decent though.
And there are even enough idiots on the full-ring games to keep me reasonably happy most of the time.

Clearing bonuss at 2/4 should be decent.
Not fantastic....but okay. Probably somewhere around the same as clearing a bonus at Stars I guess (maybe faster...probably not much slower though....not really sure).

They don't offer that many reloads.

60-day expiry-date to clear the bonuses.

If you play a bunch of hands in one-day you might get extra-cash as one of the top-50 points-earners which can add to your bonus.

The points can also be used to buy into different tourneys including a $6k-freeroll on Saturday......and sometimes they let you use them to buy into their $20+2, $10k (or $15k or whatever) guaranteed.

So you're not JUST clearing the bonus.....you can use the points for something too.

Someone just mentioned that they opened their pokerroom store so maybe you can buy merchandise with the points instead of you prefer.

Cardplayer HAD the best sign-up bonus (40% up to $200) so check at their website and see if they still offer it (I think they still had it a month or two ago).
Otherwise the sign-up bonus is probably 20% to $100 or something.

[serling]

I was more concerned with time (despite 60 days to clear it) so I upped my bet levels as well as variance. Also played Party simultaneously, which I don't recommend because bj and poker hands don't mix.

Started with $10 and $20 bets (that went up to $40 and $60) spread across two to five spots. I was very aggressive, always doubling on 11 and often on 10 if the dealer didn't show a 10. Many times that would just break me even. Sometimes the dealer would win all the hands, sometimes he'd bust.

Then went on a nasty streak that dropped me to $335 from a high of $1300 ($1000 deposit). Definitely not for the faint of heart. I considered giving up, but I was close to getting enough points for the $6K freeroll.

Cursing comes through on Pokerroom, so I uttered a string of expletives whenever the dealer hit 21 (which seemed often). Later my chat stopped showing up, and I think they might've removed my chat privileges as I was scaring away other players (though I never cursed at them, just at the dealer).

I then stuck with a $40 bet in one spot for the final hour and was somehow able to push the $335 to $1400. From $335 to $1000 was tough -- I kept seesawing. But I sailed from $1000 to $1400. Though it makes no difference, I did better when I played by myself and other players weren't at the table.

I immediately cashed out once the bonus hit and will also cashout the bonus money I get for the day.

I've always done Pokerroom's bonuses in blackjack with mixed results. I'm either up or down a lot. I'm glad this time it worked favorably.


serling

[serling]

Playing bj at Pokerroom is slower than other casino sites because of other players at your table. Not to mention my impatience when you see them agonizing over a $1 bet, as well as splitting 10s with a dealer showing a 10. I hate seeing basic strategy not being used, even though it has no effect on your own hand.

Taking up all the seats solves this, but also increases your variance.

I just checked and I'm still in the top 10 for the day and should get in the $30-38 range. (At most other sites, you would get $21 for a $21,000 playthrough.)

Also received the three freerolls, if I can just remember to play them.

In my opinion, whoring via bj is very much worth it.

serling

[Oblomov]

[ QUOTE ]
Can anyone post a link to this bonus. I can't find anything on their site.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone?

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
I was very aggressive, always doubling on 11 and often on 10 if the dealer didn't show a 10.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know what's so aggressive about this. Doubling on 11 or 10 in these situations is basic-strategy.

If you were only 'often' doubling on ten when the dealer showed less than 10 then that implies that you were 'occasionally' not doubling in these situations which is a mistake.


Didn't know the BJ hands went so slowly there. I certainly wouldn't be interested in betting $20 or $40 per hand there.


[ QUOTE ]
Taking up all the seats solves this, but also increases your variance.

[/ QUOTE ]


I don't believe this is correct unless there is some rule about having to increase the size of your bet if you take up all the seats?

[serling]

You're correct, I should have applied that all the time, but I backed off the more I lost. Meant to also include splitting and doubling down hands 11 and below when dealer showed 4-6.

Could be mistaken about variance, but assumed more bets out there increases it (even if same value)?

[MicroBob]

If you're going to bet 20k hands at $1 apiece (for example) then it really doesn't matter a whole lot for your variance whether you bet them 1 at a time or 7 at a time I think. You're still playing 20k hands.
you just get to play them 7x as fast for the most part.

This is all under "I think this is how it works" so someone/anyone (everyone??) smarter than me can feel free to correct me.


However, if you got up to playing 1k hands at a time somehow (on a REALLY big table) then this should increase your variance since a streak of the dealer catching 21's would really hurt you....while a streak of dealer busts would be just joyous for you.

[Fraubump]

Doing it by BJ is a 140xBonus wagering req. You do get some extra benefits, like the freeroles and things you can spend points on, but really, this is a terrible BJ bonus. Many better opportunities.

[dfscott]

[ QUOTE ]
You're correct, I should have applied that all the time, but I backed off the more I lost. Meant to also include splitting and doubling down hands 11 and below when dealer showed 4-6.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even better would be to use a basic strategy chart:
http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/

Makes it go quicker as well.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
I should have applied that all the time, but I backed off the more I lost.

[/ QUOTE ]


Doubling your 10 v. 9 is +EV regardless of whether you have been winning or losing.
Not doubling your 10 v. 9 is -EV.

[serling]

Yep, yep, everything goes out the window in bj for me. I am definitely not the best bj player.

This stint just happened to work out. Most don't.

[mosta]

so I went into pokerroom to get the $200 from cardplayer and the $150 on this reload. to familiarize myself with the software and players I started at 3-6, two tables (and one pacific, and a free pokerroom tourney entry). after 440 hands I had 220 of the 1400 points I need for the first $200. This sucks. I'll try 5-T next time, and if it's not twice as fast I'm abandonning it. Also, for the free tourney entry, for some reason that java client anihilated my system. Constant max resources used. impossible to get the buttons to register. sometimes couldn't see blinds. phantom cards on the board. I've got 512meg and pentium 3M or whatever thinkpad. (it was just the tourney window with problems.) oh well. another reason to skip that site. also should because the graphics are so bad. everything is the same color. really hard on the eyes.

[MicroBob]

I've had some similar (occasional) problems on the download-version tables. Disconnects and disappearing cards and other weird stuff.
haven't played the java-client.
Hoping things are more stable in my upcoming p-room experience.


As for your contention that it is going really slowly:

440 hands on 2 tables should be 3 or 3.5 hours or so I guess.
1400 points for $200 means that each point is worth just barely over $0.14 of bonus.
So 220 points is $30.80 of bonus that you cleared away in 3 to 3.5 hours.

So this is about $10/hr.....or $5/hr on each table.
$5/hr is ALSO almost a full BB on each table.

if you are only breaking-even in your regular play then you are still earning almost 1BB/hr per table just on clearing the bonus.
Maybe only 0.75BB or 0.8BB/hr or so.


If your actual poker-playing win-rate is closer to 1BB/hr then you almost doubled that with the bonus.


I'll admit....it's not fantastic. But it's really not THAT terrible.
And it sure beats NO bonus.

I also believe it is pretty similar to bonuses at a lot of other sites.


On Paradise for example, you get $10 of bonus for every 100 raked hands.
At 3/6 lets assume that 80% of the hands are raked (??).
So for every 120 hands or so you are earning $10 in bonus or $0.083 per hand.

I'll assume 70 hands an hour. This would be $5.83/hr.
This is slightly better than p-room's $5/hr or so.....but it's fairly close.


Even some of the bonuses on party are about the same as this (1000 raked-hands to clear $100 worth of bonus) although the one's that are only 700 or 500 hands to clear for $100 are clearly better.


anyway, I don't think you will clear them THAT much faster at 5/10 but I'm not really sure.
you WILL clear them faster on the 5-max tables if you can play those games decently.
$350 of bonus will obviously take a long time to clear compared with $50 or $100 at other sites no matter what you play.
I started with $350 in bonus as well and it took me a couple of weeks to make it through all that.


Obviously if it REALLY frustrates you to play there then you shouldn't.

I just wanted to point out that the bonus-clearing there is pretty similar to other sites imo.