Deposit Bonus

They seem to be the trend. A player makes a deposit during a certain timeframe and plays so many hands before it is totally his money.


I'm starting to look at these a little differently. There is a big jump in players on the sites running these promos. Most of these "new" players follow the promos around from site to site, leaving after "earning" the bonus money. These are players with their eye on the botomline. Are these the players you want to play poker with? For this "free" money you must play in these games for about a week.


It's not the quantity of the games I worry about, but the quality. It is similar to two nearby ski mountains. Once a week, they each run such a great deal, like free skiing that day, they get all the business, for the day. Ski tickets go for about $35-$45 for a day. Nothing to look down your nose at, but that is not why I ski.


Don't get me wrong, I love these sort of ski deals. I always go to the other mountain, with hardly anyone on it. The quality of the skiing makes up for the missed "great deal" on skiing.


I played PokerStars during their week of promos and deposited almost the max. Played a bunch of different Hold'em limits and the games were tougher than my mother's steaks. "Great deal son, only $2.99 a pound"


Another possibility is making the deposit and returning to play on the site 10-14 days later when the "bonus" people have moved on.


Have a nice day.


MS Sunshine

Unfortunately, Poker Stars has a time limit to earn FPPs for the bonus:


You have until June 2, 2002 Midnight to earn sufficient FPPs to meet the play requirement described in the preceding paragraph. However, the deposits that qualify for the bonus must be made before May 5, 2002, 11:59 PM ET.


Thoses of us who can't play everyday hve to start right away.

John:


If these sorts of "free money" bonuses don't attract a higher percentage of fish, then what would?


Using your skiing example, which of those mountains is likely to have more novice skiiers? Probably the one with free skiing, right?


Now, if you think the site offering a bonus was EXTREMELY fishy pre-bonus, then it would stand to reason that the bonus will also attract some sharks to the water.


But it's been my understanding (and I may be wrong, because I only started playing for cash at PokerStars with the bonus promotion) that PokerStars had a relatively high level of players, compared with other sites (lots of 2+2ers and RGPers, etc.). So, your results not withstanding, would an increased pool of "free money" players be more likely to include weaker-than-normal players?


Doc.

The games were tough. What can I say? I seemed to missed the fish-bonus crowd.


MS Sunshine

You're right MS, the games were tough. Now if you go to Pokerstars, if the site is back up, it's back to the same ol' few limit and almost all PL games.

yes logic would dictate soft games, but i also found them tough.both more tough players = and the casual player seemed to be hitting - i will get out with buy in and SOME LITTLE bonus, like maby a big mac meal deal!!!

I think your right..It's very site dependant.


Paradise games seems to get juicier every

quarter they offer their bonus to the general

public.


Back in Oct. at Highlands, the games became extremely tight due to players just trying to make their hand quotas. Wasn't really even worth the 100% bonus.


As a side note, lately, I'm growing fond of Party Pokers 10% interest plan on your avg. daily balance. Seems to be a good alternative for holding the bulk of my online BR, rather than Paypal.

I guess I was one of those bonus-chasing newcomers responsible for the tough Pokerstars games. I played in a couple 2-4 games which were as tight-aggressive as any game I've played in (including mid limits). The competition certainly seemed tougher than at Paradise Poker. Interestingly, the liveliest game I saw at Pokerstars was their 10-20. I didn't play it though, since my bankroll was smallish and I like to start playing low limits at a new site and work my way up. I did manage to earn my full bonus there with a SMALL additional profit.

Strangely enough, $5-$10 & $10-$20 games were much softer than $2-$4 games.