Pokerstars reload bonus......reality of clearing it in S&G's???

[rusty JEDI]

Hello All.

For those who havent found out yet, pokerstars has a 20% up to $120 max bonus until Feb. 15th.

I am a reformed bonuswhore who has taken up sit and go's at party full time. I figure i will hit this bonus at stars but am hoping to do it in the sit and go's instead of ring play. Does anyone who plays stars lots have any guess on the number of sit and go'd i will need to clear 600 fpp's. Is it worth trying, or should i suck it up and play ring to clear it?

Thanks

rJ (Those bastards stole my sig. and the saber fight)

[ClemsonAce]

From the pokerstars website.
"Five (5) points are awarded for each $1 in a tournament fee (rounded up) - for example, in a tournament with $20 buy-in and $2 tournament fee, each player will be awarded 10 FPPs. Another example is a $5 buy-in Sit & Go tournnament with $0.50 fee - 3 FPP will be awarded to each player in this tournament"

hope that helps

[alekhine8]

I just deposited $350 for a $70 bonus. At 5 FPPs per $10 sit-and-go (and 350 FPPs needed to clear) Im looking at playing 70 of them - 35 hours at two per hour.

Its going to be a while - but Im at Pokerstars to solely play sit-and-gos so I dont really care.

[skaboomizzy]

Wow, another Tampa player doing just SNG's at Stars. Nice. I'm just doing the $5 SNGs right now, but depending on if I get my OT on my next paycheck, I may move up to $10. Maybe I'll see ya there.

[Bozeman]

I cleared a bonus like that fairly easily when I was only playing multitables. SnG's should be fairly easy, though $10's may take a while.

On the other hand, I still have a partially uncleared bonus on Paradise, because they don't reward tourney play much.

Craig

[Al_Capone_Junior]

If you normally just play SNGs at stars, then play your SNGs and don't worry about how fast it clears. You'd be playing SNGs anyway, consider it money in the bank. I never found it hard to clear bonuses at stars.

[ QUOTE ]
I am a reformed bonuswhore

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad to see somebody is wising up.

al

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I have $149 in uncleared bonus money. $49 of it is from their promotion "100% bonus" baloney, and the other $100 is from a new player referral. Their bonuses take FOREVER to clear. Three hours of 3-6 stud-8 cleared less than $8. I can't hardly stand to play there so I may never clear the stupid bonuses.

al

[DrPhysic]

I think it's ok on stars. I am going to E-m them and ask anyway, ie: what do i have to play in sng's and tourns to clear bonus. I don't play ring tables. (at least for now).

I do have a 20 bonus on true that i will never collect for just that reason. I did e-m them, and the only thing they credit toward clearing bonuses is ring table play.

Doc

[La Brujita]

Hi Doc,

Feel free to email them but I have cleared numerous bonuses on Stars with just sit and gos.

[DrPhysic]

I figured as much. I did just send the e-m with following q's.

1) verify that the 20% applies to re-deposites, not just first time deposites? (almost sure this is correct)
2) asked if an extension of 15th date is possible, because of the 4 - 5 business days it takes to clear an EFT to neteller. (that is without paying the 9.4% instant transfer rip)
3) asked what the requirements are to clear with sng's or tournaments but not ring games.

Will post reply.

Doc

[William]

Hi Doc,

I think the answer will be:

1) Yes
2) No
3) you get 5 FPP for every fee dollar Example, 10$+1$ SNG earns you 5 FPP, so it will take a while playing only low-buy-in SNGs.

Take care,
William

[DrPhysic]

William,
The answer I got was

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) you get 5 FPP for every fee dollar Example, 10$+1$ SNG earns you 5 FPP, so it will take a while playing only low-buy-in SNGs.

3) was exactly as you said. I e-md them back because i still don't understand it. As I understand it they will put 20% in a bonus acct. You have to play $x of raked hands before the bonus is cleared and becomes real money. I don't understand how FPPs are related, or what i have to do to clear the bonus playing sng's or tourns instead of ring games.

Explanation?

I will post response if i get a coherent one from stars.
(Maybe the 20% is automatic, added to cash acct immediately without having to clear it as on other sites?)

Doc

[William]

Doc,

Lets say you make a 600$ deposit to take full advantage of the promotion. That will qualify you for a 120$ bonus.

When you log in at Stars and go to the cashiers, ther is a brown button "check my bonus status" there you can see the ammount you deposited and how many FPP you have earned since the deposit.
The 120$ are only moved to your account when you have earned 600 FPP playing at Stars, This way the site gets something for their money, forcing you to play a certain amount of raked games or SNGs.
If you do deposit 600$ and only play 10$ SNG, you will need to play 120 SNGs before the 120$ are moved to your account (120 x 5 = 600).

The good news is that there is no limitation to the amount of time you have to clear the bonus and that you can cashout your original 600$ deposit after 2 or 3 days(this, thiough I am only 95% sure, so you need to check)

good luck,
William

[La Brujita]

I have withdrawn the money before and continued to clear the bonus. William was likely wrong about one point, if you email them they will extend the bonus time frame (at least they have for me every time I have asked).

[DrPhysic]

It was the FPP part that confused me. Actually a better deal than some other sites, even tho prob takes a while to clear on sng's.

Here is the content of e-m from stars:

__________________________________________________ _____
- You may make one deposit that is eligible for the deposit bonus. The maximum deposit that qualifies for the bonus is $600, which will earn you a potential $120 bonus.

- Only the first deposit during the promotion period is eligible for the deposit bonus.

We understand that players may encounter some delays in making a deposit, and we will gladly extend the bonus period a day or two.

I'm a little unclear as to what you are asking in #3. Players earn 5 FPPs for every dollar in the tournament fee (the second figure in the tournament registration cost. IE: 10+1).

Clarification from Stars website on FPP’s:

To earn the deposit bonus, you must earn FPPs, equal to your qualifying deposit, beginning when you make your qualifying deposit. For example, if you deposit $500, making you eligible for a $100 bonus, you must earn 500 FPPs to receive your $100 pending bonus.
__________________________________________________ _____

Doc

[heyrocker]

[ QUOTE ]
The good news is that there is no limitation to the amount of time you have to clear the bonus and that you can cashout your original 600$ deposit after 2 or 3 days(this, thiough I am only 95% sure, so you need to check)


[/ QUOTE ]

This is actually NOT true. I was looking at the terms this morning, and if you make ANY cashout before your bonus is cleared, then your bonus is void. This gave me a little pause. I can play 120 SNGs, but it will take a while, and I don't know if I care to have all that money stuck there, especially since lately this isn't really my favorite place to play SNGs anyways.

[William]

I can't find that statemet.

Stars Bonus Rules (http://www.pokerstars.com/1m_tourney_bonus.html)

[jedi]

The page at Stars says that if you make a withdrawal before a QUALIFYING deposit, then the bonus offer is void. If you make the deposit and THEN withdraw, everything looks to be okay.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The good news is that there is no limitation to the amount of time you have to clear the bonus and that you can cashout your original 600$ deposit after 2 or 3 days(this, thiough I am only 95% sure, so you need to check)


[/ QUOTE ]

This is actually NOT true. I was looking at the terms this morning, and if you make ANY cashout before your bonus is cleared, then your bonus is void. This gave me a little pause. I can play 120 SNGs, but it will take a while, and I don't know if I care to have all that money stuck there, especially since lately this isn't really my favorite place to play SNGs anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]

[M.B.E.]

Heyrocker, you're wrong about this. You can make a deposit and then withdraw the funds whenever you want without affecting your bonus.

It is explained clearly on the PokerStars page which William linked to and in this post (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=518383) by Microboy.

[heyrocker]

Ah, in this statement:

If you cash out any amount from your PokerStars account during the Bonus Period prior to making a qualifying deposit, you are ineligible for the deposit bonus.

I obviously missed the "prior to making a qualifying deposit" part when I was reading this this morning. My mistake. No reason at all not to do it now.

[Sarge85]

Let's say I was playing just the $10 sit-n-go's

What would my win rate need to be to clear $120?

I need to play 120 Sit-n-Go's

Seems like the math geeks in the Probablity area should have a field day with this question.

Sarge/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

[M.B.E.]

[ QUOTE ]
Let's say I was playing just the $10 sit-n-go's

What would my win rate need to be to clear $120?

I need to play 120 Sit-n-Go's

Seems like the math geeks in the Probablity area should have a field day with this question.

[/ QUOTE ]
Your win rate doesn't matter. You get 5 FPPs for each $10+1 SNG regardless of how well you do.

[Bozeman]

Not really relevant, but you need to be an average player in these SnG's, since the $120 you make will exactly cover the vig, so you need to have average equity in the remaining money to break even.

[Sarge85]

I would need to play 120 sit-n-gos

That's $1320 in entry fees.

I'm going to win my fair share to make it worthwhile to play just sit-n-gos to clear this $120 bonus.

Sarge/images/graemlins/diamond.gif (who has a habit of over simplifying things)

[M.B.E.]

If you're worried about bankroll, you can plan to drop down to the $5+.50 SNGs if your bankroll is cut in half (and move up to $20+2 if your bankroll doubles).

Note that you get 3 FPPs for each $5+.50 SNG. That means you'd have to play 200 of them to clear a $120 bonus, but you'd only be paying $100 of vig (as compared to $120 if you played the $10s and $20s). That means that even if you're slightly worse than the average player, you'd still have positive EV.

[Prickly Pete]

I've been looking to play some O/8 ring and this Stars bonus may be the perfect excuse for me. Looking at their website, 1 FPP is awarded for every pot that is raked at least $0.75 (for 1/2 and higher). Furthermore, looking at the rake page for 2/4, they rake $1 for every $20 pot.

What is a typical % of 2/4 hands (full table) that will be raked $1?