Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

Starting in Februrary, it looks like they've changed the payout breakdown. It had been paid out in 10% chunks so the chunk size depended on how big the bonus was. A $100 bonus got paid out in $10 chunks, a $600 bonus got paid out in $60 chunks.

Now they say 10% or $20, which ever comes first, so any bonus between $200 and 600 will now be paid out in $20 chunks. (Seems like a good thing).

Question: Can you deposit money on FT to get a deposit/reload bonus and then withdraw the money (like Party Skins) or do you have to leave the money in until you clear the bonus?

Dave

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

You can withdraw your money and the bonus remains pending in your account.

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

So is the bonus easy enough to clear relative to other sites?

Are the games sufficiently soft and available to make it worth playing there?

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

Have the requirements changed? According to their site you can earn between 1-3 points per raked (not contributed) hand, with each point worth .06, it looks like it would take upwards of 10,000 hands to clear at 1/2.

Does the bonus ever expire?

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

From searching posts here, the consensus seems to be that the games aren't all that soft, there are table availability issues and relative to many other sites, the FT bonus takes much longer to clear.

That said, with the new bonus payout structure of $20 chunks instead of $60 for a $600 bonus, it means that I can earn portions of the bonus in less time than before.

Given that I don't need to tie up the money on FT (can withdraw after depositing to get the bonus) if I have no Party/Crypto bonuses to clear, I can go spend sometime on FT.

Dave

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

It's still the same clearing method (just smaller chunks to clear). The bonus expires after 120 days.

I guess I'll play here when not clearing bonuses elsewhere.

Dave

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

That's what I'm starting to think. I just started playing there yesterday. The games are anything but soft. I love the software and the customer service is the best I've ever seen. My withdraw posted to Neteller in 1 hour. So..they have a lot going for them. They just have to get some more soft players. It's hard to find a lot of games. I told them they also needs to make the points easier to get.

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

the bonus still sucks

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

the no-limit games are super soft

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

[ QUOTE ]
the no-limit games are super soft

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Yes. I always see people here saying "oh man the Full Tilt games are rocky as hell" and I think "what?" and then I realize, they're playing LIMIT. The Full Tilt NL games are crazy fish oceans.

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

Well, here's my 2 cents regarding FullTilt.
I signed up 5 days ago and deposited $600.00. I have cleared almost $100.00 of the bonus so far playing .50/1 NL (two tables at a time). I have averaged about 3 hours of play per day. Now if you ask me, it doesn't seem like this bonus is all that difficult to clear, even at .50/1.

On a side note, my bankroll is over 1K now in 5 days [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

As far as the level of play at .50/1 NL; I have found it to be fairly solid but there always seem to be enough fish willing to call off all their chips when they should know they are beat. Fine with me.

I really like the FullTilt software. My favorite so far out of all the sites I have played. (Stars, Truepoker, Party Poker, Pokerroom)

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

[ QUOTE ]
Well, here's my 2 cents regarding FullTilt.
I signed up 5 days ago and deposited $600.00. I have cleared almost $100.00 of the bonus so far playing .50/1 NL (two tables at a time). I have averaged about 3 hours of play per day. Now if you ask me, it doesn't seem like this bonus is all that difficult to clear, even at .50/1.

On a side note, my bankroll is over 1K now in 5 days [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]
Congrats on your success. However...30 table hours (5 days x 3 hours x 2 tables) to clear $100 in bonus is the very *definition* of difficult to clear.

If you like the games and the software, that is great - I am an advocate playing a site you enjoy. You just have to understand that there is nothing generous or easy about their bonus.

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

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You just have to understand that there is nothing generous or easy about their bonus.

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I suppose that's true. I haven't had to clear many bonuses so I don't have much to compare this one to. I don't jump from site to site bonus whoring so I guess it doesn't matter to me if it takes alonger than usual to clear this one. I do feel that a 100% match to $600 is still pretty generous, but maybe I'm way off base here.

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

[ QUOTE ]
I suppose that's true. I haven't had to clear many bonuses so I don't have much to compare this one to. I don't jump from site to site bonus whoring so I guess it doesn't matter to me if it takes alonger than usual to clear this one. I do feel that a 100% match to $600 is still pretty generous, but maybe I'm way off base here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope - you are on spot - 100% match bonuses are very generous, it's just the clearing requirements that aren't. Like I said - if you like the games and the client, that's great...just know that the majority of bonuses bonus out there are easier to clear.

Easy-to-clear bonuses are the lifeblood of mediocre players like yours truly... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Changes to FullTilt Bonus
 

bonuses should not be calculated using percentage of match or aggregate amount, unless perhaps you are getting it up front to gamble with.

getting 100% match up to $600 on full tilt is more accurately, only the POTENTIAL to earn 100% up to $600.

because you actually have to play the bonus through to earn it, then it is more logical to calculate the amount of bonus you are earning per raked hand, or how many hands are required to clear a certain amount of bonus funds.

playing 30 table hours to earn $100 bonus is a little over $3 per hour, and assuming 50 raked hands per hour per table, your per-hand earnings is about 6 cents per raked hand (exactly one FTP's worth, which is plausible for 50c/$1 NL ring games). for contrast, the same action on a party skin signup or IGMPAY bonus is 20 cents per raked hand, even at the minimum fixed limits. so the amount of time you took to earn $100 bonus on full tilt, you could have earned well over $300 on the IGM network. even mediocre bonus sites like Paradise and Absolute pay 10 cents bonus per raked hand, which is 66% more than what you're grinding now.

Full Tilt's bonus is more playable at limits where the average pot size is at least $40, yielding 2 FTP's and 12 cents of bonus per hand. but compared to typical low limit whores which yield upwards of 10BB/hr*table, you're better off bouncing around and getting the most out of your invested capital and (much more importantly) time and effort.

Given the ultra-competitive state of the online poker industry right now, there is virtually no point in consumers pledging singular loyalty to one place or trying to justify anything less than optimal per-hand bonus earnings unless they can prove without a doubt that the BB/100 in actual play is a great enough advantage to justify it.