[mack23]

OK I will admit it: I am becoming a bonus whore. One can deny this for only so long, but 50% deposit bonuses, free poker books, and free chip sets are just too appealing to ignore! These temptations have drawn me to 2 new poker sites in the last couple weeks, (Party is the only site I had played until now) and the results are surprising. When I saw 700 and 1200 players seated at these new sites, compared to 25000 at PP, a red flag went up right away. "They are all pros!" I thought to myself. Then I played a SNG and pretty much folded all the way into the $$ as others made rookie plays, including the 2 big chip stacks going all-in head to head with 4 players left (I was severly short stacked) and after that the player in 2nd place moving in against the chip leader when I was on life support. On the second site the first thing I did was enter a multi-table re-buy tourney... and won. Yes there were many fewer players and a much smaller payout than a PP multi, but still... getting 1st place is quite a feeling! "Wow this is fun, I should have done this a long time ago!" is the new thought process.

So here's the point: These 2 "new" sites I am referring to are partner sites with online casinos. I need to play on them a lot more to make an educated decision but so far it feels like I am playing a skill game while the others there are gambling. Many of the players there are probably carry-overs from the casino or just there to claim a bonus or prize... any of you come across this situation? I am starting to feel like even though there are so many newbies on the old Party, there are also soooooooo many good players there now as well, and since it is a straight poker site the game may be tougher than other places! I'm interested to hear what you think....

-Mack