Clearing a Stars Bonus

[Vern]

I had always struggled with the Star's bonus because you have to have large pot sizes relative to the rake below 2/4 and 2/4 was always so tight. .25/50 & .5/1 had to get to $10 pots(20BB & 10BB) respectively, 1/2 had to get to $15 posts (7.5BB). Usually, I played 1/2 there, which is also pretty tight, but at 4 tables doing 240hands/hr, I could get 40-50 points an hour and clear a 600 point bonus in about 13 hours. I have tried the NL tables, since even the low buy in NL tables can get to the $1 rake required to generate a point, but that actually took longer. I even tried the $5 SnG, since they generate 3 points ($.60 equity) for only a $0.50 fee, but that would require 200 SnG, even 4 tabling those would take upwards of 40-50 hours.

This last time however, I learned the wonders of Stars 2/4. It was actually looser than their 1/2 tables(1/2 tables had an average to see the flop of 22-28 and the 2/4 were in the 28-33 range by what PT reported in its Game Time tab). They also only needed 5BB pots to generate a point and you didn't suffer partial rake but no points earned. About 50% of the pots were raked and I cleared the full 600 point bonus in a little over 5 hours of play. 2/4 plays faster as well. I averaged nearly 260hands/hr 4 tabling. I saw rusty JEDI there too, but I didn't say hi. He was too busy getting AA and KK to notice anyone else. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] So from now on, if your bankroll can allow you to play 2/4, my recommendation is to clear the stars bonuses at 2/4 or better.

Vern

Standard Disclaimer, I am by no means an expert at any of this.