A few thoughts on smart bonus whoring

Greg J · #1 07-09-2005, 01:06 AM

For a while there Empire and other skins were supposedly "trippin" about people taking advantage of their bonuses. I was worried about this, since I myself take advantage of most of the reload bonuses, especially on Party skins. The thing is, I never got an account closure, a threatening email regarding "suspicious activity," or the like. And I am convinced this is not a random event. Why? Well, I do it "smart."

1) I don't "hit and run." Do you deposit, clear the bonus, then leave, all in a few hours? If so, this is probably not a great idea. Deposit, and play for a while, then maybe log out and hit a rakeback skin. Play more hands the next day.

2) (Related) Leave money in yr account after you have cleared it. The guys are Pay pro are not, as we well know, the brightest bulbs in the box, but even they will spot a person who immediately after he clears, cashes out. After clearing a bonus, you should usually leave it in a stew a day or two. That is what I do. I mean, most of us have at least a few thousand dollars, so leaving ~$600 in a Empire account a few extra days won't kill you.

3) Vary yr play. Again, the guys at Party and Pay pro are obviously none too smart. Play a SnG or a MTT or something. It's good for a change of pace too (if you are all about the ring games), plus they are less likely to flag you for being a bonus hound. (Stay away from 5+1's though -- too much entry fee proportional to the prize pool. Play least 10+1.)

4) Use yr brain. A lot of gnomers on the bonus whores board and the zoo got skewered. They disserved it. To you guys with 3, 4, or 7 accounts from the same ISP... come on morans! I mean if a guy and his wife both play, okay that is believable, but past that you are pushing it. Once again, this makes it easy to catch people. Don't get greedy. It's already free money. Seriously, some of you guys can f up a wet dream.

I guess the overriding principle to this whole post is, when taking advantage of bonuses, use a little common sense. There is nothing wrong with whoring – the sites offer it, and we should take advantage. However, if they see they are being taken advantage of, then things like what happened with Empire start happening, accounts start closing, and maybe a little money gets taken. This could all be avoided if we all whored a little smarter and stayed under their radar.

smb394 · #2 07-09-2005, 01:13 AM

Good post. To reiterate, just don't make it so obvious as to how you're hopping around so much.

BruinEric · #3 07-09-2005, 01:20 AM

It seems to me that Party doesn't "sweat the action." Just like in Vegas, some people "take advantage" of a cheap buffet or shrimp cocktail without gambling.

I would guess that Empire started "sweating the action" because their cut of the rake is less than Party's, so the "right" think for them to do is raise playthrough requirements so they don't panic.

I'm play bonuses a lot, and I've not had any complaints from sites. Sites should spend their time busting the people who create multiple accounts. A few bankroll confiscations for the extreme cases would be a good way to pay for the bonuses they're giving us "good customers."

eric5148 · #4 07-09-2005, 01:23 AM

Good tips, these are the most basic strategies of bonus whoring. I don't think SNGs are a great way to do "cover play" though. If you played 2/4 LH for the same amount of time as two 10+1s, the 2/4 game would generate much more rake. The sites make it very hard to clear bonuses with tourneys for a reason.

I used to do the minimums for all the IGM poker sites and usually cashed out immediately after. Fortunately, this was before they started the bannings. Now, I'm a decent poker player and make a lot more money from poker than bonuses. So I just have my Eurobet rakeback and play the sites with good software for bonuses (Stars , Paradise and UB).

SoftcoreRevolt · #5 07-09-2005, 01:29 AM

I really don't think you need to disguise your hand as such so much. Basically, leave the money in for a few days, if possible leave some sort of a bankroll on sites you like to whore and you'll be fine.

The best advice I can give you is, have your rakeback account on Empire, so that the only site that cares about players abusing its bonuses enough to ban them will see you play their site outside of bonii.

Greg J · #6 07-09-2005, 01:30 AM

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The sites make it very hard to clear bonuses with tourneys for a reason.

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Actually, Party and skins don't have tournies count towards clearing bonuses at all. Yr point might be valid though. I'm not sure if playing tournaments makes a difference at all. But then, who knows, it might. Mixing stuff up sure can't hurt.

Shoe · #7 07-09-2005, 01:39 AM

Excellent post, also if you need 700 raked hands, don't stop playing and cash out as soon as you hit 700. If your at a good table (which you probably are considering which site your at), stay awhile, and wait for the fish to go broke.

Also, I think moran is the best word ever!

StacysMom · #8 07-09-2005, 01:53 AM

I whoerd pokernow, intertops and multi. Hit it and quit it cause I don't care about em. I play mostly on Eurobet now but sitll like to bonus un empire and party. To avoid bonus whore bannings I always leave about a G in each account, and give them some MTT action or an hour of ring game each week.

Greg J · #9 07-09-2005, 11:18 AM

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If your at a good table (which you probably are considering which site your at), stay awhile, and wait for the fish to go broke.

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This might be a good idea. At the very least finish yr orbit -- that is wait for the blinds to get back around to you (assuming you play hold em). Yeah, and not abandoning juicy tables is just good poker sense! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]