Does playing for a bonus affect your play?

[BigBiceps]

If I am clearing the bonus on Paradise or Party, I just want to get the hands over with and play on another site.

If it is on Stars, UB, Absolute, or FullTilt I don't care how long the bonus takes to clear because I like playing on those sites.

Those are the only 6 sites I have tried. (not counting Pacific where I quit after 1 day, and Empire where I quit after 2 days).

[Keith Fellmy]

when I played for bonuses I never played very many hands usually the top ten hands (we all read Phil H's book right?) Played 4 tables at once and cleared them as fast as possible. Party, Cryptos (when they were cool), Empire and any other fast clearing bonuses I did them ask quickly as possible. The slower clearing bonuses like UB, Stars, Paradise, Pokerroom/skins, Absolute, and Prima skins I always tried to play my best poker and played more than the usual top ten hands. i would always four table with a tourney or two on the other screen.

[MadMat]

I try not to let the bonus affect my play, but I think it's hard not too, especially for bonuses with short timescales for the playthrough.

I can think of several occasions I've stayed at poor tables, or carried on playing tired and knowing I wasn't on my "A" game because I just need another 50 or 100 hands to complete a bonus.

the only site I play without a bonus isn't PT compatable, so I can't really work out just how much this is affecting my bottom line though!

Mat

[raze]

When I play I've learned to NOT constantly check the cashier to see how well I'm doing bonus-wise - this helps

[jrz1972]

Bonuses will sometimes affect what game I choose to play. If I want to get the bonus knocked down quickly, I'll sometimes play a level higher than I normally do, often at 6max. Otherwise it doesn't affect my play at all.