Where to play

[Meatmaw]

Hi,
I've played a bit online months ago on Party, Empire, Pokerstars. I'm getting back into it and playing Pokerstars (mainly because I *love* the customer support and have no complaints about the interface). I'm planning on playing Empire for the $500 bonus.

Can any seasoned people out there tell me if I'm blatantly missing any really good opportunities for bonuses or just a good site to play?

I am working on my SNG play on Pokerstars and going to do ring in Empire just for the sake of the bonus. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Thanks

[deacsoft]

There are tons of post about bonus whoring in the internet forum. Or just do a search. Bonuses are everywhere.

[stripsqueez]

you might want to think about the $500 empire bonus

in effect as i understand it this is a deal being done by an affiliate - that affiliate reckons that by giving you $500 (well its not given to you - you have to play X number of hands to get it where X is a lot) he will make more than that by way of the % of rake that empire will pay him as an affiliate for attracting you to the site

affiliates will do rake refund deals with you - most of these deals will see you get 80%+ what the affiliate gets

that tells me that if you plan on playing at empire for a while or that in the future you might then its probably best to get a rake refund deal when you sign up rather than $500 (you cant do both) - i play mid/high limits 10-12 hours a week and i get a monthly rake refund via an affiliate of around $800 - needless to say i wouldnt swap that for $500

whatever you do you should make an informed choice - you can do that by thoroughly searching the internet forum and posting any other questions you have there - those internet forum guys seem mean but lots of them would be happy to help

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[B8w]

What is this $500 Empire bonus you are talking about? I couldn't find it anywhere on their website.

[stripsqueez]

[ QUOTE ]
What is this $500 Empire bonus you are talking about? I couldn't find it anywhere on their website.

[/ QUOTE ]

search the internet forum for the last month and you will find all the details

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[Saborion]

[ QUOTE ]
he will make more than that by way of the % of rake that empire will pay him as an affiliate for attracting you to the site


[/ QUOTE ]
Well, that is not entierly true now, is it?
Say a 2/4 player signs up to bonuswhore the $500 bonus. 2.5k raked hands. At best case scenario the affiliate get 30 % of the rake the player generates. At 2/4 ring it's about, say, $0.0343 per hand. 2.500 * 0.0343 = $85.

Even if every pot had the rake capped $3 and on average 9 players (lower is more money for the affiliate) the affiliate would still only make $0.1 per hand. 2.500 * 0.1 = $250.

Unless I got my math all screwed up, I can't see how that signup bonus is made by an affiliate. Another funny thing about it, is that if you go to www.empire500.com you'll see the sign up bonus offer. Now close the window, open up a new one and go to www.empirepoker.com. The same $500 sign up bonus shows there too now. This combined with the fact that any affiliate would lose money with that $500 deal unless the players keep on playing makes me thing Empire themselves are behind that bonus. Can it be?