Quote Originally Posted by Hal
Since you brought it up Chopper - I'll ask about bonuses at micro stakes..

When does it become important? Apart from that initial $20-100 deposit most of us make when first getting our feet wet sites like Stars don't seem to offer any reload bonus... How long should we wait (Bankroll wise) before we go searching for another site to play micro stakes on (and are there other sites that have a decent number of $2 NL, $5 NL, $10 NL?)

I'm from Aus, so could prob also buy into sites that US ppl can't..

I'd been thinking of working up to about 500 or so and maybe switching to Full Tilt or something where I can take advantage a new deposit bonus.. or are there sites where you can get some rakeback or something that would actually be worthwhile even at these stakes?

(PS - how does Full Tilt feel @ micro stakes compared to PokerStars? Tighter/looser? More or less variety of games? I noticed they don't have $2NL/$5NL - so does that mean their $10NL is super loose like Star's $2?)
AWESOME QUESTION, hal.

a LOT of newer players need to hear this...

Bonuses are important AT EVERY LEVEL, imo, and especially important when your bankroll is SMALLER...or in the beginning. i could have never climbed up to respectable levels with out them helping me. (more on my early days another time, but i was playing 100NL in 5-6 months from my virgin hand)

there are plenty of places to start w/o a lot of money. NO DEPOSIT sites are decent places to start. other sites that only offer 100% matches up to $100 dollars are the next places to start. you absolutely MUST WAIT to deposit on the bigger bonus sites until you have the money readily available to "MAX IT OUT." what i mean is: if you have $300, and put it all into FTP's 100% to $600, you just lost half of that bonus' potential. and you only get ONE SHOT at a sign-up bonus....so you have to gameplan wisely.

i will try and get a simple, rough guide out ASAP for players to follow. well, one that is current anyway. i've been waiting for the motivation to do so.

but, really quick, just at looking through here at FTR, i can see there are 5 "no deposit required" bonuses. bear in mind a serious player is going to read the "fine print" or Terms and Conditions on any site they plan to put money into. that will be your responsibility to do, but i can maybe get you started for the time being.

No Deposit Required
- Poker Room School (non-US)...$150 free potential
- Golden Riviera (partial-US)...$10 free, and 100% to $40
- Purple Lounge (non-US)...$3 free
- VC Poker (non-US)...up to $35 free, $10 free immediately
- William Hill (non-US)...$25 free. but $25 free per month if you play 5 hours per month

now, the WillHill bonus sounds great, but i would check the fine print on that one. i remember they used to require you play at $1/2 to earn that one, and a newer player's bankroll cant handle that. just an example of what i mean by "buyer beware."

i know those sound itsy-bitsy, but if you have no money for a bankroll....you try to build one from scratch. many players have done so.

as you grind your bankroll up, you start to shoot for some bigger bonuses. if you are following what i am saying, you dont want to leave any bonus money on the table. dont chase off a bonus until you can deposit the appropriate amount to earn ALL of it.

you also need to check and see if the sites you are looking at offer rakeback. and do they make you choose between rakeback and bonus money? FullTilt does. i cannot personally get rakeback at FTP now because i chased off their bonus before rakeback was offered and never switched over. well, not without jumping through some serious hoops.

i'll add to this in a bit...gotta take the kiddos to school.