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 ROUGH guide to today's bonus chasing environment
ROUGH BONUS CHASING GUIDE FOR LIMITED, NON-US BANKROLLS
updated Jan 26, 2008.
i used to chase bonuses quite frequently before Bill Frist and company wrecked my ability to play a wide selection of sites. i will give a quick overlook of sites, and discuss some of the fundamentals of the "chase" for those of you interested in bolstering an anemic bankroll, or building one from scratch.
disclaimer: bear in mind, i will name several sites for each category, but i have NOT read the Terms and Conditions for their bonuses, and haven't even played on most of them. they are only examples that fit the category. it is up to YOU to read the T&C's and decide whether or not to put your money there. (should go w/o saying, but i felt i needed to)
there are so many things to consider when planning to chase. what sites? where do i start? how much do i need to start with? simply a ton of FAQ's. i dont know that i will ever address any of those in "group format," but can tell you that if you type in "bonus chasing poker" into any search engine on the web, you will find a plethora of FAQ's. there may even be one here on FTR, i havent looked...sorry. 
i will, however, give you some tips to look for...
- dealt rake vs contributed rake. this can be a big factor on how fast your bonus will clear. generally speaking, contributed rake clears slower because you have to "contribute" money to the flop for YOUR hand to count as "raked" and count towards YOUR bonus.
- the X factor. basically, how many hands must i play to receive a player point? or, how many hands will i need to see, on average, to accumulate a "raked" hand? bonuses are often referred to as a "5X" or "12X" clearing bonus. 5X, generally, will clear faster than 12X.
- as i have said before, MAX OUT THE OFFER. i cant stress this enough. if you need to put $100 into a site to receive the maximum bonus offer, dont do it until your bankroll is $100. you get one shot at "sign up bonuses" and dont want to waste them by only depositing $50 into this $100 example. you leave money on the table, and have no "second chance."
- RELOAD offers. some sites offer "reload bonuses" more frequently than others. you need to do your due diligence here, too. watch the sites you play. it may behoove you to keep and eye on a few that offer reloads frequently. Absolute, especially for US players, comes to mind because they offer around one reload bonus every week. and, if you know a site offers reloads, that can break a tie between which sites to go to next.
- rakeback. some sites allow you to chase a bonus while earning rakeback. some make you choose which you want. some discount your bonus off of your rakeback. obviously, this is another research item that is up to you. but, i can tell you that FullTilt makes you pick bonuses OR rakeback...you dont get both.
a couple of quick and important terms you will find:
STACKABLE- this tells you whether you can capitalize on a new offer while still clearing one you have signed up for. for instance, you sign up for Absolute poker, play for a couple of days, and notice they are offering a reload now. you still have some money to jump on this offer, too. if the bonus is "stackable," you can...and should. you will start clearing the reload right after you finish the sign up bonus (no down time). you will find this term in the T&C of the site most times.
EXPIRATION- some bonuses expire in 30, 60, 90 days. some never do. again read the T&C to find any expiration dates, and plan your chase accordingly.
if i think of more terms, i will add them when i edit this post.
ok. so, we may have a basic understanding. let's categorize where we want to start.
i broke sites into 4 categories.
- No Deposit required
- Small deposits
- Medium deposits
- Large deposits
if you have some money to put into a site, you may want to skip this first one. but, if not, hey, you have to start somewhere, right?
but, how do we get money into the sites? well, there are many ways for you non-US players. credit cards, wire transfers, gift cards, electronic checks, ewallets. for us in the US, our options are quite limited. however, for the sake of the guide, i will recommend an ewallet of some kind. neteller, firepay, epassporte all jump immediately to mind; however, there are many others at your disposal. those three are widely accepted, but not universal. always check the deposit methods when planning a chase. there is nothing more frustrating, imo, than doing a couple hours of research only to find you really like a site, but cant get your money into it...or have to open another ewallet to do so. AARRGGHH! been there, done that.
the reasoning behind recommending an ewallet is because you are going to be, hopefully, shifting money around like crazy. and, an ewallet is sort of a central "home base" for your money to sit while you are finding the next place you want to go. can you set up a separate checking account at your bank, and do the same thing? i suppose, but i like ewallets, personally.
alright, on to the sites....and the chase!!
1) you can pick a site that you want to play first, but immediately after getting set up on the site, SET UP YOUR EWALLET. some ewallets take some time to get rolling, so it makes sense to be playing off your first bonus while waiting, but dont procrastinate the ewallet. it is, imo, vital to getting money around efficiently and capitalizing on bonus offers that frequently change, and the reloads that follow.
2) the NO DEPOSIT sites. they can be a bit of a gamble because they dont offer you $100 to play with for the most part. its about $10. but, hey, its free. you MUST adhere to bankroll management, especially if you dont yet have a bankroll (refer to the many stickies at FTR for advice on bankroll management). but, for starters, SMALL $$ = SMALL STAKES...very small. fullfill whatever requirements the site may have and withdraw to your ewallet.
- PokerRoomSchool.com -- $50 free for new accounts that pass the quiz, plus an additional $10 for every 1200 CDPoints earned, up to $100. read T&C for accumulation of "CD points."
- GoldenRiviera.com -- 100% up to $40, plus $10 free for new non-US accounts. Must email support and have a valid credit card for verification only.
- VCPoker.com -- $10 free for new accounts, plus an additional $25 by earning 2000 Action Points. - Use Bonus Promotion Code: FreeMoney
if you clear these 3 sites, you have $100+ free money to start after some other smaller bonuses.
3) the SMALL BONUS sites. start here if you have about $100 to start. if not, it will be hard, imo, to get started, and you may want to capitalize on the "no deposit" sites' offers just to pad yourself a bit. the easier thing to do is look at FTR's exclusive bonuses, but there are some other poker sites, if you are a maniacal bonus chaser.
- PokerStars.com should jump to mind. my reasoning is that they have the largest traffic on the web. they also offer about 4 reloads per year. and, the sign up bonus is small. 100% match up to $50. this means you put in $50 and you will earn a $50 bonus when you fulfill the requirements. in this case, Stars is a 10X bonus, meaning you need 10 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) to earn $1 of bonus money. quick calculation tells you that you need to earn a total of 500 FPPs to receive your $50. this will clear faster at higher levels, but mind you that bankroll management is the key. it is EXTREMELY hard to clear below 25NL, imo. but, it can be done with a lot of play.
- Eurobet Poker is another small one. you have 2 options here. first, 100% match up to $50 that clears at 7X. or 100% up to $100 that clears at 8X. again, difficult looking to clear below 25NL, but they offer a monthly reload, too.
- SpinPalacePoker. a little off the beaten path, but for $20...they offer a 250% match up to $50. clears at 20X. watch the site, though, because i think their smallest NL stakes are 50NL.
notice i havent noticed some of the bigger boys, yet, even though they offer smaller bonus options. we need to save our rolls until we can take the biggest options available and MAX THEM OUT!! sure, you can get $10 free at UltimateBet or $25 free at Party, but why? just be patient and grab the biggest options you can since you only get one shot at a sign-up bonus.
4) the MEDIUM ROOMS. you can stick with the smaller ones and knock them all out, or move up to these with about $250ish in bankroll.
- EverestPoker. 100% up to $100 +$50 more. thats their wording, not mine. clears at 14X roughly. reloads appear infrequent to say the least.
- PokerTime. it is a unique, to me, option that i have never seen before. it has 3 bonus offers: on your first deposit, 50% up to $100 (need to put $200 in) and clears at 7X, on your second deposit (must clear the first for this option to "unlock"), 100% up to $200 clearing at 6X, and on your third deposit, 200% up to $200 (put in $100) clearing at 5X. grand total of $500 free and you put in $500 of your own...but in 3 installments. i would, however, read the T&C here closely to see if you can withdraw your money after clearing phase one and put it back in. i would doubt they let you, but may. it really depends on how aggressive they are in creating traffic for the network.
- PokerNordica. an FTR offer. 200% Initial Deposit Up to $400 - Use Bonus Coupon Code: FTR that is a $200 deposit from you. dont have the clearing rate, but i bet you givememyleg would like some more reviews on this site and network.
5) the BIG BOYS. you've made it. you have a substantial roll, and you didnt pay much to get here. you can most likely take on any bonus you saved up for, as well as, capitalize on all the other reload offers your previously played sites are offering you.
- PartyPoker. you had to know this would be mentioned at some point for you non-US players. i gotta tell ya that it used to be much bigger, but if you are dying to get on one of the softer networks, here's your chance. 30% match up to $150 means you need to deposit $500. but, it does clear moderately fast. and, party will offer the occasional reload. not like they did in the good ole days, but the reloads can be lucrative when they come. dont forget about Empire while you are chasing this one. they are a sister site, or skin, but there are ways around that sort of thing. same network, same bonus, double the money.
- Bodog has a HUGE sign up bonus that clears at 3X. 10% match up to $800, only because Netellers max deposit is $8000. there is apparently a "new promotion" as well for first time players to Bodog where you can receive another 100% up to $500 in your first 30 days clearing at 10X and simultaneously. without researching it further, remember thats your job, it does sound nice. one note: you will forfeit your entire bonus if you withdraw money before clearing the ENTIRE bonus you were eligible for upon your specific sign-up.
- CakePoker has a standard 100% up to $500 clearing at 16X. i here there are some softer players there, too. however, they dont support PokerTracker to my knowledge which may discourage you HUD users.
well, there's a basic game plan with some categorized sites for you to start your research. i hope you get the idea of what bonus chasing can still do for your bankroll. it is still very lucrative. the requirements have just stiffened a bit since the glory, "moneymaker 2003" days.
if you have questions, complaints, comments, speak now or forever hold your peace. lol.
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