What is bonus whoring anyway?

[Stackumz]

Ok, I don't consider myself a beginner at poker by any means, but I tried to post this thread in another section (the proper one!) only to have nobody respond to it. I guess this would be the second most appropriate section for it, and hopefully the most responsive:

I've heard the term "Bonus Whoring" used a lot, but for some reason I've never paid much attention to it, nor have I bothered to take the time to really understand what it is and how/if it is worthwhile.

I think I have a basic grasp of what it is based on the title alone. I think it's when a player signs up and plays on a bunch of different sites in order to take advantage of their new player bonuses (deposit matching, etc.) so they can get the most value out of their limited bank roll funds.

Is this an accurate description of Bonus Whoring? Should there be anything added/removed from this description? Is this a lucrative strategy for players? Finally, are there additional benefits of doing this besides the obvious (getting "free" money to add to your bank roll)?

Thanks for the info guys, the more specific you can be the better. Basically I want to learn more about it because I want to know if it is something I should consider doing to make a respectable amount of money (without having to go though too much trouble depositing money and changing sites all the time, since it has become a pain for Americans). Also, the actual name for this strategy "Bonus Whoring" doesn't sound too appealing or respectable.

[d0zer]

Also, the actual name for this strategy "Bonus Whoring" doesn't sound too appealing or respectable.

It's tongue & cheek.

The sites don't give out free money, all 'bonus whoring' does is essential give you a % of the rake they take back to you. At the lower limits this is significant, because the rake is more proportionally. When I moved up to 50NL I played at FT, and was clearing a $500 bonus there. I broke even over 20k hands, but was still positive because of the rakeback + bonus I was getting (which is money I won anyway, but the site took). It helped me build my bankroll through a cooler, which was nice.

I've cleared bonuses at FT, partypoker, ongame (nextpoker), and UB. But I gave up on the UB one $200 into the $900 bonus cause it was soooooo slow.

[jimmyallin]

I don't play much on FT anymore, but there's was very easy to clear.

At one time about 1 1/2 ago, I was clearing bonuses on 5 or 6 sites, it was great. Definitely look around, you can get good deals (as I'm looking at an add to my left talking about $500 welcome bonus....)

[Robb]

Long term, most players sign up for rakeback, and they keep a percentage (usually 20 - 35%) of the rake on the hands they play. They're like frequent flier miles different poker sites use to keep players loyal to their site.

The bonuses typically work out to about the same amount. Each site is willing to put a certain amount of the rake into "promotions." They want new business. Hence the bonuses for first time customers. And they want to keep players' money on their site for volume. So they give rakeback.

Try to maximize by earning as much of both as possible.

[Stackumz]

Ok, it appears that my assumptions were correct. Is their anything that I was wrong about or was I pretty much on point with my description of Bonus Whoring?

I was surprised that a couple of you mentioned rakeback as a facet of Bonus Whoring cause I am already quite familiar with it. However, until you guys just mentioned it I had no clue that rakeback was at all related. I personally use RakeGuard for my rakeback provider, they have been sweet over the last several months since I signed up with them. I tried RakeTheRake before that when I first discovered rakeback and how crucial it is for any poker player, but I wasn't satisfied with them once I realized there are some providers that let you cashout your rakeback anytime you want (which RakeGuard does).

Thanks for the help, if you guys have anything else you can think of about Bonus Whoring (strategy?) then I would appreciate it.

[spoonitnow]

A few years ago it was very common for online casinos (and poker rooms) to have very attractive and somewhat easy to clear bonuses. Someone who would take advantage of these bonuses who wasn't necessarily a good player would be engaging in bonus whoring. I think www.bonuswhores.com is still around.

These days, especially if you're from the USA, you'll be much better off getting a rakeback deal somewhere, moving up through the stakes improving at poker, and then switching to PokerStars once you hit 100nl with a high volume of hands or 200nl with a medium volume of hands.

[drtofu66]

Ok, it appears that my assumptions were correct. Is their anything that I was wrong about or was I pretty much on point with my description of Bonus Whoring?

You're close, but the online poker landscape was very different 3 years ago than it is now.

You're correct about joining multiple sites in order to get the bonus sign-up money being part of whoring. But 3+ years ago it was common practice for poker sites to offer "reload bonuses" pretty much every month and also the bonuses were much easier to clear (Party Poker used to require only 5 DEALT RAKED hands per $1 in bonus money. It didn't matter if the pot was raked for $0.05 or $3-- it still counted as 1 raked hand toward the bonus. Who even does that now? You could clear a $100 bonus in less than 1,000 hands at 25NL. Even Poker Stars only required 5 FPP's per $1 bonus. How many do they require now? 15?). Party Poker, Empire Poker, MultiPoker, EuroBet all had a near monthly reload bonus-- and those were just the Party Poker skins. There were other sites like Hollywood Poker, Poker Room, Poker Plex, William Hill that offered bonuses monthly (but the bonuses took longer to earn). At the height of the boom, everyone and his brother was opening a poker site and offering sign-up bonuses (Pam Anderson and Cindy Margolis opened poker sites. As ridiculous as that sounds, I'm not kidding). This was how you really bonus whored-- you never had to play poker without earning a bonus somewhere (well, unless you played more than a couple of hours a day. It certainly was enough to keep me busy back then). And the casino sites-- don't even get me started

Without regular reload bonuses you can't really "bonus whore" in the purest sense.