Bonus Whoring 101

Every successful bonus whore lives by three strict codes:

1) Always have your finger on the pulse. If there’s a new promotion running then you’d better make sure you get there quick

2) Be a cheat. Never pledge an allegiance to one site, spread you seed far and wide to take advantage of every deal possible

3) Know when to get out. Selecting the right stakes to clear your bonus as fast as possible is important but knowing when to move onto the next site is essential

Basically a good sign-up bonus will at least match your deposit which means if you deposit $500 you get a potential $500 extra on top.

Clearing this bonus is down to three factors: how many points are required to clear $1, how many tables you play at once and what level you play at.

The trick to bonus whoring is finding a site that offers the best overall value to you personally and not necessarily the largest amount of money.

If you are a small stakes player and only play one or two tables at a time then clearing a huge bonus amount is going to be almost impossible. Indeed, to make the most out of these types of bonuses you need to be comfortable with multi-tabling and the more tables the better.

Full Tilt’s deposit bonus clears at a rate of $0.06 per point or $1 for every 16.67 points. The expiry date on this bonus is 120 days which means small stakes players may struggle to maximise the full bonus amount.

Another thing to consider is the amount of reload bonuses a site offers.

Reload bonuses are similar to deposit bonuses in that they offer to match any re-deposit made up to a certain percentage; the amounts are usually much lower than any initial deposit bonuses.

Full Tilt rarely offers reload bonuses to their regular players and only seem to offer them when an account has been inactive for 60 days. In contrast, PokerStars offer regular reload incentives (every few months) and these typically range between $120-$150.

The usual base rate in which they are clear is 15-20 FPPs and for most players this can be done relatively quickly. Reload bonuses can also be purchased from the FPP store for varying amounts and are cleared in the same way.

Reload bonuses are important to consider because once you register for a site you will usually always be eligible for them. This means you can clear your initial bonus, move on to the next site then drop by to the first site whenever a juicy reload bonus is being offered.

In addition to these bonuses you should also consider any extra incentives you can earn while playing on a particular site.

For example, although UB offers some of the most frequent reload bonuses the bonuses analysed in isolation aren’t the most attractive. However, UB’s other reward incentives help make them extremely appealing overall.

Their Ultimate Bet Points to Cash program allows players to exchange a certain amount of Ultimate Points to cash per month depending on their status. Points can be exchanged at a rate of $0.007 for every Ultimate Point.

Bonuses at Ultimate Bet are stackable, never expire and the deposit can be withdrawn shortly after the deposit. Full Tilt’s Iron Man Programme also allows you to earn points towards various financial rewards such as tournament tokens and cash rewards.

These auxiliary rewards aren’t strictly necessary but they certainly add a great deal of appeal to any prospective site.

One other thing to watch for is any freerolls that a site offers. The bonus whore mantra of: “there’s no money like free money” couldn’t be better encapsulated by a freeroll.

Aced Poker is one of the best sites for freerolls and offer more on averge per day than any other site.

Choosing a site simply because it offers a lot of freerolls isn’t the best thing for a bonus whore to do but if you can find a site that offers a good selction in conjunction with a great sign-up bonus (such as PokerStars) then it can only increase your potential earn rate.

To be an effective bonus whore you need to be disciplined. You need to capable of playing a high volume of hands in a short space of time without letting your performance or frustrations get in the way.

You also need to be skilled enough to play at least breakeven poker; this means putting aside your creative urges and sticking to a strict plan of solid, ABC poker.

The majority of your profits when bonus whoring are going to come from the amount of points you generate and $$ you clear; not the amount of bb/100 you can set at the tables.

Skipping from site to site in search of the best bonuses isn’t for every player and the quest for money can often cause your long term progression as a poker player to suffer.

However, for those want a short term strategy that can significantly increase their bankrolls then bonus whoring can be a very lucrative option.