Is it worth bonus whoring?

[winky51]

Considering different sites, what works with Poker Tracker and PAHUD, is it worth to bounce around 20 different sites a month playing for the reload bonus if you can get rake back on the same site?

http://www.texasholdempoker-stats.com/

[AncientPC]

Just calculate your hourly rate between sites and factor in bonuses / rakeback where applicable.

[TCBSTEVE]

[ QUOTE ]
Considering different sites, what works with Poker Tracker and PAHUD, is it worth to bounce around 20 different sites a month playing for the reload bonus if you can get rake back on the same site?

http://www.texasholdempoker-stats.com/

[/ QUOTE ]Why not play sites that you can get both. Absolute, Interpoker, and Pokerplex all have monthly bonuses. Bonuses arent deducted from your mgr at these 3 sites.

[tehox]

Depends what limits you play, but 3/6 and below bonuses in general are much much better than rake back. Rakeback=25-30%, bonuses like 50-70%.

[winky51]

Thats what I was doing. I play party and I get rakeback. I was seeing if it was worth it with everything else.

[pegboy]

I play 1/2 limit and bonus whore. I've only been playing poker for 8 months. In the past 5 weeks I've made over 3 big bets per 100 hands to the tune of about $500. I've made twice as much in bonus money. At this limit, it's simply wrong not to whore it up. Kachingggg.

[RobDoral]

If you can't win at a site by playing good poker rakeback and bonuses are irrelevant IMO (I suppose it's ok if you're a slight loser on average while you learn). If you CAN win at a site then a bonus is going to mean more money than any rakeback deal unless it's a terrible bonus [edit: assuming you're playing micro or low limits].

But win rates are going to vary site to site, so as other have suggested you need to figure out if a site makes you more total money once wins, bonuses, and rakeback are all factored in.

[FloppyJ]

Is it ideal to get to the point where you are comfortable with at least 1/2 before worrying about whoring it up all that much?

[scorer]

Wise words....i signed up for absolute..and was sooo into rakeback/bonuses...i played limits i shouldn' of...i pushed and pushed...and yeah the rakeback is good...i got KILLED...play at a site you can make some money or at worst break even and clear bonuses/rakeback..for me absolute wasn't the place...for me

[RobDoral]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it ideal to get to the point where you are comfortable with at least 1/2 before worrying about whoring it up all that much?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really if your bankroll isn't an issue. There are bonuses that clear at decent rates at less than 1/2 so you can use these bonuses to compensate for losses as you learn to play at a new site (or new game, or new limit). I do this now learning to play O8 limit, which I suck pretty hard at.

However, if the issue is that you are uncomfortable playing at 1/2 because you are afraid of the the better quality of players, then you might want to hold off. There's no better recipe for disaster than playing scared. Depending on the site, some bonus whores do tend to make whatever level a bonus clears best at (with the least risk) pretty rocky becaase that's where they all play (though a lot of whores would be losing players without a bonus). This is/was the case at Absolute's 1/2 tables and why 2/4 and up always seemed easier to me.

The one big disadvantage to jumping from site to site as many whores do is having to get used to new software and new players. There's always some sort of learning curve and just hitting the wrong button now and then can mean the difference between a winning session and a losing one. To minimize this issue, you could always pick a new network and stick to skins on that network for as long as the bonuses last. I forget what B2B stands for but I see that network mentioned often when people talk about good microlimit bonuses.

There's also of course Party's sign up which can be cleared on the beginner tables but you need $500 to take full advantage of this one shot bonus.