The Poker Bonus Chaser's Journal

I have been contemplating my place in the online poker world of late.  Past just being a player.  I really love poker.  Anyone reading here who is not my wife or mother probably also loves poker, so you know what I am talking about.  Even more than that, though, I loved the role I grew into at InternetTexasHoldem.com as an expert on poker bonus chasing.  It was the spark that led me to start my own site. 

Its not just about being a cocky cheesedog who would get public accolades in that forum.  Those were nice, but I also get private messages and e-mails from players thanking me for helping them make money, or stay afloat in poker until they could make money.  There was (and is) real satisfaction in that.  Someone's wife even gave me a hug at the ITH convention and thanked me for helping her husband make so much money.  How cool is that?

But the landscape is changing.  I am not sure what I was doing at this time last year that other players were finding helpful is still helpful now.  many sites have banned/are banning US players.  Bonus terms are getting sharper.  Bonus chasers are more prevalent and the tables are tougher than ever.  Rakeback, free gift offers and VIP programs throw new twists into the equation.

My personal landscape is also changing.  Sportsbetting is far more profitable for me than poker.  I have a hard time justifying playing poker when scanning the lines can yield so much more profit.  Running my website is also very time-consuming, and its something I really enjoy.  My job is more demanding than ever, and so is Mrs. Bull's job these days.  Free time in general is dwindling.

I would like to continue to provide something useful to the online poker community.  That is more important to me than trying to move up lmits and make more poker money when my available time to study and improve is so scarce.  I haven't decided what I can do in this regard, yet. 

I am still contemplating.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been investigating these smaller poker rooms lately.  There have been quite a handful that have sprung up as independent rooms, not on any network.  I previously  left them alone because of the light traffic, but now that US players can't play at very many places, I decided to give these little rooms some closer scrutiny.  I have not seen any of them ban US players.

I decided to start with Wingows Poker.  They had a 100% deposit bonus with no time limit.  I was not sure how fast it would clear.  You have to accrue Wingows Points and every 125 points $5 of bonus clears.  I just couldn't determine how to accumulate Wingows Points.  I contacted their CS and did not get a very clear answer.  I downloaded the software and it looked decent.  Traffic is very light, only 4 cash tables running, $1/2 NL and .25/.50 NL.  I watched the play for a couple of orbits and decided it was bad enough for me to make some money, so I decided to take the plunge even though I didn't understand the bonus terms.

I deposited and received an immediate $25 cash bonus applied to my account.  Not sure how or why, it just arrived.  I don't know if there are cashout restrictions on it or not.  I played about 100 hands and I am up over $100.  Mostly due to a ridiculously lucky suckout.  There was a player who was betting very aggressively, very LAG.  I decided to re-raise his flop bet when my pocket 88 was an over pair to the flop.  He came back over the top and I was pot committed for the rest of my stack (I was playing a bit short-stacked for the table.)  I called and he showed KK, but I turned a miracle 8 and took the pot.  That turned out to be great for my table image, and I was able to get my best hands called down for the rest of the session.

Bottom line on the bonus is that it clears VERY POORLY.  After 100 - 110 or so hands I only accumulated 62 Wingows Points.  The software is fine.  They even have some features i have not seen elsewhere - you can post a live straddle from UTG (I never saw anyone do it, but its there) and you can chop the blinds if it folds around.  If you choose the chop feature, a "chop" tag is placed on your name placard.  I was thinking that if someone on my left had their chop tag on that I would be able to steal their blinds - that the chop tag was a sign of timidity, but I never got to put my theory to the test.

Because of the poor bonus clearing I will be withdrawing ASAP and moving on to another micro-room.

Posted by Bullajami at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have played none in almost 2 weeks.  An unfathomable thought this time last year.  I have been, quite simply, too busy.  I was in Germany with limited internet access for a week of that, and have been working on other projects for the rest of the time. 

One of the major items I was working on may turn into completely wasted effort. 

I did a redesign of the bullsbetting website in a sub-directory of www.bullsbetting.com.  I worked on it, with help from others, for several weeks.  I finally thought it was ready for prime time.  I moved it over exactly as the directions stated...except that the MySQL database that holds all the data will not import.  I still have all the data, but I cannot get it to load to the root directory of my server.  I am running out of hope that there is anything I can do to salvage that work.  I think I am back to the drawing board on that.  Drat!

My plan was to build the site in the sub-directory and then move it to the root directory.  Then transfer my domain to another server outside the US - just to be safe.  Since the move to the root directory looks totally jacked up, my current thinking is that I will just build the site directly on the foreign server.  Then I won't have to move it.  I can maintain the forum on my current server, for the time being.  Its mind numbing for an amateur webmaster like myself.  I should get "Webmastering for Dummies" - I bet there is one!

There's also a scramble at ITH (where I work part time) to deal with the fallout from the Enforcement of Illegal Gambling Act (EIGA).  Trying to realign the emphasis placed on the online poker rooms that will be available to the greatest proportion of ITHers has been a constantly moving target for the past two weeks.  Despite our best efforts to be proactive, I think we have been mostly reactive - although there may have been no way to get in front of this runaway freight train.  Things are calming down now and I think we are getting back on top, but its been a hassle.  (Or a challenge if you're an optimist!)

Looks to me like Poker Stars and Full Tilt are the big winners in the "where can we play now" game. No surprise on Poker Stars as it has been a long time favorite of many (if not me.)  I was a bit surprised by Full Tilt surging to number 2.  I played there when they first came online with their (then) enormous $600 first deposit bonus.  I didn't like it much - it was slow and little traffic.  I don't think I ever deposited, just played the free games, checking it out.  I was much more cautious back when my BR was puny.     I was thinking Absolute and UB would surge up to #2 and #3 respectively.  While they have been doing OK, they have not grown as much as I anticipated.  Bodog and (another surprise) Poker.com are also doing pretty well.  I am getting my traffic data from www.pokersitescout.com, btw.

Interesting times lie ahead.  I just hope I can get my site operations fixed so that I can focus more on those interesting times than I am on loading bits and bytes to servers.  Oh, and I'd like to play some poker too!  Happy Chasing!

Posted by Bullajami at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I won back about 2/3 of my $15/30 losses on Saturday night at a $10/20 table at Poker Stars.  Nothing fancy happened, I just took advantage of the poor play I saw around me when I had good cards - and I was getting decent cards.  No monster hands, just some basic TPTK and two pairs stuff.  I flopped a set of sevens, but didn't get much action.

My recent forays into higher limits are  just experimental.  I do not intend to become a regular at those tables.  Not at this time, anyways.  I was just curious and seeking information.  What I discovered was that the play at $10/20 - $30/60 is generally much worse than at $1/2 - $5/10 at Poker Stars.  My observations are purely anecdotal and not scientific.  I only have a few hundred hands at those higher limits.  However, each of the three times I decided to look at the higher limit tables I was able to easily find available tables with view flop percentages >36%.  Those loose tables are rare at $5/10 and below at Poker Stars.  I was able to play ABC TAG style poker and be a winner at any of those tables (even though I lost at $15/30, I am certain my play would be profitable on that type table in the long run). 

The risk here would be that a few very good players using notes and/or software would eventually get a good read on me and beat me out of some chips.  Of course, I would be somewhat protected by my own notes and observations, and know when I was tangling with a pro.  I would also be hampered by my inability to disassociate chips from money.  A bad string of cards and a -200 BB run would not be dealt with very well in my bulbous melon.  My frugal upbringing continues to be the 300 lb gorilla in my mental room.  The fact that I have an absurdly large bankroll for $10/20 (or higher) does not overcome the hesitation I have in making small +EV bets with $20 chips.  I know enough to know that's how you earn over time, but I still can't do it. 

Not surprisingly, the Poker Stars FPPs accumulate rapidly at the higher limits.  My bonus cleared very quickly once I shifted over to the higher limit tables. 

Its been a fun experiment.  I will be back at the low limit tables later this week.

Posted by Bullajami at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)