Bonus Withdrawals

I can beat the hell-o out of the $25 NL tables at Poker Room and can’t get hardly a point towards bonus, go to the $1/$2 tables and get the hell-o beat out of me and get triple the points. Go figure. They don’t rake the $2/$4 tables till it is a $20 pot, so that is worthless for clearing bonus. Good if I played there all the time though. So it is going to be 4 tables at $1/$2 tomorrow for as long as I can stand it. Need to get on with the “bigger” picture but can’t leave all this bonus money just hanging out there.

As I posted before, I am going to scale back the bonus chasing. Now it is just going to be reloads and only at a few sites. I’m working on a “home” site; a place where I will play the most. I have narrowed it down to a few: Ultimate Bet, Party, and Absolute Poker.

I know there are a few people reading this and saying “Party! Go to Party Poker!” For my first attempt at “serious” $3/$6, I’m not sure I am ready for the variance at Party yet. That’s why I am leaning towards Ultimate Bet. The play there is weak/tight and there are enough tables to go around during the day.

Absolute Poker is good for the reloads. They have them all the time. The play there is like most anywhere else and with 10k in players a night, tables can be found. I’m not in love with the software but the reloads make up for that. It will make a good second site.

To me, if you are going to play poker seriously, use Poker Tracker and Game Time +, then you need to build a solid data base somewhere. Maybe my thinking is all wrong and I will find out later on that it really doesn’t matter but until then, I will go with this. I know that the more information you have about an opponent the better off you are, so why not carry that over to a particular site as well.

I have never had to move back down limits after moving up. At least not due to poker, I have had to cash out and been forced to start at lower limits again. This is mainly due to the fact that I have been cautious in my moves and made sure I was more than adequately bankrolled.

I think it just came to me why this is a bigger deal than it should be. I have been playing below my bankroll for a while now while chasing bonuses. I have, for the last few months, always had a bonus as a “safety net” and now that I have decided to cut that back, I realize that an off night will directly affect the bottom line. I’m having “Bonus Withdrawals”.

I had a goal. Playing correct poker has always been important but to be honest, winning poker as taken a back seat to clearing bonus and building bankroll to get back to $3/$6. I have been fortunate enough to win mostly AND clear bonus but the emphasis has been more on the bonus than the poker. Well, I made my goal. Now I guess I have to see if I am strong enough to handle the “bonus withdrawals” or will I have to throw in a crypto here and there and gradually ease away.


Till Next Time!