How NOT to work a Full Tilt bonus
June 17, 2007 | 02:15PM | maudie dot b - gmail d c | |
Full Tilt gave me $100 because they like me, they really, really like me. Well, that's not entirely true. If they really liked me, they'd have just given me the $100, no strings. Nope. This $100 came in the form of a "customer appreciation" bonus. I'm not buying that. I think it's a "where the hell have you been - please come back" carrot. Which worked, by the way.
I've only been able to fully retrieve one bonus at FT. I play low limits which makes redeeming the bonus a chore, to say the least. You earn six cents for every Full Tilt point and you earn a FT point for every dollar of rake, including fractional points. To FT's credit, though, you can earn 7 FTPs for every dollar of tournament entry or sit-n-go entry, too.
If I've done the math correctly (in which I have little confidence), then that means to get my $100 bonus I need to earn 1666.66... points which means nearly $1700 in rake is dropped or pay $238 in tournament/sng entries. On top of all that, they bleed it back to you in small increments, which doesn't give your bankroll the boost a straight deposit of a hundred bucks would.
Nevertheless, I embarked on the quest for the bonus. I thought I could put a little more spin on the ball, though, by stepping up my game. I sat at a 2/4 NL table. Yeah, smart cookie I am. Play bigger limits, bigger rake, earn points and, therefore, bonus faster. Never mind that the bankroll did not warrant the step up.
I was doing pretty good, too. I'd gotten up about two hundred bucks. Then - bam - I was to zero in one hand. Pocket queens busted by a set of sevens.
What's that hackneyed Tom Hanks bon mot? Stupid is as stupid does? Seems as though I've been doing a lot of that lately. Must be the diminishing brain cells.
--------------------------
A shout out goes to my blogger pals gathered in various parts of the country - the WSOP crew from Pokerworks, the PokerNews gang, everyone who gathered in Vegas a week ago and Chicago this weekend and who're New York bound in a couple of weeks and the few coming to Okie land in July - I miss you guys. I miss the donkfests online - the midnight fifty cent no-limit games, the nightly IM chats, the Saturday morning sweats during the Party Poker guarantees.
I miss all that once was before that fucker Frist shat on it all with his pathetic stab at presidential glory. The UIGEA pulled the rug from all of us. There's still a healthy amount of cameraderie, but not at the level it once was, I fear. At any rate, I just wanted folks to know that I miss the hell out of you. December can't get here soon enough. Here's hoping we can make it a grand reunion - old schoolers and new schoolers alike.
I'm going to make the effort to get back into the weekly Mookie, Al's Riverchasers and, with some creative assistance, get some funds into to Poker Stars so I can play the Hoy. I suck at tournament play, but I miss the fun more than I care about how bad I play. I've felt too disconnected from the community for too long now. I want back in.
