Bonus clearing

Bonus Clearing

Recently I received an email from a popular online poker room offering a reload bonus and decided to deposit and clear it. Of course I receive these offers all of the time as I have played at so many rooms, and they all offer a little something to get you playing again. I just usually ignore them, as I don't like being stuck at one room for any length of time. Where and when I play is my decision, not the card rooms. This one caught me at the right time as I was planning to play at this room some anyway, so off I went. While working off the bonus, I thought back to one of the mistakes that I used to make while clearing bonuses, and decided to share, in hopes that you may be able to avoid the same mistake.

All bonuses have play requirements to earn them, usually a certain number of raked hands. Often you have to contribute to the pot in order to have a hand counted towards the bonus. The problem that I had when I first started clearing bonuses was I stayed very aware of how many hands I had contributed to and how many I had to go to finish clearing the bonus. In turn, I started playing too many hands. I allowed my play to be changed by something that had nothing to do with the play at the table. This lead to the problem that I was consistently losing money at the tables as I was clearing the bonus, often ending up with less than I had started with, even after clearing the bonus. Only when I quit chasing bonuses for a few months and concentrated on playing winning poker did I realize that I had been playing differently while clearing bonuses. Once I determined this and thought about it, I corrected the problem. I now don't play any differently while clearing a bonus, and end up with a nice profit on top of the bonus most of the time.

Evaluate your play while clearing bonuses to make sure that you don't change anything. If you are changing, take a break from bonus clearing and concentrate on being profitable without bonuses. Once you reach this point you will find your bonus clearing to be a much more pleasant experience. Until next week, happy bonus hunting and good luck at the tables!

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© Emil Svensson