What´s up everybody,

I have a doubt about how fast I could clear a first deposit bonus at an online site. I´m planning to play 6 hours per day, 5 days a week, 6-tabling for a whole month, which would be around 55k hands. The thing is, I´m going to do this at the micros. Do you think with this sort of volume I can clear, say 200 euros, by the end of the month by playing all NL2 or would I have to combine it with NL5 (or third option: playing all NL5)? The site I´ll play at is 888 Spain by the way.

I'm not in Spain. I don't like the 888 s/ware either, but I'll try to help

QUESTIONS:
Have you made your first deposit yet or asking before you do it?

What amount are you depositing [or already deposited]?

What are the terms of the bonus? [copy/paste them here - I don't care if it is in Spanish, I'll figure it out]

888poker.es is a segregated market - I looked at PokerScout & there's 59 cash NL tables running right now at ALL stakes together
The number of NL cash tables is between 30 & 60 depending on time of day [my estimate] - do you actually know if there's enough 2NL tables running for 6 hours?

SUGGESTIONS

If you haven't downloaded the s/ware yet you should do so & look at what's running for your stakes BEFORE depositing anything

Also see if the tables are running smoothly - the site can be a dog from what I've read on 2+2

Here's the bonus offered by 2+2 - I don't know if it applies to .ES [probably not I'm guessing]: http://www.twoplustwo.com/poker-bonus/888/

This is the PokerScout traffic for 888poker.es: http://www.pokerscout.com/SiteDetail...es&ab=26304625

Thanks. The terms in the .es seem to be the same as in the international market ($10 released for every $50 in rake). I haven´t made my first deposit yet and wanted to have an estimate of how fast I could clear whatever I deposit before making the decision, but I don´t think I can afford more than 200 euros; in the end though I would go with whatever I think I can clear in a month or month and a half of play (expiration is 90 days I think).

I didn´t know there were few tables and it worries me a bit, but I´m guessing if 2NL is not enough then I would combine it with NL5 in order to fill the 6 tables. From what I´ve heard NL5 at 888 is still softer than NL2 at Stars, and I make a slight profit on that site at that level. How much do you think I can clear in a month with those numbers?

So 200 Euro deposit requires 1,000 Euro rake to release a 200 Euro bonus. Is that what you're saying?

And you're not sure if it's 90 days expiration? Don't you think you should copy/paste the T&Cs of this bonus here like I asked in my first reply?

Rake at 888 is high so you'll generate rake quicker than say at PokerStars, but that's a lot of rake! I asked a friend who's playing 10nl what his stats were at PokerStars 6-max 2nl & 5nl:

91k hands, VPIP 23%, PFR 18%, 3Bet 5%

$104 WON
$260 RAKE [remember these figures are for 6-max, you'll generate rake slower at full ring]

I obviously can't say what rate you'll generate rake because I don't know if you play FR or 6-max & I don't know your style. A nitty nit can generate rake at only 25% the rate of a LAG. But it is a bad attitude to think about poker in terms of your rake-rate rather than your win-rate

SUGGESTIONS:
** Post here the full T&Cs for the bonus
** Download the software & see what's going on at the tables
** Only making a "slight profit" at PokerStars 2nl is a bad sign. I think you need to figure out why that is. Perhaps 6 tables isn't for you?
** Do you really want to grind for 2-3 months? In such a small player pool everyone with a HUD will have stats on you in two weeks & even those without HUDs will have a good idea of your play fairly quickly, so you'll find your win rate will drop against the regs over time
** In such a small player pool the strategy is to opponent select & table select if at all possible or find another site [not easy in Spain]. Grinding in a small player pool is a loss-making proposition. Better to play higher with fewer tables & find edges [get better at poker as well]

RAKE COMPARISON 5+ PLAYERS DEALT INTO THE HAND:

888 Poker
2nl: 6.25% Capped at $4.00 [1 cent rake for each 16 cents in pot]
5nl: 5.88% Capped at $4.00 [1 cent rake for each 17 cents in pot]

PokerStars [NO RAKE if hand is won pre-flop]
2nl: 3.50% Capped at $0.30
5nl: 4.15% Capped at $1.00

RAKE FOR DIFFERENT SIZED POTS AT 2NL
[with no rake at PS if hand finishes pre-flop]:

POT / 888 rake / PS rake

00-14 cents / 0c / 0c
15-15 cents / 0c / 1c
16-31 cents / 1c / 1c
32-42 cents / 2c / 1c
43-47 cents / 2c / 2c
48-63 cents / 3c / 2c
64-71 cents / 4c / 2c
72-79 cents / 4c / 3c
80-95 cents / 5c / 3c
96-99 cents / 6c / 3c
$1.00-$1.12/ 6c / 4c
....
$4 pot / 25c / 14c
$6 pot / 37c / 21c

CONCLUSION:
Instead of paying much higher rake at 888 & then getting some of it back via a deposit bonus - just pay lower rake at PokerStars

The rake saved playing at PS is going to be bigger than the 888 bonus rakeback

Yeah it´s 90 days, I was citing by memory and just confirmed it. To be more precise on the way the bonus works, one gains 2,7 bonus points for every 1 euro on contributed rake, and 10 euros are released for every 150 bonus points (matching 100% of the deposit up to 400 euros).

My style is LAG. I would prefer to play 6 max because of the rake and also I feel comfortable with it, but considering there are not that many tables, I think I´d have to mix some FR as well.

I don´t know about Stars international, but the Spanish version is full of nits and TAGs even at NL2. When the fish come I have no problem with stacking them and that´s why I wanna go to 888, all over the internet people praise the ratio of regs to fish you´ll find there. This is actually in sync with your advice on game selection, but I do agree that I may have to play also at another site due to the low traffic and its implications. The reason I wanted to play full-time at 888 was the added benefit of the bonus, but as you said I should not focus exclusively on it.

Dang that´s definitely a big difference, they better have a lot of fish to compensate for it.

Yes. Please notice that with the bonus included effective rake is still A LOT higher at 888. Those nice pre-flop all-ins at 888 are raked while at PS they're not.

I hope you can live with the 888 s/ware & the fish throw themselves into your net