Deposit bonuses are easy money.

Check this sub-reddit out and ask all your questions there.

https://old.reddit.com/r/sportsbook/

Here's a guide to sportsbook bonus whoring.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kyc...BEM8Mhl2B/view

Now that you have your first score on FD with their risk free bets...you want to wait until a fantastic line pops up on 2 different books. Bet enough to win roughly $1k on FD against a favorite and your BetMGM Riskfree bet on the underdog with great odds. So you are playing both sides of a line. If the favorite wins, you win $1k and lose your $1k bet on the other side, but you get the risk free bet back. IF the favorite loses, you lose your stake but make profit from the undergod winning. This is an oversimplification though...and finding the correct line is important.

Barstool has a fantastic $1k risk free, Golden Nugget as well....there are a few.

Wynnbet MI has $250 match on $250 deposit on casino. Can withdraw after playing through 1x. Can only be on slots. I played Wheel of Fortune dollar spins. I deposited $250 and withdrew $475.

BetRiver MI has $250 match on $250 deposit on casino. Can withdrew after playing through 1x. No roulette. I did blackjack. Deposited $250 and withdrew $460.

DK has the Michigan high roller promo right now. Deposit between $5k - $20k and get 100% deposit match + 1k in DK credits.

https://casino.draftkings.com/high-roller

Wife and I both did $5k and should have done more. I was insanely lucky. I would get scatter bonuses then scatter bonuses within scatter bonuses. Also, as my profits were increasing, I would increase my bet sizing from $10 to $12.50 to $15 to $20. Finally, I started spinning $25 spins. I was also getting incredibly lucky with hitting the max coffin prizes before finding an empty chest. I really believe I hit a really good streak of positive variance. We each started with a $10k balance to start. We each played the 1000 free credits first at $10 a spin. She converted to about $970 cash...I was about $1100 in cash. So we both started spinning at about an $11k balance. When we started doing the $10 spins...she really just fluctuated and slowly decreased the whole time. She'd drop to $9k, spike to about $10k, drop to $8k and spike to $9k. No major swings really until the end...she was down to about $3500 then hit some miracles and boosted back up to $6500 to close out the last 10% of the clearing requirement. I had already finished my play through and cleared the $9k...so I told her to pop it to $20 a spin. Either busto or hit a few bonuses to make back some ground. If she busto'd, we would still clear $4k profit. When I started spinning...I dropped to $8500 pretty fast and was sad Then spiked up to $12k.....increased spins to $15 and spiked to $15k...increased spins to $20 and spiked to around $17.5k and then finally increased to $25 spins where I spiked to $20k and then just kept spinning. It was a slow decline down to $13.5k after that, but I just kept spinning $25 spins to get completion. I probably should have laddered down the spins like I did climbing.

tl;dr - I hit a massive streak of positive variance and rode it as hard as I could.

Good luck

To add - I did most of mine during the NCAA tourney when there were crazy good promo's everywhere.

This was my favorite hit...

https://ibb.co/QmvqNff

Awesome, thanks for that. That high roller promo looks doable. I might try to get in on that. It looks like I have until the end of the month. It's sort of crazy how much free money is being offered. I wonder how long this gravy train can last, or if the casinos really see that much benefit from it. My goal was to make $10K thru gambling (mostly poker) by August of 2022. I think I'm going to make it, lol.

You'll do it I think between the wife and I, we are up close to $25k this year. Took a really nice vacation to USVI St. John island in April. Also, getting a lawn irrigation system installed in a couple weeks. All thanks to the work I put in during the NCAA tournament / DK high roller promo. Paid for all the money I've wasted on Poker training / tools so far as well. Really need to get around to learning how to use them properly now. It was grueling though...spent 2-3 hours every morning scouring that sub-reddit and all my sportsbooks for the best promos / lines to abuse.

Unlike you, most my profit has come from casino promos / sportsbook lines. Only up about $1500 in poker...but I didn't start focusing on poker again until Mid-May. Before that my time was spent doing all the promos / sportsbook work.

If that DK high roller goes south...don't blame me. There are always some that are on the tail end of the bell curve and will lose their deposit. It's a 10x play through of deposit and bonus. So for a $5k deposit, you need to gamble $100k before you can withdraw anything.

I've played a whopping single session last week. Most of my time was getting projects done around the house in preparation for our refinance appraisal. My weekdays are starting to free up now, so hopefully there's more felt time in my near future.

Fan Duel has a nice promo where every Tuesday in July is bet $10K on blackjack get $250 in casino credit. The expected loss on $10K is only $40. Today I ran pretty hot, and at $10/hand was up $250 after 1000 hands, and that's before I get the bonus.

DraftKings next promo is bet $20K on BJ and get $1000. That starts tomorrow, and I will be jumping on that. I wasn't really planning on doing this much extra-curricular gambling outside of poker, but my god with all the free money on some of these it's hard to justify spending that time on poker.

Sounds like easy money. Thanks for spreading the word of good promos.

No problem. I ended up running hot on DK as well and was up $400 + $840 from the bonus. So between the two blackjack bonuses and a $400 poker session, yesterday was a $2K day. Not bad. I like money.

You just do $5 hands?

Firekeepers Online just opened. $500 + 100% match playthrough 5x for slots / 10x for table games. Plus a 100% match on your first sports bet up to $500 as a free bet. Use 2 books to hedge your loss on the first bet. I basically paid $50 for my $500 free bet.

I played $10 per hand for the 10K and $25 for the 20k. It took a while but was manageable. I might up it next time just to make the playthrough faster and ride the variance.

Thanks for the heads up on fire keepers. That was my home for live play. I do miss it at times. I will have to get in on that.

Booked a good win at the tables yesterday despite getting stacked on an AKs vs QQ flip. I've been running pretty hot on all-in EV still so some reversion to the mean is to be expected.

I got another awesome draftkings promotion via e-mail. $10K in table games for a $500 bonus and $5K in slots for a $500 bonus.

I ran like ass at blackjack, probably losing even after the bonus. Ran like god on slots though. I found one on draftkings called KGB Bears at 96.01%. Maybe there's a better one, but that's the best I've seen. I had one spin for $800 and another for $1K. Overall I'm up about $2K today. I was trying to grind at $2.50/spin but realized how laughably long that would take. Ended up at $10/spin which got it cleared at a more reasonable pace, and got me a couple high dollar spins.

My draftkings winnings have now eclipsed my poker winnings, and I've hit my $8K vacation goal with no plans to stop. I still have many sites initial deposit bonuses to clear. It's just hard to find time to sit down, make sure I'm getting the best promo at signup, generate the account, make the deposit, and grind through them. It'll happen though.

Sick. Happy to see you running good.

One thing I would keep in mind for the future is that RTP isn't necessarily the only metric you want to consider. For example you might not want to play a slot with 96% RTP if 11% of that comes from the very unlikely top payouts. Then you're basically bleeding 15% to the house until you hit big which probably isn't going to happen over the course of your bonus clear. Although maybe you want to gamble it up a bit and hope for a big score.

Unfortunately the payout distributions don't really get published so it's difficult to gauge slot variance without playing quite a bit. Although there are some sites that will tell you which slots are high/low variance.

Yeah, I totally get that. If I knew that a lot of the equity was in a top payout I'd probably avoid those slots, but like you said it's hard to get the breakdowns of how they arrive at that number. Some are sort of more obvious lower variance slots. This one seemed more in the middle. I had a few high dollar spins, one big enough I had to fill out a tax form. I'm OK with a bit more gamble to go for higher ev. I honestly thought I'd be able to Google to find the best paying machines but had no luck there. So I just found 96+% and went with it. The money drains fast during a cold streak at $10/spin so there could be a bad run of various that's pretty devastating. Thankfully I faded that and then got hot.

Nice update - stumbled upon this thread just now. I'm hoping my state is next to legalize online gambling and can start hitting some good bonus's.

Built my initial bankroll back in the day this way through a site/forums called bonuswhores (.com or .org whatever). Great sign up bonusus's, some cool prizes and whatnot.

Michigan is fairly close so may need to put a list together and get a hotel for a weekend of grinding when NFL season opens up

I vaguely remember that site being a popular thing back in the heyday. I definitely missed out on a lot of money back in the boom days. I was so focused on learning poker that I neglected to take advantage of a lot of the value out there.

At least with Pokerstars MI you can set up your account and make deposits/withdrawals from anywhere. You just need to be in the state of Michigan in order to play. So you can drive in, pull off the road, and start playing.

It definitely feels a bit like 2005 for online gaming again. Lots of sites competing for business, deposit bonuses and other promos galore, and fish at 200NL. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I want to take full advantage while I can.

Another week in the books and some more money in the bank.

I ran pretty bad at a DK blackjack promo (bet $1000 for $100 in free credits). Despite being a good EV challenge I ended up down $200 even after claiming the credit. But even after that, I still had the nice booked winnings from last week, so I decided to take a decent withdrawal. Later that that day they offered me a deposit bonus (20% match up to $500 with a 1x playthrough) that I jumped on, so now I'm up again. I'm not sure if it was coincidence or if this is a typical offer after a withdrawal.

I just ran hot on FanDuels $10K BJ Tuesdays and am up $580 before the bonus hits, so that promo has been pretty lucrative.

I'm still grinding out a small WR at 100 and 200NL. My last 5 sessions have all been winners. I continue to run hot, but my AIEV adjusted is 0.9BB/100 at 100NL and about 4BB/100 at 200NL. Both actual WRs are higher but I keep an eye on the adjusted ones. I know AIEV is just a small measure of variance, but it's the easiest one to track. I'm still not out of the "I could just be a fish on a heater" sample size yet, but I think I'm doing OK. I continue to aggressively table select, especially at 200NL, and I think that's really helping.

I'll try to post some more hands and/or graphs later on.

lol somehow this is 200NL. Maybe the flop call was optimistic, but lol


PokerStars - $2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (UTG): 100 BB
MP: 173.88 BB
CO: 111.58 BB
BTN: 97 BB
SB: 131.73 BB
BB: 164.97 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 5 5

Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 2.5 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (6.5 BB, 2 players) A Q T
Hero bets 1.86 BB, BTN raises to 3.71 BB, Hero calls 1.86 BB

Turn: (13.92 BB, 2 players) 7
Hero checks, BTN bets 1 BB, Hero calls 1 BB

River: (15.92 BB, 2 players) Q
Hero checks, BTN bets 1 BB, Hero calls 1 BB

BTN shows 3 3 (Two Pair, Queens and Threes)
(Pre 18%, Flop 11%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows 5 5 (Two Pair, Queens and Fives)
(Pre 82%, Flop 89%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins 17.03 BB

Bam! Some more big wins. I had a $600 night at the tables on Saturday. Friday/Saturday nights are definitely where it's at on stars. I got giftwrapped $400 vs. a LAG. He opens UTG, and I 3-bet from the CO with JJ. He flats. Flop J22. He leads 1/2 pot into me. Call. Turn 7. He jams the rest of his stack (roughly 4x pot) and I'm not sure the record for fastest 4x pot sized turn jam call, but if there is one, I probably broke it. He had J7s.

Another LAG at another table opened, I 3-bet with AK, he 4-bet, I ripped, and he snap called with A7s. That pot not going my way was the only thing keeping the night from being my winningest night ever.

Then I got a big challenge from draftkings. Bet $50K on BJ get $500 DK bucks (EV of $300). Bet $16,666K on Roulette, get $500 DK ($50 EV) and Bet $10K in slots, get $500 DK ($100 EV assuming 96% RTP).

They are really testing me with these, because turning down EV is hard even if the swings of this challenge could easily wipe out my $5.5K DK roll. I debated passing on it, but figured maybe I'd put in some stop loss criteria to keep it from getting out of hand.

I started out at BJ with $25/hand. The variance was relatively low. There were a few spots where I was +/- $500, but ended at $-37.50 for a net profit of $462.50. Next up roulette. I'm going with my super sophisticated strategy of red every spin. Unfortunately I picked black's night. I end up down over $1050, so that basically wiped out my BJ bonus. Final one is slots, and that one has me the most nervous due to the volatility. The first $2K does not go well, and I'm closing in on the $1.5K stop loss I set for myself. Then I got hot. Free Spin. Free Spin! Free-Spin-O-Rama!!! I'm not a huge slot fan but this game gives you free spins and a winnings multiplier and it can get pretty big fast on a run of luck. I quickly found myself recovered and even up about $2.5K. I contemplated quitting while I was way ahead (I didn't need to bet the full amount as the DK$ unlocked in $5 increments for every $100 played) and I guess I sort of wished I had, as I ended up down $1K off the high, but overall this challenge was highly profitable and I ended up winning $1.5K. I ended up making another big withdrawal from DK afterwards. My wife is now talking about moving up our family vacation to the spring, since it's our oldest's last year of elementary school therefore easiest to pull him out for a few days, and given the state of my gambling winnings, that seems more than reasonable.

Mine was smaller

$10k in slots for $300 Casino credit
$25k in BJ for $300 Casino credit
$15k in Roulette for $300 in Casino credit

Complete all 3 and get $600 in DK Dollars

That one is not too bad. The three challenges work out to about even (I get about -$40 in EV) But then the $600 DK dollars makes it pretty nice.

Yesterday started off rough with the Tuesday Blackjack Warriors challenge on FanDuel. I decided I didn't have the patience to grind out 1000 hands at $10/hand so I went with $25/hand for 400 to hit the $10K. I ended up down around $700.

Then I jumped into DraftKings for their $7,777 slot promo for $777 in credits. That one is pretty fat value. I don't know what it is with that KGB Bears slot, but holy hell do I run like god at it. I had a few more $1K+ spins and was up almost $3K on the machine after playing through the $7,777, so I'm well back in the black for the day.

Next up was the Dinger Tuesdays promo. I hit 4 of 13 which is good for a $75 profit before bonuses pay out, which from the few box scores I checked should be really good this week.

Finally I closed the night out with some poker. Up until now I had been limiting myself to 2 tables of $200NL. But between my relatively poor results at $100NL and my anecdotal evidence of $200NL actually being softer, I told myself I will play up to 4 tables of $200 if I find good tables.

I color code players into 5 main groups. Red for Regs: VPIP/PFR and aggression all within reason. (VPIP: 17-30, PFR within 5 points of that). Green for Fish: VPIP's north of 30, and low aggression (PFR less than half of VPIP). Blue for "**** Regs": VPIP's within range but PFR about half of it or so. Yellow for nits, VPIPs of 16 or lower. Orange for LAGs, VPIPs north of 30 and high aggression.

Generally I like to find a table with at least one green and one other non-red. This has been a challenge at 100NL. Oftentimes it's 5 regs and a fish. Depending on my seat, stacks, and some other factors, this may not be profitable. At 200NL these tables are easier. There are a few more green fish regulars, as well as more bad LAGs. Last night at one point I had 4 tables of 200NL going, all with only 2 other red regs, at least 1 fish, and 2 players of other colors (mostly LAGs and **** Regs, nits are still pretty rare).

I'm at a point now where I'm not too concerned with the stakes I'm playing. I'll fill my queue up with 200NL tables if they are looking good, dipping into 100NL only if I need too, and if that still doesn't work, down to 50NL it is to get to 4 tables.

It ended up being a $500+ night thanks to some LAGs punting in to me, and a nice set vs. top 2 cooler that I extracted some nice value from.

Yesterday was a good day. I'm now up $20K on the year gambling. It's possible I will make more money this year than I will have made in my entire life previously. I don't have perfect records, but I'd ball park my 2020 and earlier lifetime poker/gaming winnings at between $20-$30K.

That "High Roller VIP" bonus is not +EV. You ran good. Wouldn't suggest anyone take that bonus. Unless of course, they'd make the deposit and play through that amount anyways.

I skipped it as well. Very thin value there. I’ve not seen the spin $7777 for $777 bonus yet. Might need to check P2 (the wife’s account).

This villain was taking weird lines against me and generally giving me fits, but I wasn't going to fold a decent 2 pair here, even on the draw completing river card. Then I see his hand and realize how much money I probably left on the table earlier in the session. I feel like the games have gotten better recently, and I'm loving it.

PokerStars - $2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 149.45 BB
BB: 151.64 BB
UTG: 149.51 BB
CO: 120.91 BB
Hero (BTN): 110.53 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J Q

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BB calls 1.5 BB

Flop: (5.5 BB, 2 players) 2 5 J
BB bets 2.62 BB, Hero calls 2.62 BB

Turn: (10.73 BB, 2 players) T
BB bets 5.1 BB, Hero calls 5.1 BB

River: (20.93 BB, 2 players) Q
BB bets 19.89 BB, Hero calls 19.89 BB

BB shows 7 K (High Card, King)
(Pre 55%, Flop 12%, Turn 7%)
Hero shows J Q (Two Pair, Queens and Jacks)
(Pre 45%, Flop 88%, Turn 93%)
Hero wins 59.2 BB

There's no way I'm good here often enough, right? I think this line is almost always a set. V is a decent player. I struggle against overbets a bit, but I still don't think they are used as bluffs often enough.

PokerStars - $1 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 84.38 BB
UTG: 140.66 BB
MP: 145.44 BB
CO: 105.38 BB
Hero (BTN): 100 BB
SB: 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q Q

fold, fold, CO raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 7.5 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 5 BB

Flop: (16.5 BB, 2 players) 7 3 J
CO checks, Hero bets 4.7 BB, CO calls 4.7 BB

Turn: (25.9 BB, 2 players) 2
CO bets 16 BB, Hero calls 16 BB

River: (57.9 BB, 2 players) 6
CO bets 77.18 BB and is all-in, fold

CO wins 55 BB