Stars Bonus Shenanigans

Bankroll: $295.12 (but really, its $265.12)


This weekend, I deposited $30 for a new reload bonus at Pokerstars. Due to the strange way in which reload bonuses at Stars work, I will need to keep that money in the account for the next 2 months.

The full story is that you're allowed up to 3 separate deposits. The 2nd and 3rd need to be made within 60 days of the first. Each deposit has its own expiry to clear which is 90 days after the deposit date.

Therefore, it behoofs you to deposit a small amount first, then deposit the 2nd and 3rd deposit exactly 60 days after the first. This extends your expiry for the bulk of the bonus from what would normally be 90 days to 150 days.

Concurrent with that deposit, I decided to take a shot at the $6+0.50 turbo Sit and Gos, up from the $3+0.4 level.

I played in 6 of the $6.5's. I had a 2nd place finish, a third place finish, and 4 losses. So, for 6 SnG's, I am down by $12, or just short of two buy-ins.

My initial impression is that playing at the $6.5 level feels different. Very different. I'm sure some of it has to do with the higher buy-in level; but, I suspect the majority of the feeling has to do with the fact that these are only 9 player Sit and Go's at this level, rather than the 10 player Sit and Go's I'm used to at the lower level.

So, for now, I will move back down to $3.4's for awhile and stick with the original plan of waiting until I've got another 100 or 200 buy-ins first.

After that, I might consider playing a few dozen 9-man Sit and Go's at the ultra-low $1+0.2 level - just to get used to the differences in preparation for the move back to $6+0.5.

In other news, I cleared the 2nd portion of my earlier reload bonus - which amounted to $12.50 into my account. How I cleared the last of this bonus was utterly reckless, and I'm thankful I made it without incident. Stay tuned for that story!