Bonus requirements...

Originally posted by unessential
Are requirements to releasing bonuses pretty much standard across poker rooms or do they vary a lot?

My feeling was that they are more or less the same, make enough wagers without losing it all and they are released.

Hi unessential,
In my experience bonus clearing requirements range from "dead easy" to "forget it -- you'll never make it playing micro stakes"
The requirements are different on different sites.

I've moved this post to the 888 forum, since it seems to be somewhat specifically about 888

Originally posted by unessential
Today I got a 888 message saying their terms are changing effective May 25th. Here's an excerpt

The Next wager you make will use your Cash Balance first, before using your Bonus Funds
Only wagers made using your Bonus Funds will conribute to the applicable Bonus Wagering Requrements

Wait, does that mean that you basically have to LOSE EVERYTHING before there is even a possibility to have the bonus released? and it has to be released based ENTIRELY on the bonus funds?

I am assuming that when faced with a betting choice, there will be an option to use bonus money or cash balance.
This would be similar to the way 888 gives you a choice been registering to a tournament with cash or with an available ticket.
On 888, the default is cash -- everywhere else that I know of defaults to ticket.

Rule #1:
Pay Attention!

I sent 888 support an email saying I do not understand their new policy, and asked for clarification.
In my case the only bonus money I have is in the casino section, and when I play Blackjack, the money comes out of my bonus funds.
I can see no way to choose which balance is used.

If casino play will come out of my cash, I simply won't play.
I got the bonus from winning a $5.00 free play in a daily spin, then winning a hand of blackjack.

If there is a way to choose, I cannot find it, but I presume it will be there before the new rule takes effect.

Cheers,
VS

Wait, does that mean that you basically have to LOSE EVERYTHING before there is even a possibility to have the bonus released? and it has to be released based ENTIRELY on the bonus funds?

Any confirmation about that? I received the mail today and i'm asking myself the same... I have a 280$ pending bonus, if i can't get the wagering requirements without losing my BR, and if i cash out, the bonus is canceled, in the end this is just a pure scam...

I joined this room with my entire BR because they had interesting looking bonus, only 2 weeks later and i'm really pissed off. I thought 888poker was a serious room.

Hi LeRoux90,
I asked for clarification from 888 support, but I found their clarification equally incomprehensible.

I'll wait to see what happens on May 25th

I have no bonus amounts in my poker account, only the casino account.
Those amounts came because in the daily spin I got a $5.00 free play, and when I won, that became a $10 bonus amount.

On Thursdays, I make a $1 wager to qualify for the Saturday Casino Mix-up freeroll, and I've won a few of those.

On the 28th I'll make a $1 wager to see what balance the $ comes from. If it comes from my cash balance, it will be my last ever casino bet

Edit: I just received the following announcement regarding changed to the T&C

We’re simplifying the terms that apply to bonuses.

The following changes will come into effect on 5/25/2020:

The next wager you make will use your Cash Balance first, before using your Bonus Funds.
Only wagers made using your Bonus Funds will contribute to the applicable Bonus Wagering Requirements.

Please note that these changes will also apply to any active Bonus Funds in your bankroll received prior to 5/25/2020.

Any remaining Bonus(es) & vouchers, such as: Free Play, Free Spins, Tournament Tickets, Free Bets etc. may be forfeited upon a withdrawal request, as indicated in “My Account”.

By continuing to play with us, you agree to the new terms that apply to bonuses under the user agreement, which includes the bonus policy and withdrawal policy.

From that it does appear that:
 Your cash balance must be exhausted before you can wager using your bonus funds
 If you attempt to withdraw your cash balance your bonus(es) will be forfeited

This effectively means that 888 is getting out of the bonus business -- at least as far as I'm concerned

Yeah your quote is exactly the email i received. If we understand it right then this is really just a scam. They offer something and after you spent time and money, they remove their offer. Kind of the definition of a scam here....

I would never registered to this room with this offer, can't believe i'm about to lose a 280$ bonus...

I suggest that you contact their customer service.
You still have until May 25 to clear the bonus under the existing rules.

I did, they confirmed that we'll need to be at 0$ to play with the bonuses and be able to unlock them. I wondering tho if this affect 1st deposit bonuses too, since this bonus is in the pending bonuses and not in immediate bonuses categorie... I won the 1st part of my bonus and the 10$ did go in my cash balance, not in my bonus balance... I wonder too what happens after the bonus expire, if i'll keep what i won from it or like the immediate bonuses, i'll loose everything. This site is very confusing, i'm waiting an answer from them but they are not very the most honest so i'm asking here if anyone knows

At the moment no-one knows for sure -- apparently not even 888 support.

The effect of this move is to completely eliminate bonuses from their promotional tools, however even now they are offering bonuses for various things.

Also, 888 support is rather swamped due to lockdown rules etc, so I don't expect a response from them soon.

All the best,
VS

I send an email too, i'm waiting a response.
I had played in 888 poker, NL5, without HUD from HM3 (only in tournments is available, another disadvantage) just for receive the first 10€ of bonus.

Meanwhile, i don't play in 888poker. I hope they clarified this issue soon.
As soon as i have response, i will share here too.

The new rules don't come into effected until May 25 2020, so I would recommend that you clear your bonus while you can.

Lol, this is pretty dumb. Anybody has any new info on this?

I received the following from 888 support by email:

Thank you for contacting us.

<my name>, if you have received a bonus, then you will need to clear points from that bonus.

Every bet placed reduces the bonus points on the bonus awarded. When there are no more points required, the bonus will be available for withdrawal.

You can earn BPs by:

Playing in poker ring games -earn 2 BPs (if applicable) for every $1 of your contributed rake.*
Playing poker tournaments -earn 2 BPs (if applicable) for every $1 of tournament fee.
Playing casino games (from your poker account) -earn 1 BP (if applicable) for every $10 wagered in the casino.

If you require further assistance with this or any other matter, please feel free to contact us.

The only difference is that if you have both bonus funds in your account and real money, then the real money gets used first.
Example:
Assume I have $10 of real money on deposit
I once won a $5.00 Casino freeplay in a daily spin.
I played 1 $5 hand of blackjack
I won
I now had $10 of real money and $10 of bonus money.
I played a $1.00 hand of blackjack
I lost
I then had $10 of real money and $9 of bonus money.

After May 25th, it would have been:
I then had $9 of real money and $10 of bonus money.

Since I'm not ever going to play casino games with my real money balance, eventually that $10 bonus will go away.
It theoretically would be possible to clear that $10 bonus, I don't know how.

Cheers,
VS

But it's the same for poker games as well. Yesterday after I finished the Hand of the Day promotion I got a 6$ bonus and I couldn't clear it. I'm never going to lose my whole bankroll, so I'll never clear any of the bonuses I get. Also the 10% instant deposit bonuses will be worthless from now on. I hope many people will write complaints to them, because this seems like a ridiculous bonus policy. It is like the bonuses have absolute no value anymore.

Originally posted by kidzoltan
But it's the same for poker games as well. Yesterday after I finished the Hand of the Day promotion I got a 6$ bonus and I couldn't clear it.

As you continue to play, you will accumulate bonus points, and if you accumulate enough in the time given the bonus will clear even though you are playing with your real money balance.
This is the way it exists on all other poker sites -- the bonus just sits there, and doesn't become usable until it is cleared.

All the best,
VS

Maybe I don't understand something. I did make like 500$ rake, but all the 1$-6$ bonuses are still uncleared.

Hi kidzoltan
I suggest you submit a support ticket to 888
Be prepared to wait a few days for an answer.

Cheers,
VS

Thanks VorpalF2F, I will! ♠_biggrin:

Hi kidzoltan,

Any news?
This policy is incomprehensible but seems to true. Impossible to clear bonuses, I'm afraid.
My bonus-balance has not changed after a few days of play. So I can forget more than $90.
And maybe I must forget 888, because what will the next step???
Which room do you suggest for to play NL5-10 fastfold, for recreational play for just a bit of profit? I'm thinking to renew my old PS or Party account.

Hi GedyKnight,
As you play, you earn points that will satisfy your bonus wagering requirement.
You just use real money funds to do it.

You are right though in that the material 888 sent out was impossible to understand.
It took me several emails to support before I got it straight.

In fact, the new way works out better.
Let's use the example of a person with a $100 bonus to clear.

Then let's say they're playing NL 10, and lose 2 buy-ins.
Since they were playing with bonus money before, now they only have an $80 bonus.

Now they go on an upswing, and clear the bonus, but they end up with less.

Cheers,
VS

How about cashing out all my money, then exchange my gold tokens for bonus cash? As I have no more money that that bonus cash, will I be able to use it to clear all future hand of the day bonuses?