Donk it up! - An experiment with free money

[Fenris78]

I like CDPoker. They also like me it seems. At least I think so, because they put $15 in my account every once in a while so that I come back. Unfortunately the withdrawing requirements are very steep and wasting 20-30 hours of playing low limits so that I can withdraw a measly couple of bucks seems not worth the time.

So I have thinking about trying to donk it up using the worst bankroll management possible. The first couple of times I have lost my $15 quickly after a while but at least it didn't cost me a lot of time. And the money is virtually useless to me anyways. This is why I have come up with an extreme "double up or quit" strategy. I always sit down at the highest limit possible. At iPoker you need minimum 5BBs to sit at a table. So I go to the highest limit possible and play there. I play a bit tighter than usual and hope for a hand with which I am comfortable putting all my money in. With 5BBs this is usually any ace or any pair, as well as any 2 face cards. When I bust it's ok. I haven't spend a lot of time, and only lost free money that was locked in this account anyway.

This time though I went on an insane run. I sat down on a $1/$2 limit table and once I had over $20 I went to sit on a $2/$4 table. With $30 I would sit at the $3/$6 table. Lather, rinse, repeat and after 30 mins I find myself on a $20/$40 table with $200 which have almost doubled to $350 after a couple of lucky hands. After this I had to leave and didn't feel like playing anymore after I returned. Unfortunately I am still far from having reached the withdrawing requirements, so this money is essentially still locked in this account. Since I have no bonus or rakeback I don't like to play at CDPoker, at least not the limits I usually play as playing without bonus, RB or any form of player rewarding system is simply setting money on fire.

But slowly the money has become a not unsignificant amount to me. So I am looking for advice: Continue to play $20/$40 hoping that my lucky run continues until I can withdraw the money or I have lost it all? Go back to $10/$20? Or even step up to $30/$60 with 6BBs? Maybe a change in plans? Sit on a NL1000 table playing short stack push or fold strategy?

[Willem]

If you can't cash out anyway, the money is as good as useless. Problem is that, even if you turn that $350 into $10000, you still won't be able to touch it. Doesn't have CDPoker the option of transferring cash to another player? Maybe you can work out a deal with someone, you transfer the money to his/her CDPoker account and that someone transfers the same amount to you on another site? Don't know if that's possible though.

[bpgui]

Your at $350 now, correct?

What are the clearance requirements before you can withdrawal?

Personally, I'd probably play a few stakes higher than my normal game and hope to build it up significantly by the time the withdrawal requirements have been met.

However, the NL1000 idea sounds like it would be a lot of fun, as well.

In the end, it is your money, so play whatever you think you'd most enjoy.

You're not really out anything if you lose. However, I imagine that if you do build it up significantly, there will be a point where it becomes worthwhile to clear it in a "safer" fashion.

[Fenris78]

[Fenris78]

[Fenris78]

Donked it up to $540 now

Think I will now go back to $10/$20 and try to clear the requirements there. Playing $30/$60 with 5BBs is not for the faint of heart

[Fenris78]

Playing $10/$20 now. The table was very juicy with 1-2 really bad players around. Managed to break even, even though I got sucked out upon big time. Lost 6 overpairs to river 2 or 3 outers and had all 3 sets cracked. Luckily the chasing fish paid me off often enough to compensate for these horrible beats. Without those beats my BR should now be around $1400. But I'm still happy with my $558. Made lots of CDPoints. Tomorrow I'll hopefully know, how much more I need to withdraw.

[Willem]

Great, I hope you don't bust before clearing the bonus. 27BB can be gone within a few hands with some bad luck.

[Fenris78]

Today I found out how much more Points I need to withdraw the money. From my previous experience this means only another 1-1.25 hr session at $10/$20, so hopefully I can reap my rewards by the end of this day

Either way this was a valueable experience, because now I know that the competition at $10/$20 is certainly beatable, when I keep working on my game. I still see many mistakes there like open limping, coldcalling (one 3 tabler even coldcalled a 3bet with 87s on the button needless to say he hit a 2 outer on the river to beat my 88 overpair -.-) and only few semi-bluff (check-) raises on turn. I think that I might even have an edge there with my skill level right now, although only a tiny one.

[maf66]

Good luck with the experiment. I remember CD Poker having quite a tough bonus chase in the allotted time. If I do play cash games, it's only $1/2 limit, so it takes forever to clear.

I did like the site and found the game quite soft. I'm not really sure why I left.

I'm now at BlueSq which use the same network (i-poker IIRC). Again their bonus clearance is tough. After about 5 or 6 sessions, I've amassed about 200 points...I need 12,000.

[taz115]

Good-luck Fenris... when I briefly played Ipoker the points start to rack up pretty quickly once you get above 3/6. Hopeully you turn your free $15 into a $500 score.

[Fenris78]

Today I got the confirmation that my withdrawal request was processed

I managed to build it up to $600 by playing $10/$20

Total playing time: A bit over 4 hrs

Total risk: $0

I think this method works very well. Either I would bust very quickly while trying to double up to $600 without having invested too much time or I manage to double up to $600 and then clear it within 2-3 more hours with a bit lower risk. Since I can't really lose this seems like a good way to spend my free money from a pure winnings/time ratio

[taz115]

Congrats Fenris... that is quite a turnover!

[krazytxan]

Awesome Fen.

SWEET!!

[Fenris78]

Thanks a lot.

It keeps getting better. Right after withdrawing I got an extra free $15 as a new Shark VIP member. Let's see if I can do it again