The absurd 888 bonus

[Poker Orifice]

Well I am stuck here and I fell into the trap!

I played one of the WC freerolls and I got a $2 sport bonus. After reading the rules I thought it was clear to me, you had to wager 6x the bonus amount with min odds of 1.50.

I have around $155 of real money. So after wagering around $30 in the Sports book, I checked the bonus bar and it was stuck in the middle, not cleared.

I sent support a mail and after waiting for a week they send me this reply

"I've checked your account and I can see that you have that bonus balance of 2 USD and another 155.42 USD in real cash funds.

In our Bonus Policy it states that: "If you have both Available Funds and Restricted Funds in your account, the next wager you make will use Available Funds first. Restricted Funds will only be used once your Available Funds balance is zero."

So all of your bets were made using real cash funds and that's the reason why the wagering bar isn't updating."

Can you believe that ? ??

So they want me to lose $155 first to clear a $2 bonus?

I have asked them to remove the bonus , I am worried they will stop me to withdraw my real money balance that I earned through poker tournaments mostly, but also some sports bets there.

I am in shock right now and waiting for an update.

I had a similar problem with 888 upon receiving a player-to-player transfer. I tried to clear that for months and yet it NEVER budged. I discovered by reading a post here on Cardschat a method for getting around it.

I had around $500 in my account and my 'transfer' (treated as a 'Bonus') was ~ $120

What I did was, registered for Tournaments that weren't going to start for a few hours (or even some that were registering early but didn't start until the following day). So I'd find a $215, a couple $109's, some $55's... whatever it took to use up that $500.
>>>
Then I'd jump on cash tables & grind away at that 'bonus' & sure enough it worked.

 

[Poker Orifice]

888 is a garbage site get your money off their ASAP and play on literally any other site. They are all better lol.

for micro stakes players (& low stakes ) the tables are MUCH softer than most other sites (aside from maybe SportsBetting /BOL although I have very limited experience on there but will probably play more on there once I get a bit more organized) .
Unless the site was shady for paying out money, I'm not sure why I would get my money off of there ASAP? For many of the Cardschat members who play in the CC freerolls regularly, I'd actually recommend that they play on 888 (especially micro cash, even with rake being ridiculous and rakeback non-existent) because the tables are just THAT much SOFTER!

 

[KrazyKoo]

This is why I don't partake in ANY 888 bonuses. I play freerolls and that's it. Reject anything that has bonus

 

[Highfish]

Planning to deposit and play some tournaments. So it´s best not to take a bonus?

 

[fundiver199]

What I did was, registered for Tournaments that weren't going to start for a few hours (or even some that were registering early but didn't start until the following day). So I'd find a $215, a couple $109's, some $55's... whatever it took to use up that $500.
>>> Then I'd jump on cash tables & grind away at that 'bonus' & sure enough it worked.

Sounds like this is a viable way to get around the problem. But this really should not be nessesary. And there might also be a risk, that someone doing this regularly could be deemed to be "abusing the bonus system" and banned from the site. So as long as this policy is in place, I think, its better to just not bother with bonuses or player to player transfers on 888.

for micro stakes players (& low stakes ) the tables are MUCH softer than most other sites (aside from maybe SportsBetting /BOL although I have very limited experience on there but will probably play more on there once I get a bit more organized) . Unless the site was shady for paying out money, I'm not sure why I would get my money off of there ASAP?

I dont know, if its that much softer than other sites to be honest. But I completely agree with the second part of your statement. 888 Poker is not a shady site, so there is no need to get your money off there ASAP, and if you find good games on the site, then by all means play them.

 

[s0ftdumps]

i hate getting the bonus and having to register and unregister for tourneys just to access it

 

[luckyfish98]

Yes its a scam. I already confronted 888 rep with this in the official 888 thread if you want to read the discussion.

you are a very smart guy, actually show me how smart you are