Full Tilt Academy

I was just wondering if you go into your full tilt academy and activate a challenge that would potentially earn you credits before playing a ring game, sng or mtt.
I usually do but I try not to act according to the challenge, meaning playing a certain hand the way stated in the challenge.
When I want to complete challenges worth 400+ points in a cash game I will go to .01/.02 and follow the challenge to earn the credits. Does anyone else do this?
I apologize if this is not in the proper forum section.

i have an active challenge but can't ever remember what it is i was supposed to do..so i guess if i ever complete one it will be by accident lol..

Yes, I drop down to the lowest micros in order to complete challenges, although its not much of a drop.

Depends on the challenge - mostly I try to have ones loaded that agree with my regular game so I don't have to make big changes to get the credits. For example, most of the tasks in the SnG challenges are consistent with a solid strategy anyway so I just leave them running while I play my regular games.

I also play the micro stacks when completely challenges. It's worked for me well enough to not want to change it.

I don´t like all this stuff: academy, last longer bets, tlb´s, bonus clearing, prop bets - it all affects your play negativly.
You should play your own game, without any external influence...

Daniel72 said:

I don´t like all this stuff: academy, last longer bets, tlb´s, bonus clearing, prop bets - it all affects your play negativly.
You should play your own game, without any external influence...

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They don't have to affect your game if you don't let it. I usually have something from the academy going in the background and I never change my game up to modify towards it, but when you're playing 1,000's of hands, you're going to cover most of what is in there sooner or later. I have around 9,000 academy points and don't change anything in my game. I do like Oz, I find the challenges that are in relation to the type of game I play. I don't do SnG or MTT challenges right now, because I'm not playing any. If in a couple months I decide that I want to play those, then I will just change which challenge I'm on accordingly, but still keep my same strategy that I always have.

The other ones as well. Last longer bets, you just play your game and keep a level headed mind and it won't even matter you're a in a side bet. If you're folding AA preflop to a raise in a tournament because of a side-bet, then you're an idiot and shouldn't be side-betting in the first place.

Tournament Leader Boards??? You get to the top of a TLB by being a good tourney player, how the hell does this affect you negatively?

Bonus Clearing - cracks me up when people change their game just because they are trying to clear a bonus. If you just put in your hands and play your same game, you will still clear the bonus. You don't need to up your aggression and play way too many pots to clear a bonus.

Prop bets - the only one that can actually affect your game. If you're playing 7-2, then you're going to be betting aggressively to try to win the pot just for that bonus, but you could be up against a monster. And many people take hands like that too far.

absoluthamm said:

Bonus Clearing - cracks me up when people change their game just because they are trying to clear a bonus. If you just put in your hands and play your same game, you will still clear the bonus. You don't need to up your aggression and play way too many pots to clear a bonus.

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I wonder how much full tilt makes from people trying to win a $5 bonus by losing $100 in undesired ring games they wouldn't normally play. lol

I bet a lot. I know I love it when they have the Take Two promo at FullTilt because you get so many dumbasses there trying to clear their points for the day that either: have no clue what they are doing; or don't care because they are playing the minimum amount of hands just to get that bonus.

hahah that's right. I forgot about the take 2 ones. Those are some fun weeks.

Being new to the game, I did realize one thing very quickily and this seems to be for all the poker sites. At the levels I play, and since I play so many different sites, I will never clear any of the bonuses offered, that is why now before I make a depsoit I try to wheel and deal for upfront money and no bonuses. I look at what I have to do to make one $5 increment or one Gold chip earned and realize Im gonna lose a lot more than I will make unless I get on a roll. SO I got a few sites to just give me $10 upfront and no bonuses and Cake gave 6 gold chips up front and no bonuses. This way I can just play and not focus I like did earlier on thinking my 3 RAI$E points were acutally anything of value. HECK YEA I JUST PLAYED for an hour and earner 1 RAI$E point (Hey 2 if its power hour)

Took the latest $100 bonus

absoluthamm said:

I bet a lot. I know I love it when they have the Take Two promo at FullTilt because you get so many dumbasses there trying to clear their points for the day that either: have no clue what they are doing; or don't care because they are playing the minimum amount of hands just to get that bonus.

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I took the latest bonus offer they{FullTilt} of $100. dollars an it coinciedes with by attempt to get my Iron man . The problem lies in that when I`m multi-tabling with four games as to overcome the variance, I`m getting sucked out on even more It seems. SIGH!!! I`m not br enough to "move up" to higher limits and these .01c/.02 call any bet ppl driving me nuts. Oh well. What`s that I saw somewhere?" You can lead a horse to the water but a donkey will chase you all the way to the river."

i don't play enough types of games to do those anyway. i did maybe one level or something, like the basic sng and mtt and ring games or something

Hey just wondering is there any way u can earn academy points from just playing play money or is it only real money?

I'm pretty sure it's only real money

Just real money. Although I have to admit, I have no clue if there is a special play money section.

I lost about 20% of my roll trying to clear my bonus and I am only 3% towards clearing it. I start losing when I multi-table 4 or more. My read on players and decision making go out the window. Stick to your winning game and forget about chasing the bonus.

absoluthamm said:

Bonus Clearing - cracks me up when people change their game just because they are trying to clear a bonus. If you just put in your hands and play your same game, you will still clear the bonus. You don't need to up your aggression and play way too many pots to clear a bonus.

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atownshend said:

I lost about 20% of my roll trying to clear my bonus and I am only 3% towards clearing it. I start losing when I multi-table 4 or more. My read on players and decision making go out the window. Stick to your winning game and forget about chasing the bonus.

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My point exactly

absoluthamm said:

Bonus Clearing - cracks me up when people change their game just because they are trying to clear a bonus. If you just put in your hands and play your same game, you will still clear the bonus. You don't need to up your aggression and play way too many pots to clear a bonus.

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Agree but disagree.

The thing about bonuses is that those whom the bonus helps the most -- micro stakes players -- are the least likely/able to clear the bonus without changing up their game. Unless they already play a ton of volume through multi-tablng or lots of Rush, it's virtually impossible to clear any decent amount of bonus at the micros just playing their regular game. Particularly in the brief period of time you'll normally get to clear it. So in order to clear it they inevitably must increase either their volume or their stakes, either of which takes most micro players out of their comfort zone and costs them more than the bonus.

The sites know this of course, and the intention is to get people play more/higher/faster, which generates more income.

So yeah, if you're not already multi-tabling or killing at a good clip in Rush, you should probably ignore bonuses for the most part. It doesn't hurt to accept them and get what you can out of them, but don't set a goal to clear the whole thing if you're not prepared for it. It WILL cost you.

Now one thing I do agree with, that I think a lot of beginner or micro players don't realize, is that on FT at least you don't have to play super-aggressive, or play hands you normally wouldn't, to clear bonuses. Bigger pots do equal higher rake (to a point) which equals more FTPs, but just being dealt into the hand qualifies you for the same cut of the rake as everyone else -- it's not a contributed rake system and is not dependent on how much money you put in the pot. So you can fold every hand, paying in no more than the blinds, and still clear FTPs. If you fold and two other players play a huge pot for $X, maxing out the rake at $R, you still get $R/9 (or however many players were dealt in) credit for it, whether you were in the pot at showdown or not.