Should I even deposit money?

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Blown01Cobra

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I'm fairly new to the online poker scene, but I think I've been fairly successful in all of the freerolls I've played in. I had deposited $25 bucks awhile back and busted that account, and I place most of that on the fact I was incorrectly playing at stakes higher than I should have been - $.1/$.2 So I wasn't able to really grind it out. I originally thought I was going to be getting $50 on a deposit bonus, but I had to meet minimum rake requirements.
Now I feel like I've improved my game, but I'm not so certain if I should even deposit money anymore, not because I'm afraid of losing it from playing but because I hear a lot of talk about sites closing down. I can live without $25, but if I'm at risk of losing everything I'm working for, what's the point? I play mostly with juicy stakes and America's Cardroom. Do you think I'm safe to deposit and that those sites won't just shut down.
 
Jim Lahey

Jim Lahey

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Of course there is a chance the DOJ will shut the rooms down. But if you like to play and you can afford to lose the minimum deposit, you should go for it.
 
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Iselo

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I'm fairly new to the online poker scene, but I think I've been fairly successful in all of the freerolls I've played in. I had deposited $25 bucks awhile back and busted that account, and I place most of that on the fact I was incorrectly playing at stakes higher than I should have been - $.1/$.2 So I wasn't able to really grind it out. I originally thought I was going to be getting $50 on a deposit bonus, but I had to meet minimum rake requirements.
Now I feel like I've improved my game, but I'm not so certain if I should even deposit money anymore, not because I'm afraid of losing it from playing but because I hear a lot of talk about sites closing down. I can live without $25, but if I'm at risk of losing everything I'm working for, what's the point? I play mostly with Juicy Stakes and America's Cardroom. Do you think I'm safe to deposit and that those sites won't just shut down.
I couldn't tell you whether it's safe or not but why deposit money if you're doing well in freerolls? There are alot of great threads here on how (and why) to build a bankroll from freerolls and many inspiring success stories. And the fact that you lost your first deposit should tell you that another deposit probably isn't the best way to go about.
 
KingCurtis

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Deposit an amount you can afford to lose. I am a tournament player so I rely on big cashes and then cash out the majority of my roll so that if they do shut down I have my money! I actually did this same thing even before there was a risk of losing money to sites being shut down. As for cash players I have no clue but these are days of risk in the online poker world and if you wanna play the game you have to take the risk of losing your roll..and not from the other players ;)
 
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Blown01Cobra

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I understand what Iselos saying about not depositing because I'll just lose it again, but I really see that experience as a learning experience. The first time I ever invested in the stock market, I made some pretty dumb mistakes, cost me quite a bit of money - but I used those losses to reanalyze my strategy to turn my investment portfolio around into something very profitable.

It's not that I believe I'm a terrible poker player, because I actually think I do quite well. The way I lost my first $25 is a long story, but long story short - I raised on three of kind 7s. I was heads up, he raised again. I called and the river hit a 9, giving him trip 9s. Not the worst bad beat I've ever heard of, but I went from $28 or so bucks down to $12. I should have just gotten out of the game and moved to lower stakes, but I was dumb and didn't and thought I could stay in it and recoup my losses. The other player ended up leaving after a couple of rounds. After slowly getting whittled down, I went all in with a straight and got beat by a flush draw.

I've just found the whole system of depositing money to be so difficult that I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle, let alone the risk of shutting down. I was a member at cake poker, where I had deposited that $25 with, and got shifted over to Juicy, so that move there makes me question how long Juicy will keep US players. It seems to me that these poker sites, in an effort to beat the system, are pushing players through hoop after hoop of what I view as sketchy sites. For instance, America's Cardroom is now using Western Union transfers, which is being outsourced to this 3rd party site and also has this coupon/voucher system I've looked into, but some of the sites they're directing me to just don't look professional and with so much outsourcing of their payment processing it's very difficult for me to know if I'm getting involved in something that could potentially risk my money more than just a poker game. I've yet to find an international visa pre-paid card for sale anywhere near here, so I just don't know if I'm comfortable even sharing my financial information with international companies that are trying to fly under the radar.
 
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GOIVIT

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Since you are a USA player here is how I see it. I would not worry about someone getting shut down, as small sites are not big targets. Your problem is depositing (difficult) and especially withdrawing any winnings (very difficult). If you are up for the hassle then go 4 it.
 
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ibsiegel

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well,
i am kind of in the same position. Has any one won on Bovada Poker, cashed out and actually got paid? I played at bet online and it seemed as if they had bots on the table. Has any one else expeirenced that? What poker site is the most honest?
 
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credsfan03

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If you dont want to deposit I would reccomend playing a lot of freerolls. The best freerolls are the private ones so check those out. Good luck and if you want to know about some of the freerolls that I build bankrolls from then message me.
 
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elblaaga

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bots

well,
i am kind of in the same position. Has any one won on Bovada Poker, cashed out and actually got paid? I played at bet online and it seemed as if they had bots on the table. Has any one else expeirenced that? What poker site is the most honest?

dude betonline is the WORST they have bots all over the place and the hands THE HANDS unbelievable, well i don't have to say anything you play there..............SICK i will never deposit there
 
kltpzyxMrM

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well,
i am kind of in the same position. Has any one won on Bovada Poker, cashed out and actually got paid? I played at bet online and it seemed as if they had bots on the table. Has any one else expeirenced that? What poker site is the most honest?

I have heard some players in the chat box say that if Bovada doesn't get enough entries in their guaranteed MTTs, they have their employees fill up the games. I guess that's no worse than hiring a prop player except you don't know if they have any additional info (think Potripper from Absolute). I do notice some of the higher numbered players seem to make unconventional plays and get lucky. Since they don't use screennames any more it's kind of difficult for an outsider to track that sort of thing and catch them.
 
starsmyle

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I agree with betonline being loaded with bots...won some money doing freerolls there cause they run them all the time but will never deposit there. American cardroom or blackchip poker seem to be the best play. Can not justify making a deposit when they have all those bots at betonline.
 
kltpzyxMrM

kltpzyxMrM

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To answer the posters question, if you are a bad player that loses and wants to learn just make smaller, but more frequent deposits. Doing that will ensure if the gov't pulls another money grab you won't lose too much. If you end up turning into a winning player then periodically move money off the site and just play with your winning. Then you won't feel like you lost any of your investment just the earnings which you wouldn't have anyway if you had decided to not deposit.
 
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Iselo

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I understand what Iselos saying about not depositing because I'll just lose it again, but I really see that experience as a learning experience. The first time I ever invested in the stock market, I made some pretty dumb mistakes, cost me quite a bit of money - but I used those losses to reanalyze my strategy to turn my investment portfolio around into something very profitable.

That’s one way to look at it but not all people have the discipline or skill in the beginning to learn from their mistakes and move down in stakes. Building a BR from freerolls is 100% risk free and it teaches patience and discipline better than any other method. I congratulate you if you have managed to learn from your mistakes but for most people it’s easier said than done.
 
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Blown01Cobra

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The main problem with freerolls is time concerns. At America's Cardroom they have lots of freerolls, about every two hours, but these satellite freerolls are entries into another freeroll later in the evening, that is yet another satellite into the main event. I'm not looking to become a professional poker player, so I can't necessarily spend all day on the site playing poker - especially with a family and full time job. Even if I was a pro player, I would hardly be successful doing only freerolls.

At Juicy Stakes the freerolls are usually spread very far apart throughout the day, but after the satellite is the main money event. The problem is if you miss the freeroll, you usually have to wait a complete day for another one - again difficult if something else comes up. At least with a cash deposit I feel like I might be able to play at my leisure.
 
Arjonius

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As a recreational player, you should never have money in your bankroll that you can't afford to lose. This doesn't just refer to losing it in play, but also from sites shutting down for whatever reasons, be it govt. actions, unscrupulous operators, etc.

Also, being able to afford the loss includes not just financially but emotionally.
 
curly

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The main problem with freerolls is time concerns. At America's Cardroom they have lots of freerolls, about every two hours, but these satellite freerolls are entries into another freeroll later in the evening, that is yet another satellite into the main event. I'm not looking to become a professional poker player, so I can't necessarily spend all day on the site playing poker - especially with a family and full time job. Even if I was a pro player, I would hardly be successful doing only freerolls.

At Juicy Stakes the freerolls are usually spread very far apart throughout the day, but after the satellite is the main money event. The problem is if you miss the freeroll, you usually have to wait a complete day for another one - again difficult if something else comes up. At least with a cash deposit I feel like I might be able to play at my leisure.


exactly how I feel, I just took a peek at ACR and just dont like the software enough to play there, looks like its back to Carbon for me, at least in step tournaments I can play when I want, as for depositing, I'm still on the fence about that.
 
wagon596

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I'd just make small deposits, not sure what the smallest amount you can make at Carbon. They are now taking Visa again. If you do deposit a small amount, play low stakes where when you run into a downswing your bankroll will survive.
 
curly

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I'd just make small deposits, not sure what the smallest amount you can make at Carbon. They are now taking Visa again. If you do deposit a small amount, play low stakes where when you run into a downswing your bankroll will survive.

do you know if they take mastercard?

I always played the micro stakes before Black Friday, but I never had enough bankroll to move up, sadly Black Friday was here before that.
 
dirtyoldog

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Ive never made a deposit and I dont plan on makeing one anytime soon. I dont trust these sites I had a few accounts on merge which has lots of freerolls and the fun step sit and gos which i was able to make a few bucks on a few sites and some tourny coupons. Then one night i won a $1.10 tourny coupon on feltstars.the next day I tried sighning into another merge account and it along with all my mergesites have been suspended for security reasons which they wont tell me what that is.that day feltstars shut down.it has been months now. I still try contacting them and getting an answer but no luck no answers no money. i take my real money to the casino.online ill do the freerolls and play real money with my winnings.after a few drinks ill just hit the play tables.i play at juicy and acr. I won a seat in both today next sat on juicy and tonights an acr at 8:00.especially how peaple say there are bots and how you get these peaple who go all in with 63 os against your pckt ks and wow they hit 2 pair what a shock I would play and get to know the site and trust it before you put your cash down.good luck
 
PLAYINBIG

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I had been recently playing on a site that still owes me over $600 since Aug,2012 & its based in the USA. The poker site had approved my claim but,I do not think I will ever receive my claim.All I can say is becareful where you deposit @.
 
TakinOver

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Get some home games going or Freeroll it.. I say no deposit but do what you like. I got no trust for these sites.. Go play live.
 
frigidbch

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I haven't deposited anywhere....ever.I was a FR troll on several sites then stepped up to a limit where i could compete and make a few bucks.T he old site poker junkie was the best for me until it merged with Doyle's room.This was way before BF so now if i make a decent amount(still grinding my FR cash on ACR) i will attempt to withdraw and see what happens.If you just enjoy poker i would FR.If you are wanting to make some$$,I agree with the other posters and play live if available.For myself i have to drive and hour and ride a casino boat.
 
otari

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Deposit some and use correct management and you'll be good, bro.
 
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I would play free rolls, if you can cash in on free rolls, then consider making a deposit, if you cant cash in free rolls, then I would reconsider, just my two cents
 
ScottieDuncan

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I started out playing freerolls. Won a few and then went to double-ups, triple-ups with the winnings. Now I have over $400 in my account. I play mostly on Bovada. Try this strategy and see if it works for u.
 
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