I have played a number of these and will often get ITM and this will often be about 8 cents. Today finally got a good result getting 6th place out of approx 6,000 and making 5.20.

However I have just realized they do not actually pay you this, you only then get this if you wager at least $156 on sports bets. What a con and a waste of time playing these! I wish this had been more apparent.

I think poker to be a skilled game and a game of decision. So they award you a seat to a tournament that supposedly has $200 in prize money but it does not as it is only being used as a rake back on sports betting should you win in the initial tournament.

What a con. And I also try and keep a profit/loss sheet which I still add these tiny wins on which I will need to go through and delete.

Did you realize their freerolls worked like this? What is your feeling on this system?

Originally Posted by pjokay

I have played a number of these and will often get ITM and this will often be about 8 cents. Today finally got a good result getting 6th place out of approx 6,000 and making 5.20.

However I have just realized they do not actually pay you this, you only then get this if you wager at least $156 on sports bets.

This sounds like you played that one game which gives out money to use in sports betting (and there is also another one giving out smth to casino aswell) ...

Most 888 freerolls do actually pay cash. However the 2 "winner spinner" freerolls payout in casino bonus and sports bets. Literally the only 2 freerolls that do. The majority of the 888 freerolls do actually pay cash that can be withdraw or used for poker straight away.

Originally Posted by Risto234

This sounds like you played that one game which gives out money to use in sports betting (and there is also another one giving out smth to casino aswell) ...

All prizes were listed as regular cash prizes. The tournament I entered was the $200 Winner Spinner Celebration Freeroll. There is nothing in the lobby to indicate sports betting ticket. This is there regular freeroll at the moment from the spin as you enter the poker lobby. I would add a picture but it keeps saying I have gone over the character count.

Originally Posted by pjokay

All prizes were listed as regular cash prizes. The tournament I entered was the $200 Winner Spinner Celebration Freeroll. There is nothing in the lobby to indicate sports betting ticket. This is there regular freeroll at the moment from the spin as you enter the poker lobby. I would add a picture but it keeps saying I have gone over the character count.

Incorrect if you click on the info for the tournament, the winner spinner celebration freerolls of which there are too the payouts are in casino bonus or sports bets.

Originally Posted by IanP304

Most 888 freerolls do actually pay cash. However the 2 "winner spinner" freerolls payout in casino bonus and sports bets. Literally the only 2 freerolls that do. The majority of the 888 freerolls do actually pay cash that can be withdraw or used for poker straight away.

Jeez, thanks for the update. Wish they would state this, complete waste of all the ones I have entered. What's the point then? I do not like things that try and link poker games to general casino gambling and betting. They may as well just give that to everybody then from what they are going to make of the bets! But they really should list that in the prize pool and state subject to wagering.

I have already played a few freerolls at 888 poker and all of them received the cash prize.

That's so odd, I am not seeing that pop up at all, I just see a regular lobby when I open it up.

Originally Posted by IanP304

Incorrect if you click on the info for the tournament, the winner spinner celebration freerolls of which there are too the payouts are in casino bonus or sports bets.

Thank you for taking the time to show your screen prints. It does look quite clear and obvious from yours. However in mine after going through it, it is only in small detail below the main tournament section in small writing and nowhere near as obvious. I do not know why I do not see the same pop up you do, assume it is a different client version or region. The prize pool is displayed as regular going to the payout section.

However at least they do display it somewhere even if not as obvious as on yours but it is no where near as clear and would have like to see it in the same format they have done on yours as I would not have missed it and would have liked to see it that way as such a change from normal.

Thanks again for you reply.

Long ago I used to play there. Wish I still can. Always loved playing the freerolls. Hopefully someday soon.

Originally Posted by Pokersavvy

Long ago I used to play there. Wish I still can. Always loved playing the freerolls. Hopefully someday soon.

Hope to see if you if you can :-)

Its hardly a "scam", that you did not take the time to read the information in the tournament lobby before playing. If you are not interested in winning casino bonusses, or whatever its called, then dont play these freerolls! Pretty much as simple as that. Its also quite a bit over the top to talk about a "scam", when you paid nothing to play in the first place

agree, how can freeroll a scam when you didn't pay anything

I think 888poker is a very good room for beginners. There are a lot of freerolls and you can build a starting bankroll from 0.

I always play the freerolls at 888 and receive cash.

Attracting novice players.

Originally Posted by fundiver199

Its hardly a "scam", that you did not take the time to read the information in the tournament lobby before playing. If you are not interested in winning casino bonusses, or whatever its called, then dont play these freerolls! Pretty much as simple as that. Its also quite a bit over the top to talk about a "scam", when you paid nothing to play in the first place

Yeah, I was looking to change the title but don't think I can now but rather than a scam a complete waste of time! It looks like though from what has ben said it is applying only to these celebration freerolls as opposed to all of them which is better. Scam is perhaps the wrong word, but it is obviously designed to get you to donk your money away on sports bets and I am not sure why you would bother to bet $156 to release a $5.20 token you have won in a poker game but I am not interested in bets.

As stated for some reason the lobby area on the UK client I have in the clear way it is on Ian's which is really easy to spot and quite clear which I then would not have wasted my time. But when I posted this, I thought all their freerolls had changed but it i obviously only these.

I certainly will be avoiding these particular ones. I wish I had made the title more accurate to other reflect these specific tourneys "celebration freerolls" and maybe used a word better than a scam but for these particular ones still think con is fitting but now I actually know it is easy enough to avoid.

Still I wonder how many of the other 6,000 players realize they work this way as this is a similar amount to the normal cash ones and I cannot imagine a large number of poker players wanting to punt the amount you need to on betting to release such a tiny amount.

I had no idea that it would work like this and I played some of those tournaments but I only won pennies, I imagine that those tickets that they give you at roulette must be the same system. because they gave me $ 5 dollars to play black jack and I won $ 3 but they did not go to my account is in bonus, and he tells me to win $ 90 to claim the money, but obviously that is mission impossible, this guy is a shame system, which instead of helping you is trying to squeeze your pockets.

Originally Posted by pjokay

Yeah, I was looking to change the title but don't think I can now but rather than a scam a complete waste of time! It looks like though from what has ben said it is applying only to these celebration freerolls as opposed to all of them which is better. Scam is perhaps the wrong word, but it is obviously designed to get you to donk your money away on sports bets and I am not sure why you would bother to bet $156 to release a $5.20 token you have won in a poker game but I am not interested in bets.

As stated for some reason the lobby area on the UK client I have in the clear way it is on Ian's which is really easy to spot and quite clear which I then would not have wasted my time. But when I posted this, I thought all their freerolls had changed but it i obviously only these.

I certainly will be avoiding these particular ones. I wish I had made the title more accurate to other reflect these specific tourneys "celebration freerolls" and maybe used a word better than a scam but for these particular ones still think con is fitting but now I actually know it is easy enough to avoid.

Still I wonder how many of the other 6,000 players realize they work this way as this is a similar amount to the normal cash ones and I cannot imagine a large number of poker players wanting to punt the amount you need to on betting to release such a tiny amount.

No you cant change the title of a post, after its made. For the first 30 minutes or so you can delete or edit, but after that its locked. As for these particular freerolls I would certainly not bother playing them either.

But that being said there is no reason to be upset, that online gambling sites are trying to get people to spend money on sportsbetting or casino games or whatever. They are after all not charitys, so they are not making freerolls for fun or to give their money away. They are making them, because they want to draw people to games or sections, where they earn money.

Back in 2019 888 Poker had an almost endless promotion, where they gave away 6.000$ in 5$ tournament tickets every day by running two daily freerolls. These were labeled "BLAST" freerolls, and you got tickets for playing them by spinning the daily wheel. The 5$ tickets could actually be used in any 5$ tournament, but a lot of people did not know this, so they played the BLAST Spin n Gos.

Which is of course exactly, what 888 Poker intended. A 5$ BLAST is over in 5 minutes at most, which is almost like some kind of foreplay, it you were looking forward to sit down and play some poker. So its very tempting for people to click "play another", especially if they failed to cash.

But again nobody force people to do this, and they got the ticket for free. So there is nothing really to complain about, and I would certainly not call it a "scam". And as for your casino bonuses, just let them expire. They cost you nothing other than your time, which you are now wise enough to spend on something better

Never knew that you could mask a clear lack of reading comprehension skills by calling it a scam.

I see this complaint in another country-specific forum on Facebook a lot. Nobody takes three seconds to look at details, the tickets they win expire (in a lot of cases, players stockpile them for weeks before realizing that they’re gone) and the griping continues.

The OP lost me in a fit of laughter when he said he’d have to go back and edit his notes regarding the “scam”. Just another guy that proves to me that this place is a freeroll forum. The threads that get the most action BY FAR are the freeroll postings.

Originally Posted by IanP304

Most 888 freerolls do actually pay cash. However the 2 "winner spinner" freerolls payout in casino bonus and sports bets. Literally the only 2 freerolls that do. The majority of the 888 freerolls do actually pay cash that can be withdraw or used for poker straight away.

I think he meant exactly the winner spinner freerolls. It's kind of useless playing those if you dont't bet on sports or play casino.

With 888 poker does the mobile app allow you to play real money or just play??

The 888 freerolls used to be a lot better in the past, but now as of the last few months they have become very low quality games. I used to routinely pick up several $ a day just from their freerolls alone. Now the only ones worth playing are the LVL 80+, the Sunday 10k, and maybe the LVL 30+. Everything else is a massive time sink with blinds that rise way too quickly and a jam-fest, all just to get a few cents.

Even non-freeroll microstakes 888 MTTs are not that good anymore. I have honestly yet to find any good value sub-$5 MTTs on there that don't have ridiculously long late registration. MAYBE the PKO style games may be okay, but otherwise the only decent place to play microstakes anymore is on the cash tables.

Originally Posted by cdntyler87

With 888 poker does the mobile app allow you to play real money or just play??

You can play both on mobile.

Originally Posted by wpilson70

Never knew that you could mask a clear lack of reading comprehension skills by calling it a scam.

I see this complaint in another country-specific forum on Facebook a lot. Nobody takes three seconds to look at details, the tickets they win expire (in a lot of cases, players stockpile them for weeks before realizing that they’re gone) and the griping continues.

The OP lost me in a fit of laughter when he said he’d have to go back and edit his notes regarding the “scam”. Just another guy that proves to me that this place is a freeroll forum. The threads that get the most action BY FAR are the freeroll postings.

Can say a lack of reading comprehension but it also could have displayed a lot clearer. As I mentioned it was not displayed clearly like on Ian's that was completely obvious with a large pop up display type. When these ones have never been paid out this way and it states the amounts in cash in the payout section I was not expecting the payout to be a sports wager that has to be redeemed.

I have stated the above the word scam is the wrong word but nevertheless see it as pointless and a con in my view.

However I now know how this one works so will avoid it in future and m glad they are not doing it across all of these.

Quite happy to discuss non-freerolls, the vast majority I play are non-freerolls.

Originally Posted by puzzlefish

The 888 freerolls used to be a lot better in the past, but now as of the last few months they have become very low quality games. I used to routinely pick up several $ a day just from their freerolls alone. Now the only ones worth playing are the LVL 80+, the Sunday 10k, and maybe the LVL 30+. Everything else is a massive time sink with blinds that rise way too quickly and a jam-fest, all just to get a few cents.

Even non-freeroll microstakes 888 MTTs are not that good anymore. I have honestly yet to find any good value sub-$5 MTTs on there that don't have ridiculously long late registration. MAYBE the PKO style games may be okay, but otherwise the only decent place to play microstakes anymore is on the cash tables.

I am close to level 80 (5 more levels) and cannot wait until I reach that as it's a normal speed tournament with a good prize pool for a freeroll. Can actually try playing somewhat of a normal strategy. The other ones are bingo. Although have not been playing as much on there recently as find the blinds jump up quickly and also not keen in that multi-entries are not counted in prize distribution spread which is the same as ACR. But in general they do a lot of promotions. But I tend to prefer games when you knock someone out they are out rather than competing against player re-entering 3-5 times. Looking at 888 there are practically no tournaments that are not rebuy/reentry.

Originally Posted by sara maria

I had no idea that it would work like this and I played some of those tournaments but I only won pennies, I imagine that those tickets that they give you at roulette must be the same system. because they gave me $ 5 dollars to play black jack and I won $ 3 but they did not go to my account is in bonus, and he tells me to win $ 90 to claim the money, but obviously that is mission impossible, this guy is a shame system, which instead of helping you is trying to squeeze your pockets.

Yeah, I'm not keen on poker clients trying to push you to the Casino, but as fundiver said it's a business although you don't seem to see it the other way round with the Casino trying to push you toward the poker client, probably as they make money that way.

I had the same with a Casino win where I won $5 on the wheel, then made $4 in blackjack from it. However you had to spend an amount like you listed to release it. However I only intended to use the bonus amount on Blackjack but did not realise until I left the table I had lost $4. This was because even though the bonus had still to be won through wagering they included the bonus amount in the account balance on the Casino.

I really was not keen on this and found it crafty. Why include something in your balance you have not won yet? It's not your money or part of your balance! However they have a range of freerolls and promos. These celebration freerolls are new and hopefully they will return to normal after this as they never worked like this previously.

Originally Posted by Iryna Stryzheuskaya

I think 888poker is a very good room for beginners. There are a lot of freerolls and you can build a starting bankroll from 0.

Well, your not likely to from this Winner Celebration Freeroll for the reasons above as they are not actually cash prizes, but yes there are a lot of other ones to pick from.

I didn't notice that before, it explains all the useless tiny bonuses I have racked up.
I just ignore these, because the way I understand it, you cannot win any bonuses on 888 unless you lose all your money. Only losers can collect, so no thanks.

I will not bother with these free rolls anymore.

Also , I am really against this whole fixed spinner winner wheel, like I pointed out in the 888 support thread. Since they changed it I have spun around 200 times , and out of 9 supposedly possible results, I have never ever landed on anything besides the freeroll tickets.

It is beyond me why a poker room that would claim to be honest would run such an obviously fixed promotion.

Originally Posted by pjokay

I have played a number of these and will often get ITM and this will often be about 8 cents. Today finally got a good result getting 6th place out of approx 6,000 and making 5.20.

However I have just realized they do not actually pay you this, you only then get this if you wager at least $156 on sports bets. What a con and a waste of time playing these! I wish this had been more apparent.

I think poker to be a skilled game and a game of decision. So they award you a seat to a tournament that supposedly has $200 in prize money but it does not as it is only being used as a rake back on sports betting should you win in the initial tournament.

What a con. And I also try and keep a profit/loss sheet which I still add these tiny wins on which I will need to go through and delete.

Did you realize their freerolls worked like this? What is your feeling on this system?

Hello.
I completely disagree with you. 888 is a reliable site that has many interesting promotions and where you can easily build a bankroll by playing in freerolls. I have never had a problem withdrawing funds on this site.
Good luck.

Originally Posted by pjokay

Well, your not likely to from this Winner Celebration Freeroll for the reasons above as they are not actually cash prizes, but yes there are a lot of other ones to pick from.

Yes, I'm unlikely to take part in this freeroll. But I play and plan to continue playing in other freerolls. I like that there are a lot of freerolls.

Hi.
Absolute nonsense. You must have misunderstood something. I have been playing on this site for about four years now and I have never had any problems. At Christmas, for example, I took second place in the daily freeroll and won $ 180. I withdrew this money to my bank card without any problems. I believe that your criticism is unfounded.

Originally Posted by Newzooozooo

Hi.
Absolute nonsense. You must have misunderstood something. I have been playing on this site for about four years now and I have never had any problems. At Christmas, for example, I took second place in the daily freeroll and won $ 180. I withdrew this money to my bank card without any problems. I believe that your criticism is unfounded.

Yes you are absolutely right the freerolls in your picture payout in actual cash. However the 'winner spinner' freerolls dont, they pay in casino bonus or sports bets .... which you cannot even use unless you have $0 in your bankroll lol.

Originally Posted by Newzooozooo

Hi.
Absolute nonsense. You must have misunderstood something. I have been playing on this site for about four years now and I have never had any problems. At Christmas, for example, I took second place in the daily freeroll and won $ 180. I withdrew this money to my bank card without any problems. I believe that your criticism is unfounded.

Hi

It is not absolute nonsense. I am specifically referring to the Winner Spinner Freeroll they are running multiple times per day which was not clear it was not paying cash prizes and in fact the payout section displayed as cash prizes. It was only after reaching the final table (the first time in these type of hypers) I realised my bank roll had not increased and then saw it was based on wagering bets. I am hoping their future tournaments return to normal.

Congrats on reaching 2nd place, that is a very good placing in these freerolls.

Originally Posted by Lena M

Hello.
I completely disagree with you. 888 is a reliable site that has many interesting promotions and where you can easily build a bankroll by playing in freerolls. I have never had a problem withdrawing funds on this site.
Good luck.

The site does have many interesting promotions and I have never had a problem withdrawing funds.

However I do not believe you will build your bank roll in the Winner Spinner Celebration tournament. They are not paying cash prizes for these, instead the prize has to be released through wagering. I won around $5.20 but realised after reaching the final table out of 6,000 I had to spend another $156.

At the time I did not realise it was just this particular freeroll they were applying it to and and was a bit miffed when I realised after but did think it was a complete waste of time and wish it had been a bit clearer when they had never run these like this.

Ian kindly did some quite clear screen prints of the lobby although it was not displayed like this in the UK client and would easily have realised if it had been.

Best luck at the tables.

Originally Posted by sara maria

I had no idea that it would work like this and I played some of those tournaments but I only won pennies, I imagine that those tickets that they give you at roulette must be the same system. because they gave me $ 5 dollars to play black jack and I won $ 3 but they did not go to my account is in bonus, and he tells me to win $ 90 to claim the money, but obviously that is mission impossible, this guy is a shame system, which instead of helping you is trying to squeeze your pockets.

If you logging into the software you may as well still spin. I think you can win the $5.50 and $16.50 tickets. However it is not like an equal spin wheel but more like a jackpot. I do not know what the actual odds are but it probably awards .05 percent to those cash tickets and 95% to the daily spins and 4% to sports bets etc. I have made these up as I do not know the actual ratios but trying to highlight that it is not an equal chance spin of each prize, but heavily weighted on some with a very slim chance on others but worth ago if logging on.

Best of luck.

Haha, it's not a scam, just bad freerolls. You could read a description and all info about them on their official web site for example.

Originally Posted by VictorOd

Haha, it's not a scam, just bad freerolls. You could read a description and all info about them on their official web site for example.

A very bad one in my opinion, and think they could have been a bit clearer. This one could almost be sidelined into the play money arena. Conversely it may have been better if I had won less would need to bet less to release it? (I will not actually be attempting this!).

Some 888 freerolls pay a sport bonus but most pay in cash.. I had a different problem with 888 freerolls where it says well after I got itm and tournament has under 100 players remaining that payout is an ammount, say 3 or 4 dollars..then when I finish the tournament it pays out less than that ammount.

This is actually something new that 888 has started doing, and even though it's annoying, it's still free, and something they do not have to do.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

you dont have to wager unless you played a tournament with a bonus promotion.. according to their T&C you must wager x ammount of the bonus inorder to withrawal...

but as far as I know the ammount winning in free rolls are totally apart for bonuses requierements wagers ... things.... for wihtrawall...


you might see your blance and your bonus balance..

also in your profile in the bonuses area... you can see how much you need to wager your bonus ammount inorder to withrawal.... that being done your will see it reflected in your balance =)


lol ive never used the word wager and withrawall to many times XD



Good luck!

Originally Posted by chaviiiis

you dont have to wager unless you played a tournament with a bonus promotion.. according to their T&C you must wager x ammount of the bonus inorder to withrawal...

but as far as I know the ammount winning in free rolls are totally apart for bonuses requierements wagers ... things.... for wihtrawall...


you might see your blance and your bonus balance..

also in your profile in the bonuses area... you can see how much you need to wager your bonus ammount inorder to withrawal.... that being done your will see it reflected in your balance =)


lol ive never used the word wager and withrawall to many times XD



Good luck!

But you still need to have a zero balance in order to play with the bonuses though right?

Originally Posted by IanP304

But you still need to have a zero balance in order to play with the bonuses though right?

I think I "just" have to bet $156 before it is released but without the funds to waste I would not be able to release it.

Originally Posted by pjokay

I think I "just" have to bet $156 before it is released but without the funds to waste I would not be able to release it.

There is a workaround I've used ever since 888 started making you use your bankroll before you can use the bonus.

All you have to do is tie up your bankroll by registering for tournaments (best to register for tournaments that don't start for several hours or more just in case the site has "issues").
With your bankroll tied up you can then use whatever bonus you have.

Since yours is a sports bet once you make the bet you can then unregister from the tournaments and restore your bankroll and let the bet play out.
Should you win your bet you will have to do it again until you lose the bonus or actually clear it.

I know it works, I won a whopping $0.18 sports bet on the weekend and did it. Won $0.45 the first time, but lost my 2nd bet..

There's nothing in 888's rules or terms and conditions that prohibits doing this (yet), I don't think they realized there even was a loophole.

Try to read the terms first and then complain.Your claims are ridiculous.Rules are rules. The accusations are unfounded

Originally Posted by kanycta99

Try to read the terms first and then complain.Your claims are ridiculous.Rules are rules. The accusations are unfounded

If you take the time to read the thread you will see I have already written that scam was the wrong wording, instead I should have stated it was a complete waste of time and was not paying out in cash which was not indicated in the payout section of the lobby. Others have also not realised and said so. This is not a rule, it's a tournament paying a prize that had to be redeemed through wagering sports bet requiring you to bet 30x of what you "won" in the tournament to release the amount. And I do think this Spinner tournament was a waste of time and will not be entering it again. Had the information been clearly presented I would not have entered. But thank you for your useful comment.

Originally Posted by orsino12

There is a workaround I've used ever since 888 started making you use your bankroll before you can use the bonus.

All you have to do is tie up your bankroll by registering for tournaments (best to register for tournaments that don't start for several hours or more just in case the site has "issues").
With your bankroll tied up you can then use whatever bonus you have.

Since yours is a sports bet once you make the bet you can then unregister from the tournaments and restore your bankroll and let the bet play out.
Should you win your bet you will have to do it again until you lose the bonus or actually clear it.

I know it works, I won a whopping $0.18 sports bet on the weekend and did it. Won $0.45 the first time, but lost my 2nd bet..

There's nothing in 888's rules or terms and conditions that prohibits doing this (yet), I don't think they realized there even was a loophole.

Very nice loophole Orsino. I am not interested in the sports bets but will try and keep this in mind if I get a Casino one I want to do although I'm really just interested in the poker tournaments.

Thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by orsino12

There is a workaround I've used ever since 888 started making you use your bankroll before you can use the bonus.

All you have to do is tie up your bankroll by registering for tournaments (best to register for tournaments that don't start for several hours or more just in case the site has "issues").
With your bankroll tied up you can then use whatever bonus you have.

Since yours is a sports bet once you make the bet you can then unregister from the tournaments and restore your bankroll and let the bet play out.
Should you win your bet you will have to do it again until you lose the bonus or actually clear it.

I know it works, I won a whopping $0.18 sports bet on the weekend and did it. Won $0.45 the first time, but lost my 2nd bet..

There's nothing in 888's rules or terms and conditions that prohibits doing this (yet), I don't think they realized there even was a loophole.

are you sure they can not ban you for abusing bonuses?

Originally Posted by nairolph87

are you sure they can not ban you for abusing bonuses?

I don't if it would be classed as abusing bonuses. It's possible but what they do is make you spend your cash first before your bonus, so they have tied up their cash low to spend the bonus. The site could easily count any cashroll that has been placed for tournaments that have not started if they wanted to plug this. Orsino has found a loophole but cannot see this as a banning offense and doubt they would be bothered when considering the cents involved in bonuses normally.

Players could also make sure they withdraw their bankrolls from the site so when they use spins or take part in bonuses it has the same effect. This would be legal but sure the site would not want this either. What is more frowned upon is when players only play sites for bonuses and never take part in paid games.

u can have 0 balance and still have bonus credit.... (I think is possible :S )
As I understand system will take first your real balance then will play with your bonus balance...

Someone correct me if im wrong.

Originally Posted by IanP304

But you still need to have a zero balance in order to play with the bonuses though right?