This week's article in our Bonus Hunter series takes us to the ever-popular Full Tilt Poker. During times of uncertainty due to recent changes in the US markets, Full Tilt has held firm with its continued support of the US poker community and has subsequently emerged as one of the current leaders in the online poker industry. Full Tilt has a superb range of games, their ring cash games are hugely populated at most limits and their tournaments are getting bigger and better by the hour.

The reason we are reviewing Full Tilt this week is for their generous sign-up bonus of 100% to $600. This is one of the largest poker welcome bonuses available, so it's definitely worth analyzing for any serious bonus hunter.

Clearing Rates

As you play you will accumulate Full Tilt Points which can be exchanged for bonus money. You will need to earn 16.67 points for every $1 in bonus money, which equates to earn point having a real cash worth of $0.06.

This translates to an earning rate for a 1/2 Limit bonus hunter of $1.90 per hour at full ring play or $2.42 per hour at 6-max. For 2/4 Limit players you will add an extra $3.03 per hour to your bankroll at full ring or $3.79 per hour at 6-max.

This bonus will also clear very well for No Limit players, with an earning rate of $2.56 per hour for full ring or $3.13 per hour at 6-max for a NL 0.50/1 player.

For those playing at higher limits, you will find that this bonus will clear very quickly for you and provide some excellent clearing rates.

As always we recommend that you learn to multi-table in order to clear bonuses quickly and multiply your win-rate. So for example if you play 4 tables at once at 2/4 Limit you can effectively earn an extra $15.16 per hour of game play. This is a great added bonus for any low limit break-even player.

The bonus will be released in increments of 10% or $20, whichever is less, which is great as you don't have to wait to clear the entire wagering requirement to get access to the bonus money. However you will need to clear the money within 120 days of your first deposit, otherwise the bonus will expire.

Full Tilt will also offer occasional reload offers and special promotions that you can take advantage of.

Quality of Games

Availability of games at Full Tilt Poker is always very good. You will always be able to find plenty of opponents to satisfy you at most levels throughout the day. The quality of opponents does range somewhat. Full Tilt is populated with a lot of very skilled, knowledgeable players, who will be difficult foes to overcome. This is largely due to the number of professionals that Full Tilt endorses at its site. Being the home of some of the world's great poker players such as Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and John D'Agostino, has brought a wealth of talented players to the site all aiming to improve their game and emulate the success of others. However the promotion of the Full Tilt pros has also brought a wide range of followers who just want to play where their idols play, however they simply don't have the knowledge of the game required to be successful. You will find plenty of poor players around at the low limits, and your game should be at a level to take advantage of their mistakes and win plenty of cash from them.

Added Value

As all bonus hunters who have been following this series of articles would know, being an effective bonus hunter means extracting every cent of bonus cash available and taking advantage of any added value that is offered.

Full Tilt Poker has many extra promotions that you should be taking a look at as part of your bonus hunting strategy. For example, if you play a certain number of days and generate a certain number of points you will qualify for the special Ironman freerolls which offer prize pools of up to $30,000. Tournament players will also be interested in the Tournament & Sit 'n Go Leaderboards where there are some fantastic bonus prizes. Also check out the unique Daily Double Jackpot promotion, where success in the two nightly promotional tournaments will earn you a share of the progressive jackpot prize.

However for the best in added value, how can you look any further than the eight $12,000 World Series of Poker freerolls that PokerNews are offering this year? There's a massive $96,000 in added value and, for 8 lucky players, the chance to fly to Vegas to take part in the biggest poker tournament ever seen – the main event of the 2007 World Series of Poker. This offer is exclusive to PokerNews players only, so ensure that you download through the PokerNews links and use the deposit bonus code "POKERNEWS" to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to play at the World Series of Poker.

Full Tilt is a great option for bonus hunters. Not only do they offer a generous signup bonus and excellent added value, but their customer support is excellent, software graphics are great, cash outs are super fast and, as mentioned earlier, they are fully supportive of US based players. Add Full Tilt Poker to your bonus hunting list today!

Strategy Tip

In previous strategy articles we've talked about the need to put pressure on the blinds when you are 'in position' and create opportunities to 'steal' the blinds. But what happens when you are the one being stolen from? When is it right to put up a fight against stealers and 'take a stand'? This week's poker strategy tip looks at blind defense strategies and understanding how to play out of the blinds.

Most people understand the concept of playing tight out of the blinds. This means being very selective with your starting hands because you are always playing 'out of position' – something that is extremely difficult in Hold' Em. However being tight often leaves you venerable to those cutoff/button stealers who insist on attacking your blind on every orbit due to your tight image.

In order to improve your skills, you need to develop a better defense of your blinds. One thing that many people don't fully understand in Limit poker is that a single pre-flop raiser is giving the big blind odds of 3.5 to 1 to call that pre-flop raise. If there are a few callers then your odds may be even greater. You only have to call a single bet into a good sized pot. Mathematically speaking, this raise gives the big blind correct 'pot odds' to call the raise with a wide range of hands. Even if you know you are an underdog in the hand pre-flop, you are going to win enough when you hit the flop to make this a profitable play. This is not a license to call any raise and chase your marginal hands from the big blind – this is most likely a losing play. However understanding the pot odds of your call, combined with the range and ability of the pre-flop raiser can offer favorable opportunities to selectively continue to see the flop.

One of the most intimidating plays in Hold 'Em is to call a single pre-flop late position raise from the big blind, and check/call after the flop on a low board. As I've described in my previous strategy tips, I will rarely fire another bet on the turn against a caller out of the blinds if I've totally missed my hand. A thinking player can actually use this strategy against me by 'floating' the flop and seeing how I respond on the turn. If I show weakness by checking, they can pounce on me on the river by firing out a bet, causing me to fold my hand. In this scenario the cards of the big blind player are irrelevant. They have read the strength of the late position raiser and outplayed them post-flop. The late position raiser knows that you could have any two cards playing out of the big blind, so they cannot put you on a hand and have no choice but to respect your play. This type of play should be use rarely and wisely, and only if your image is solid and your opponent capable of folding a marginal hand to the river bet.

Another approach if you are under constant attack in the blinds is to fight fire with fire! If you have someone who is constantly raising your blinds in late position, then you can easily identify them as a "blind stealer". By observing their play and tracking their stats in Poker Tracker, you know that they are raising you with a very wide range of hands in this position. They are more likely to have a marginal hand than a monster. You can punish this weakness by taking control of the hand and 3-betting pre-flop. This play has many positives going for it. Firstly, selective aggression is a key component of a successful Hold' Em poker player. By 3-betting, your aggression puts pressure on your opponent, causing them to start to make some tough decisions as you take control of the pot. If your opponent plays back at you with a re-raise at any point, then you will need to re-assess your play and perhaps give them credit for a hand on this occasion. If they call pre-flop, then your play is to make a continuation bet on the flop and represent a big hand. More often than not, you will succeed in taking down the pot on the flop and they will regret that they tried to steal from you. It sends a clear message of intimidation and aggression to the raiser, and to the rest of the table, for next time they consider a steal attempt on you! Watch them walk your blinds next time around!

One of the key differences between good players and average players is their ability to play out of the blinds. Average players will either play too tight against pre-flop aggressors or they will defend too often and bleed money out of the blinds. You need to start off by playing tight out of the blinds, due to the positional disadvantage that you are always facing from that position, however by adding some defensive artillery to your poker arsenal you will be able to selectively use aggression to outplay your opponents to keep your losses from the blinds to a minimum and throw your opponents off their game!