There are still some sites that will give you a free $50 to start playing. I made more money exploiting affiliate schemes like that than I did playing poker. For a while, Party Poker required a $50 minimum to open an account and paid out $65 for referred account + around $25 in bonuses + free polo shirt, hat, and jacket. So I bought a Fark ad and gave out a bunch of Party Poker accounts.
Party Poker wouldn't pay me my money for 6 months, but they got a new affiliate manager who eventually cut me a check. I wonder if they cut their losses or if my players actually generated enough rake to pay me back.
He he. Some time I'll tell you the story of why I would be a millionaire many times over by now if Neteller had not stopped accepting Americans. And why, after they did, I ended up driving home from Canada through a blizzard.
And why I own a whole bunch of cheap Dell PCs and registered copies of VMWare.
Party Poker wouldn't pay me my money for 6 months, but they got a new affiliate manager who eventually cut me a check. I wonder if they cut their losses or if my players actually generated enough rake to pay me back.