Ever thought that you were missing out on special incentives to get involved in internet poker? Or are you maybe just looking for an extra push to play online? If so, then all you need is a poker bonus.
A poker bonus is a marketing tool that online sites use to get people to play. They vary from site to site, but most poker bonuses match a certain percentage of your first deposit and put it in a bonus account to be released later on. You can find bonuses all over the internet, and some are better than others.
The best bonuses will match 100% of your first deposit (up to $500 or $600). This means that every dollar that you put into the site that first time, they will put an equal amount in your bonus account.
The bonus funds are released after you fulfill certain requirements involved in the bonus contract. Most sites make you play around ten “raked” hands for every bonus dollar, and they won’t release the funds until you fulfill the needs for the whole account.
A raked hand is a hand that you play at a table that the poker site is able to take a certain part of the pot from. The amount taken is very small and most people don’t even know that it’s missing. This just ensures that the poker site is making money off people playing in their tables.
Make sure to read all the rules and regulations carefully before signing up for a bonus. Though they were designed to help struggling first time members still maintain some money in their accounts, poker bonuses can also make a person very broke very quickly.
Say that you only have 30 days to fulfill the bonus requirements and you had to play 1000 hands to get the funds. If on the 28th day you still have 350 hands to go, you may bet stuck playing in more hands than you want just to get the bonus. Then, if you do miss the requirements, you’ve probably lost a lot of money in the process to get nothing in return.
If you are cautious and conscientious of everything in the bonus contracts, then poker bonuses can be a great way to earn a little money when you first start out on a site. Have fun, play fair, and keep track of your hands and you should encounter no problems Mysport99.
Chris Hohenstein is a semi-professional poker player and freelance writer. He has been playing poker for over 10 years and writing about poker for over 2 years.