How to Play Online Poker

Online poker rooms are businesses, and just like any other they need to market their service in order to make money and attract new customers. Part of the way in which they have taken to enticing these new customers is to offer what’s known as a ‘sign-up bonus’; free chips given to new players either when they make their first purchase or after they have played so many hands.

A new player bonus doesn’t necessarily have to be chips. Free tournament entries are becoming more common, raffles are starting to pop-up, and even physical gifts are mailed to new customers on occasion. These bonuses offered vary from room to room, and are constantly changing as the marketing department sees fit.

If you’re new to the world of online poker, there’s nothing wrong with taking these rooms up on the incentives they are offering. It’s certainly not uncommon for people to play at more than one venue as well, meaning it’s possible to rack up multiple bonuses from a handful of rooms.

That said, there are some things you should bear in mind when taking a new player bonus from an online poker room:

There are always terms and conditions. If there weren’t, people would simply make a deposit; take the bonus, then cash out ahead of the game without so much as having played a hand. To prevent this, bonus terms usually state that you must meet a ‘play-through’ requirement before either receiving the bonus, or being permitted to cash out said bonus.

It’s most common for poker rooms to have a separate ‘bonus account’ that they will place your extra chips in, which will be released to your regular bankroll after you have played a specified number of hands. This allows the room to collect on rake fees from your play, essentially compensating them for your bonus.

These play-through requirements will vary from place to place, but will generally be more stringent the better the bonus. If someone’s offering a 400% sign-up bonus on your first deposit, you can bet you’ll have to play a lot of hands before you’ll get it.

How to get your bonus:
Once again, not all rooms have the same procedure when it comes to actually claiming your bonus. Sometimes it’s automatically credited to your account after you make your initial chip purchase, sometimes you will be required to enter a ‘bonus code’ along with your deposit, and sometimes you’ll have to enter a code somewhere after you’ve bought in for chips.

The only way to know for sure is to check the terms and conditions on the Web site first. Make sure you know how to receive the bonus, as well as what you’ll have to do to get it. If you’re not sure, utilize the customer support options given to you to find out, and once again do it first.

New players incentives are often a great deal, just be sure to read and understand the fine print so you know what to expect.