The Mystery of the Poker Room Deposit Bonus

Many are discovering that playing poker online can be a great way to make a little extra money in their spare time. Even if you are not playing poker “full time,” you can still make enough money from poker to pay a couple of bills, e.g. DSL, phone bill, etc. There are more “casinos” than ever online, and many of them offer additional bonuses in the hopes that players will play on their site. While some of these bonuses seem at first blush to be too good to be true, the truth is if you keep an eye out, you can actually make some (relatively) free money.

Newbies might be wondering how these bonuses work. For instance Pacific Poker has been know to offer a 25 percent bonus that maxes out at $100. In this example if you deposit $400 then they will give you an extra $100. Before you go transferring your funds to poker accounts, there are a few things you might want to consider.

Most, if not all, of these bonuses are dependant upon play. If this weren’t the case, then you could just deposit money, get your bonus and then withdraw without ever playing a hand. Poker sites are wise beyond their years and they make sure that your bonus money is “held” until you have met the poker site’s minimum requirement. For most sites this is a bet requirement. For example, at some sites you have to make bets equivalent to the deposit bonus in order for the money to be released to you. At a .50/$1 table using the above example, you would have to make 100 big bets in order to have your bonus money added to your account.

This restriction certainly doesn’t negate the power of the deposit bonus; it’s just something you will want to keep in mind. If you plan on playing poker frequently, e.g. five to ten hours a week, then you should have your bonus released to you in no time. When signing up for a specific site, however, it’s important to find out beforehand what kind of traffic they have. Titan Poker, for example, offers a very generous bonus, but their site is relatively sparse in terms of players. Depending on your particular limit, you might have a difficult time playing enough hands to see your deposit bonus.

In the end, man cannot live by deposit bonuses alone. You’re going to have to buckle down and develop a game. Deposit bonuses can help give you a little cushion during your early play, and they can be a nice way to enter into a game that can be cutthroat to beginners.