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How to Play Online Poker While Hunting Poker Bonuses

April 13, 2009

 

Hunting Poker Bonuses

Hunting for bonuses is a key part of being able to play online poker and make a profit, along with a good rakebackdeal.
All poker rooms offer initial deposit bonuses to attract new players to their site. By taking advantage of many different poker rooms initial deposit bonuses you will be able to add extra funds to your online poker bankroll for just playing online poker, which you would have been doing anyways.
There are a few things to look for when hunting for the best online poker bonus, including the size of the bonus, the clearing requirements and the time frame.

The size of the bonus obviously matters because it details the amount of money you will receive if you clear the entire bonus.
A typical online poker bonus would be 100% up to $500.
This means that if you deposit $500 or more you will receive the maximum bonus allowed, which is $500.
If you deposit less than $500, you will receive a bonus equal to the amount of your deposit.
PKR’s 100% up to $2000 bonus is one of the largest in the industry, whereas PokerStars $50 fixed bonus is the smallest.
In general the smaller bonuses will have much softer clearing requirements than the large ones.

The clearing requirements of initial deposit bonuses are probably the most important part and should be investigated thoroughly when hunting for bonuses and deciding where to play online poker.
To clear a bonus you will need to earn the poker rooms frequent player points by playing in cash games and tournaments.
In cash games you will earn frequent player points based on the amount of rake taken from hands you participated in, and in tournaments you will earn a set number of frequent player points for every $1 in tournament fees you pay.
An easy way to look at how easy the bonus can be cleared is looking at how much of the bonus you clear for every $1 you spend in tournament fees.
For example, when you play online poker at Full Tilt Poker you earn 7 Full Tilt Points for every $1 you spend in tournament fees, and this translates into $0.42 of your bonus being cleared. This $0.42 to $1 ratio is fairly average among poker room bonuses.
A good ratio would be PKR’s $50 fixed bonus that clears at a rate of $0.67 for every $1 in tournament fees, whereas a very difficult to clear bonus would be CD Poker’s which clears at a rate of $0.12 for every $1 paid in tournament fees.

The amount of time you have before your bonus expires is also very important when hunting for an online poker bonus. Most poker rooms award your bonus in increments of around $10, whenever you reach the required amount of frequent player points.
At these poker rooms the time frame isn’t as important because you still get to keep the amount that you have cleared when the time has expired.
Some poker rooms, on the other hand, award the bonus as a lump sum when you have cleared the entire bonus amount.
At these poker rooms, if the bonus expires it is forfeit and the entire amount is lost, even if you were very close to clearing it. At these poker rooms it is important to choose a bonus amount that you are confident you will clear within the given time frame.

Bonus hunting is very important when you are just starting to play poker online. The poker bonuses are a great way to add some free money to your initial poker bankroll.
You should just try to find a big poker bonus, with soft clearing conditions and a long time frame like Lucky Ace Poker offers.

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