Choosing a Poker Bonus

How to Choose a Poker Bonus

Nowadays every poker room on the internet is offering poker bonuses in order to get players excited to sign up. They types of players that these poker bonuses attract varies a lot, from experienced poker bonus whores looking for the biggest bonuses to new players just looking to build a poker bankroll.

There are many types of poker bonuses on the internet, which means you’re actually going to have to be a bit more selective rather than just finding an offer that looks the best upfront.  Let’s take a look at the different factors that can make a turn a good poker bonus ugly.

Playing Requirements: How easily is a deposit-bonus released by a poker room?  If you’re only going to be playing for a short-space of time with a small bankroll than you might end up going bust too early before you see the full benefits.  Many poker sites, such as UB, will release your bonus at a rate of $5 per 100 UB Points earned. If you only manage to earn 99 points before you go bust than obviously this bonus isn’t for you.

Size of Deposit-Bonus: A lot of the more experience and recreational poker players will be attracted by the size of the poker bonus.  The bigger the bonus, the more free money released by the poker room.  However think about this for a second, if you’re being offered a 100% up to $600 bonus than that means that you have to deposit $600 to get the largest amount possible.  If you only deposit $50 than you only stand to earn $50 in deposit bonuses, which means a large deposit bonus isn’t going to benefit you.  If you only have a small poker bankroll than you should look for deposit bonuses with a high rollover rate, i.e. 120% or 200% up to $100 bonus.  That way you can make up to double your initial deposit in free poker bonuses and take full advantage of the offer.

Instant Poker Bonuses: Instant poker bonuses are those which are credited to your cashier immediately without any play through requirements.  For example, Bodog offers a 10% instant deposit bonus plus 110% up to $1,000.  This means that if you deposit $100 than you will receive $10 straight away.  This is a great deal in my opinion since you can collect your bonus immediately without having to play a hundred hands to release it in small increments.

No-Deposit Poker Bonuses: No deposit poker bonuses, also know as no-deposit poker bankrolls or instant free money, is money that is given to you to play with without having to make a deposit.  You don’t need to give away any credit card details or financial information.  The main advantage is that you can collect up to $100 in free poker money and play real money games without risking any of your own money.  The down sides to free poker money however is that there will be limitations on when you can withdraw it.  For example, you can get a $100 free poker bankroll at UB or Absolute Poker in our no deposit poker bankroll section however you will need to play at least 2,500 raked hands before you can withdraw any of it.  Hence, while free poker bankrolls are obviously a great offer to get a hold of, they are less flexible than other bonuses and you can’t withdraw your winnings to other poker rooms or ewallets as fast.

Best Poker Bonus: 111% up to $1100 at UB.com