Written By: PokerBonusSource.com
Perks man, give me some perks! Tired of playing at the same old rooms, giving away rake and tournament fees with nothing in return? If you’re tired of making the poker rooms rich, and would like to get something for yourself for a change, it’s time to find a great bonus code and a new room to play at.
While all online poker rooms have some sort of bonus available to new players, some bonuses are better than others. In this article, I’m going to give you some tips on finding a great poker bonus, and a couple of bonuses worth considering. If you’re an experienced bonus hunter, scroll down the page for our current poker bonus recommendations.
The Basics - How a Poker Bonus Works
Think of a poker bonus like you would a brick & mortar casino perk. When you go to a casino and use your players card, you earn casino perks as you play. The same is true for online poker, except that you don’t have to hand anyone your players card. At online poker rooms, anytime you play, you automatically earn the online equivalent of casino perks. While a Vegas casino may give you tickets to see a show, an online casino can’t send showgirls through your internet connection (until hologram poker is invented anyway). So, online poker rooms give their perks in the form of cold-hard cash. If you earn enough bonus cash, you can hire your own showgirls anyway, so we’ll take the cash thank you.
To claim your bonus at an online poker room, most rooms use either a ‘bonus code’, ‘referral code’, or ‘marketing code’. What’s the difference between these terms? Nothing, they’re all the same thing. Cardspike Poker calls theirs a bonus code, while Full Tilt Poker calls theirs a marketing code. As an industry standard, during the new player registration process, each room will ask you to enter a code which will allow you to receive the bonus.
While some online poker rooms offer ‘reload bonuses’ for existing players, they tend to be few and far between. The most common and aggressive poker bonus that players can get is for new players who are making their first deposit. So, once you’ve made your initial deposit and cleared the bonus, it’s not a bad idea to go looking for a new poker room and a new bonus to earn.
The amount of bonus a player can earn is typically based on the amount he or she initially deposits. So, if X poker room is offering a 50% bonus, that means that they will match your deposit at the rate of 50%. So, if you deposit $100, the poker room will allow you to earn up to $50 in bonus. If the bonus is 100%, they will allow you to get a complete match, dollar for dollar.
Poker bonuses also have maximum dollar amounts they will allow a player to earn. For example, X poker room is offering a bonus of 50% up to $200. For a player to be able to earn the entire bonus, they would have to deposit at least $400. If that bonus is 100% up to $200 however, a deposit of $200 can earn you the full bonus.
Poker bonuses typically allow players a certain amount of time in which to clear their bonus. Some sites only allow 30 days to clear their bonus while others may allow 120 days. There are a couple of rooms that have no time restrictions for clearing their bonuses. Always find this information in the fine print before you drop a boatload of cash into a new poker room.
What Else do I Need to Know About a Poker Bonus?
Beyond the percentage and total bonus amount, poker rooms all have their own system on how players earn their bonus. While some rooms have very simple bonus clearing requirements, others can be very difficult to clear. While being a mathematical genius can be helpful in breaking down the requirements of many rooms, there is one general rule that every room follows. In cash games, the higher the stakes you play, the faster you clear the bonus. With that said, a player may need to play 100 hands of $.25/.50 fixed limit hold’em at one room to earn $1 in bonus, while they may only need to play 20 hands of the same game at another room.
Another important thing to know is that while some poker rooms pay their bonuses in a single lump sum, others pay their player bonuses in increments. From a players standpoint, it’s much better to go after a bonus that pays in increments. If you go after a bonus that pays in one lump sum, if you don’t clear the entire bonus before the expiration date, you will get nothing in bonus. By receiving your bonus in increments, you will get your bonus as you go.
Instead of writing a novel breaking down every room, I’m going to discuss two rooms that have bonuses I really like at the moment. Both of these bonuses are big, and the clearing requirements are very reasonable.
Full Tilt Poker Bonus
The bonus being offered by Full Tilt Poker is one of the best bonuses available. Using the Full Tilt Poker referral code TILTEDBONUS, players can get a bonus of 100% up to $600! When you combine that with arguably the best poker room online, this is a no-brainer for anyone who doesn’t already have an account here. Here are some of the benefits of the Full Tilt Poker Bonus:
- Huge bonus of 100% up to $600 - Use Full Tilt Poker Referral Code TILTEDBONUS during registration
- Reasonable clearing requirements, not a pipedream
- Paid in increments of 10% of your initial deposit, or $20 at a time, whichever comes first
- Good system for earning points for tournament play
- Full Tilt Poker has easy deposit options and a quick signup process, which means you can be playing within minutes
- Players can cash in their player points for tournament entries or use them in the Full Tilt Poker store to get some cool swag including iPod’s, computer gear, HD TV’s, and a whole lot more
- 120 days to clear as much bonus as you can
- U.S. players welcome
CardSpike Poker Bonus
At CardSpike Poker, players earn Gold Chips as they play. Play more, earn more Gold Chips. The more Gold Chips you earn, the more bonus money you collect. Using CardSpike Poker bonus code PBS500, players can earn a 100% bonus up to $500. CardSpike Poker is on the Cake Poker Network, so traffic is much better than most new poker rooms. Here are some of the benefits of the CardSpike Poker bonus.
- Huge bonus of 100% up to $500
- Poker bonus cash is automatically deposited into your account in increments of $10
- Reasonable bonus clearing requirements
- 120 days to clear as much bonus as you can
- Get a free entry into the $500 New Player Freeroll
- Easy deposit options, including credit cards
- U.S. players welcome
If you’re going to play, why not get some free cash along the way? Give one of these rooms a try and start building your bankroll today. See you at the tables!
