We review the best offers from the leading online poker rooms to help you decide which bonus is best for you. Whether you’re looking for a lucrative poker signup bonus, a no deposit bonus or entry into free roll tournaments, our reviews will help you to find the best online poker bonus for you.
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Best Poker sites
Popular Types of Poker Bonus
- Deposit Match Welcome Bonus
New players can benefit from receiving a match bonus when they open a new online poker account and make a first deposit. The match is usually 100% or can be as much as 200%, which effectively doubles or triples your bankroll immediately. At most online poker rooms, you will receive your bonus amount in instalments (either a set amount or a percentage) as you play and there will be usually be a limited timeframe in which to claim the full amount.
- No Deposit Bonus
Some sites will offer a poker no deposit bonus which means you receive a free bonus simply for opening an account and without the need to deposit any funds of your own. In this case, you can play with the bonus sum but usually won’t be able to withdraw any winnings until you make your first deposit and have met the poker room’s wagering requirements.
- Free Roll Tournaments
As well as a deposit match, new players can also receive entry into free roll tournaments as part of a signup offer. In this case, these tournaments will enable you to join a tournament for free and these will very often have cash rewards as prizes. These tournaments are normally only open to players who have accrued loyalty points and so this is a good way to have the chance to win good prizes effectively for free.
- Free Tournament Entry
When you sign up for a new online poker account, you can often also pick up a bonus amount that can be used exclusively to enter tournaments. This amount varies from site to site but can be anywhere between £5 – £20.
How to Recognize a Good Bonus
What constitutes a good online poker bonus will vary according to the volume at which a player plays and the frequency with which they visit a poker site. However, there are qualities attached to a poker bonus that will help you to decide whether it presents good value.
- What is a Good Deposit Match Welcome Bonus?
When you’re deciding whether a match bonus is good value there are a couple of things to consider. You will find 100% and even 200% matches on first deposits as a welcome bonus, but there will be limits on how much you can receive – this can vary from between £100 and may be as high as £600. However, this isn’t the only criteria you should use to decide. For instance, check the minimum deposit required for you to be able to receive the bonus – at some sites, it may be as low as £10, while at others it can be around £50.Most poker rooms pay out your Welcome Bonus in increments (either as a set amount or as a percentage) depending on your spend in rake and tournament entry fees, or how many loyalty points you acquire. You need to look carefully at the offer to see whether you receive smaller amounts frequently or larger amounts but less often, and which of these two options suits you best. Likewise, you need to consider the timeframe around the offer.At some sites, you may have only 60 days in which to meet the wagering requirements and so unlock the entire bonus, while elsewhere it can be as much as 120 days. The frequency with which you play and whether you are a high or low volume player will help you decide which will work best for you.
- What is a Good No Deposit Bonus?
No deposit bonuses can be more complex than they first appear, so when you’re deciding whether a no deposit bonus gives you good value you need to check whether the bonus is in cash only, or is mix of cash and tournament entries (the cash amount is usually smaller). You also need to bear in mind that in most cases you won’t be able to make withdrawals of any winnings made from your no deposit bonus until you’ve made a first deposit into your account and earned a certain number of points through either through rake or tournament fees.
- Free Roll Tournaments as a Poker Bonus
Entry into free roll tournaments can be a potentially lucrative additional part of a poker bonus but as always it’s important to look closely at the specifics of the deal. What sort of tournament is it (they are usually sit ’n go) and what are the prizes? For instance, if your bonus gives you entry into a free roll tournament with a good sized prize, this can add considerably to the value of your welcome bonus and can be an influence on whether you choose one particular site over another. - Free Tournament Entry as a Poker Bonus
As well as a deposit match bonus and entry into free roll tournaments, when you sign up for a new account you can also receive additional bonus amounts that can be used specifically for tournament entries. The amount you get will usually be between £5 – £20 and it may only buy you into a small tournament with a low-key prize, but nevertheless this is a further element that can help you to decide whether you are getting a good poker bonus. - How Does a Poker Loyalty Scheme Affect Your Bonus?
As described above, the rate at which you receive your welcome bonus will in most instances depend on how many and how quickly you acquire poker bonus points, and so the ways and rate at which you accrue these points can often be crucial in determining how beneficial the bonus turns out to be. They might be called loyalty points, VIP points, merit points to something similar depending on the site.
When looking at a poker room’s points scheme, there are a number of important questions to ask.-How many points do you earn for each £ in rake or tournament fees?
-How many points do you need to accrue before you start receiving your welcome bonus?
-How often can you redeem your points and what do you get when you do?
-How many tiers does the loyalty scheme have? How do you gain a higher tier? Do the benefits improve the higher the level you attain?