Poker Bonuses - Poker Rooms Sorted by Bonus Rating
Poker Bonuses - Poker Rooms By Bonus Rating
The sign-up and subsequent bonuses offered by the various poker rooms are an important
factor in the decision to register with a particular poker room. With so many online
poker rooms to choose from, it makes sense to join the one that is willing to give us, the
player, the most valuable incentives. And, of course, nothing beats straight up cash.
The size of the bonus is, obviously, an important factor. But perhaps even more important
is the difficulty in actually collecting and cashing out that bonus. Some poker rooms
make it relatively easy to earn that bonus, and others make it painfully difficult. The
poker rooms usually release the bonus when a minimum number of hands have been played, or
a minimum rake has been collected. The best situation, of course, is finding a poker
room that offers a big dollar bonus, that pays out easily and quickly, and offers
bonuses throughout the life of the player - not just during the initial sign-up.
Some online poker rooms offer a No Deposit
Bonus, which allows you to play for real money without even making a deposit! This is a great way to
try out a new room and play for real money without making a deposit! Check out our collection of
No Deposit
Poker Rooms here!
Below you will find our reviewed poker rooms sorted in order of the average bonus rating provided
by ourselves (FTR staff) and our visitors. This bonus rating takes into account the initial
deposit bonus, the ease of earning that bonus, reload bonuses, and other promotional
incentives offered to the player such as Frequent Player Points (and the freebies that may
come with that), freeroll tournaments, etc. Bonus hunting (aka bonus whoring) is a valid way
to pad your poker bankroll, so take note of our bonus codes. We provide the latest, best, and even
exclusive bonus codes
that deliver bonuses above and beyond anything you can find on the internet, including larger initial
deposit bonuses, access to special freerolls, private FTR tournaments, merchandise, or other perks!
Read this article towards the bottom of this page to get more information on the importance of poker bonuses.
The Importance of Online Poker Bonuses
If you've ever given building your online poker bankroll a serious shot, you have probably come across the world of bonus whoring. But for those who are struggling with low stakes or have never heard of it, just what are poker bonuses and how do they work?
Well, nearly every single online poker room on the web today will give some sort of a bonus for new members. The can offer anything from 50% up to $100, 100% up to $300, 200% up to $200, etc. Bonus whoring is taking your bankroll, depositing on a site that offers a match bonus, earning the bonus, withdrawing, then moving to the next site. You repeat this process until you have expended all possibilities, which is actually pretty rare. The goal of this is to help the stage of growing your bankroll. It's a fairly simple process, and one that should never be overlooked.
Just to show how much this can help a new player, I will use a personal experience. When I first started playing online poker back in 2005, I had about $500. Like most new players, I wasn't very good, and growing the bankroll was pretty difficult with a lot of ups and downs. But, then I decided to take this $500 and move it across sites. Starting with Party Poker, they offered a 20% up to $100 bonus. I created an account, through my $500 on there, and started the grind. Their bonus was pretty easy to clear, and even though I ended up losing $30 at the tables, I ended up +$70. I then went over to Empire Poker who offered the same 20% up to $100 bonus. This time I ended up $20 at the tables, but was +$120 with the bonus. I saw how much potential this had, so tried out the 100% up to $50 on PokerStars. I ran pretty bad and came out down $10, but still finished +$40 once I finished the bonus.
So my $500 bankroll was now $730! Without these bonuses, my bankroll would have been $480 because I had actually lost $20 total while playing. That is a difference of $250, which increased my bankroll by 50% all because of earning bonuses. I continued my journey and before I knew it I was sitting with over $1,000 and only had actually made $75 total from playing poker.
However, all bonuses aren't created equal, and factors such as time and the size of your bankroll can limit you. When you get a bonus from a poker site, you don't just get the free money instantly. Almost all rooms require you to play a certain amount of raked hands, collect so many points per $1, or pay $x in rake. If for example a poker room offered a 100% up to $100 bonus, and required you to play 100 raked hands for $10, you would have to deposit at least $100 and play 1,000 raked hands to collect your full bonus amount. Almost all bonuses have a time limit, ranging from 30 - 90 days, so you also need to consider if would be able to earn it quick enough.
If you're a winning player you might be thinking it sounds like it's not worth the hassle or it's only for noobs. This is definitely not true because bonuses can make losing players winners, and make winning players even more money. Someone with a $5,000 bankroll wouldn't be interested in collecting an extra $50 here or there, but there are some bonuses you can find for $1,000 or more.
Online poker bonuses are a big help when it comes to building your bankroll. Even though it isn't quite as easy these days since the UIGEA and some sites banning US players, but bonuses can still be found. If you're a struggling new player, I strongly suggest into looking at moving around your bankroll and start earning some free bonus money!
