Best Poker Bonuses for USA Players

An online poker bonus is a real-money bonus that an online poker room uses to attract new players. New poker players have dozens of choices when selecting poker rooms so these sites compete by offering large sign up bonuses to all new players. These bonuses are usually offered as a percentage of the first deposit. For example, a few sites offer all new players a 100% bonus for up to $600 extra.

How Poker Bonuses Work

An online poker bonus is based on the size of your first deposit at that poker site. For example, a 100% bonus means that the poker room will match your first deposit dollar for dollar. If you deposit $200, they will match you with an extra $200 on top of that. In the end, you would have a total of $400 to play with.

The catch is that a poker bonus is not released immediately. You first have to “clear” the bonus by playing real money poker. Poker rooms use that stipulation because they offer players a lot of money to play poker. It would be all too easy to take advantage of online poker bonuses if there were no clearing requirements.

These stipulations shouldn’t really affect you because all they require is that you play poker like normal. As you play poker, the poker site releases the money in increments of $10 or $20 until the entire bonus has been released. Most poker sites use a system of frequent player points to keep track of how much you play and as you earn points, the bonus money is automatically released to your account.

Are Poker Bonuses a Good Deal?

Yes, poker bonuses are a great deal! I built a large bankroll rather quickly thanks to poker bonuses and you can do the same. It almost seems like one of those too good to be true deals but it actually makes economic sense for the poker sites. By requiring you to play poker to clear the bonus, each online poker site makes sure that it earns money through the rake you pay. In the end, both you and the poker site benefit.

The “rake” is how all  online poker sites make money. They take a small portion out of every pot you win. You probably don’t even notice the rake but it is always there. You’ll always have to pay the rake so you might as well get a bonus while you’re at it. If you play a decent game and can at least break even, the bonus money is just extra gravy on top.