Poker Bonus Code : Online Poker Bonuses

Poker Bonus Q&A

Bonus Chasing

For those with a limited bankroll, free online poker bonuses are an excellent way to start building a bankroll. Some of our Members of ITH earn thousands of dollars a year while chasing poker bonuses.

Question: What is a bonus chaser?
Answer: A ‘bonus chaser’ is a person who actively seeks out and takes advantage of the poker bonuses used by many online poker rooms to attract more clients. The bonus chaser joins a poker site that is currently offering a bonus and makes a deposit. The bonus chaser fulfills the requirements of that particular poker site for the bonus and then cashes out and moves to another online poker room that is offering a poker bonus. In this way the bonus chaser is nearly always playing for a bonus.

Qusetion: Why are these sites giving away money?

Answer:
Poker sites are competing for your business. They want more players to join their site in the hopes that some of these new players will decide to stay and play even after the bonus has been paid.

What kind of poker bonuses are there?

1/ Percentage of Deposit: The most common free online poker bonus is given as a percentage of your first deposit. The free online poker bonus ranges from 20% at some sites to 1,000% at others. For example, some popular poker sites offer a free online poker bonus of 20% of your deposit up to a maximum of $100. In this case, if your first deposit is $500 you would receive a $100 free online poker bonus. If your first deposit is $100 you would receive a $20 free online poker bonus.

2/ Fixed Bonus Amount: A few online poker rooms offer a fixed free online poker bonus amount to customers who make a minimum deposit. This is generally a $25 deposit bonus with a minimum deposit of $50. The two main poker sites that offer this type of free online poker bonus are Party Poker and Empire Poker.

3/ No Deposit Bonuses: A few online poker rooms give you a free online poker bonus just for signing up an account. No deposit is required. The amount is generally small – $10 to $15.

4/ Reload Bonuses: Many online poker rooms will give you a free online poker bonus just for signing up an account. No deposit is required. The amount is generally $10 to $15.

Question: How do I qualify for these bonuses?
Answer: Most sites offer a bonus as a percentage of your deposit. You typically have to play a certain number of hands or accumulate a certain number of points at the site before you have access to the bonus money. For example, suppose a poker site offers a 25% sign up bonus and you deposit $100. Your bonus would be $25. The site may require you to play 5 times the bonus amount in raked hands. This means you would have to play 5 x $25 = 125 raked hands to get your bonus. Each site may have different criteria for their deposit bonuses so be sure to check our listings and the associated site reviews. Our poker bonus forum is also a great resource.

Some free online poker bonuses clear in a lump sum while others clear in increments. For lump sum clearing, your entire free online poker bonus will be released for cashout once you have earned all the points or raked hands required. For incremental clearing, your free online poker bonus will be released in equal portions as your raked hands or player points accumulate.

Question: Where can I get more information about current bonuses?
Answer: We try to maintain accurate and up to date information on as many bonuses as we can in our online bonus listings. We also have a section devoted to bonus chasing in our poker forum. You can discuss which bonuses are best and which ones you like or don’t like in the bonus chasing forum.

Question: Can I get a bonus at the same online poker room more than once?
Answer: You cannot get the sign-up bonus from the same site twice, but many sites offer reload bonuses. Reload bonuses are announced from time to time for existing members of the site to receive a bonus when they ‘reload’ (make a new deposit to) their accounts. Some sites offer these bonuses monthly.

Question: Does InternetTexasHoldem.com offer any special bonuses?
Answer: Yes! You can receive up to three free gifts (poker books, poker chip sets, DVD’s, and other gifts) for joining selected online poker rooms through ITH. The eligible online poker rooms and the array of free gifts changes frequently, so you should check those special offers periodically.

What kind of results can I achieve?

Answer: Back in early 2007, we asked our Members how much they earned in poker bonuses in 2006. The Members who responded had earned over $250,000 in bonuses, with an average bonus of $3,000 for the year. There are plenty of opportunities for those looking to build their bankroll.

Question: Where can I learn more?
Answer: A more detailed poker bonus chasing FAQ was developed by our members in the poker forum. It is packed full of additional information.

New to Bonus Chasing?

Planning Your Bonus Chase

Poker bonus chasing will make your poker playing more profitable. The two most common questions asked by the new chaser are “Where should I start?” and “Where should I go next?” The purpose of this page is to introduce new chasers to the basic concepts of how to go about planning their poker bonus chasing.

Creating a poker bonus chasing plan is not difficult, and it is very useful in making the most efficient use of available bankroll and poker playing time.

Bonus Chasing Templates:

The templates below represent a generic way to go about making your poker bonus chasing plan. They are not a one-size-fits-all solution for every poker bonus chaser. They do, however, supply some good general guidance on the things that a new chaser should be considering when their next few poker bonus chasing goals.

InternetTexasHoldem Bonus Chasing Template.xls : This is a blank template for you to start a fresh bonus chasing plan. You can download it to see how the template works and how you can use it. Right click to download the file.

Do your research on ITH to find the best bonuses for you and then you can get started!

The Major Factors to Consider:

The single largest influence on your poker bonus chasing plan will be your overall poker bankroll. If wise bankroll management dictates staying below certain playing limits, this will in turn affect which poker bonuses you should chase. You will also want to be able to maximize the best poker bonuses available, and this may not be possible with a small bankroll. For example, if a site has a 25% bonus up to $100 and you only deposit $200 because that’s your entire bankroll, then you will only receive a $50 bonus (25% x $200 = $50). If this is a very easy bonus to clear, then you are losing out on $50 dollars worth of easy-to-clear bonus by depositing before you have sufficient bankroll to maximize the bonus offer. You should wait until you have a larger bankroll before chasing this poker bonus.

After bankroll, the other major factor to consider is how much playing time you will have during the course of the bonus chase. Most bonuses clear in a lump sum. If there is a time limit for completing the bonus you will need to estimate how many hours you will be able to play poker before the bonus expires, and see if that will be sufficient to clear the bonus.

Maintain Some Flexibility:

While adhering to your poker bonus chasing plan should be your normal course, it may become beneficial on occasion to deviate from your plan. Unplanned lucrative bonus opportunities can arise at any time, and you will want to be in a position to be able to take advantage of these as often as possible. To do this you will need to maintain some flexibility in your chasing plan to accommodate these unplanned bonuses. This will naturally become easier as your bankroll grows, but some flexibility can be retained with even the smallest of bankrolls.

Not Sure Where to Start?

The best place to start is in our online poker bonus listings – you can get information about the bonus offers available there. The next place you should go is the ITH Forums – ask questions there and you are sure to get answers from our more than 7000 forum members.

Good Luck!

Bonus Chasing Results

2006 ITH Bonus Chasing Totals

ITH asked forum community members to track and record their bonus money for 2006 in a forum thread. the response was excellent, and the totals are recorded below (with more members contributing all the time – so it’s not too late to add yours!

Nice Work Everyone!