With so many poker rooms currently operating on the Internet, the competition, in terms of player attraction, is fierce. In order to attract players sites are offering sign up bonuses. In fact, a generous online casino sign up bonus and other promotions have become the main tool online poker rooms use to encourage players to play their games. As a new player, you certainly should take advantage of this situation.

Absolutely all online poker rooms boast very attractive bonuses for first-time depositors. An online casino sign up bonus is given when you sign up at a poker room for the first time, as the name indicates. Essentially, the site will give you additional playing money based on the amount you deposit. For instance, a 50% match bonus up to $300 means that if you deposit $400 you will receive another $200 for free. Your total balance in the account will be $600. Not bad for starters, huh?

Find the Best Online Casino Sign Up Bonus

To determine whether or not a poker sign up bonus is attractive, you first need to figure out how much money you are willing to invest. Many casino's today offer 100% sign up bonuses, but for instance, if a card room offers you a maximum $300 bonus with a 50% match up and another room offers a maximum $200 bonus with a 60% match-up, but you have only $50 to deposit, how do you determine which offer suits you best?
 

The first offer gives you a bonus of $25, while the second one gives you a bonus of $30. This means that you should go for the second offer because it provides a larger amount. But, wait. Before making any decisions, check the sign up bonus withdrawal terms and conditions. These can vary so significantly that you might change your mind regarding what bonus you prefer. In addition, check the reviews on the sites as its not worth investing in a poor casino for an extra few bucks!

Know your Bonus Terms

Bonuses and promotions often come with a very long restriction list. At most online poker rooms, you are required to play a certain number of "raked hands" before you can cash out the bonus money. These requirements are set to avoid abuse of the bonuses. Unfortunately there are players who systematically register as first-time depositors with the sole goal of collecting the generous first-time sign up bonuses and this is how the casinos weed such players out.

The X "raked hands" requirement makes sure that the poker room receives its free bonus back via the rake before you can withdraw this money. In addition, you must constantly track your playing account because there is always the risk of going broke before bonus withdrawal is even an option. It is in your best interest to look for easy-to-clear first deposit bonuses.

A poor bonus offer would be somewhere in the area of a $50-$100 bonus with a 20-25% deposit match requiring 10-15 raked hands per each bonus dollar. Accordingly, a generous bonus offer would be somewhere in the area of a $100-$200 bonus with a 40-60% deposit match requiring 10 raked hands per each bonus dollar. Also be sure to pay close attention to any games which may be restricted from bonus eligibility or count at a lower percentage (such as one game actually counts for 1/3 of a game).

Although they see complicated, online casino sign up bonuses are a great way to stretch your playing dollars. It is up to you to decide what works best based on your game preference and casino style, we are here to help you make those choices of course.