Sign up bonuses are no joke. Since there are so many poker rooms currently operating on the Internet, the competition, in terms of player attraction, is fierce. Therefore, generous bonuses and 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 poker rooms boast very attractive bonuses for first-time depositors. This means that if you sign up at a poker room for the first time, you would receive a certain percentage of your deposit for free. 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?

Nevertheless, be careful; Bonuses and promotions usually 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. This requirement comes to minimize the risk of abuse. What we mean to say is, that there are players who systematically register as first-time depositors with the sole goal of collecting the generous first-time sign up bonus. 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.

To determine whether or not an online poker room's bonus offer is attractive, you first need to figure out how much money you are willing to invest. 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? That's a tough question to answer, baby! Nevertheless, let's try to reason with it. 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 bonus withdrawal terms and conditions. These can vary so significantly that you might change your mind regarding what bonus you prefer. What a drag.

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. In short, in order for a first deposit bonus to be something out of this world it should feature a high deposit match and require a low number of raked hands. It is in your best interest to look for easy-to-clear first deposit bonuses.

Sign up bonuses are generous at most online poker rooms. It is up to you to discover the best (and we are here to help you, of course). May Lady Luck be with you!