Texas Hold'em poker bonus

Virtually all poker rooms will offer you one or several deposit bonuses when you become a member and start depositing money. This bonus can be turned down and there are some situation when that is actually a good idea (more on that further down), but in most cases the bonus makes for a good extra injection into your bankroll.

The welcome bonus should not be the main thing you look at when you choose a poker room to play Texas Hold'em in, because there are other more important factors to be considered first. If you want to learn more about how to choose a poker room and what to think about, we recommend that you read our Texas Hold'em poker room page. If two rooms are equally good the bonus can however be used as the tie breaker that tips the scale in favor of one of the rooms.

Most welcome bonuses are designed in a similar way. They offer you x% on your first deposit up to a certain amount. Common bonuses are 100% and 200% bonuses, but there are bonuses of 500% out there as well. The max bonus vary from poker room to poker room but is usually in the 100-2,500 USD range.

It might be tempting to simply go with whoever offers the biggest welcome bonus, but that is usually not a good idea and you should also keep in mind that a smaller bonus can be a lot more generous than a larger one. Poker bonuses, unlike mainstream casino bonuses, are not deposited directly into your account. Instead, they are released as you earn them by meeting the gambling requirements. You need to meet the requirements within a certain time period, usually 45-90 days, and any bonus money still pending when that period expires is lost. It is therefore important to find out how much you will be required to play to release your bonus, and a smaller bonus that is easier to earn might be worth more than a large bonus where it is hard to earn the money and it is likely that a big part of it will expire before you get it. The main question should in other words not be how big the bonus is in different poker rooms but rather how much bonus money you can earn before the bonus expires in the different poker rooms.

When looking at bonuses you should not just look at the welcome bonus but also at which, if any, reload bonuses that are available, plus other special promotions (such as free rolls) that add extra value for current members. If you like playing poker and are looking for a poker room to play long term in, than these bonuses, promotions and extras will be worth a lot more than the welcome bonus. It can also be a good idea to take a look at the VIP /player clubs benefits the room offers (if they have such things) since how generous the VIP/player club is often says a lot about how generous the poker room is in general to its members.

Remember that even if you are already a member of the casino or sport betting side of a site where you consider starting to play poker you are usually entitled to the welcome bonus in the poker section anyway. You are still considered a new player.