All reasonable online poker players know about the importance of bonus whoring. I'm not talking about fraud and the creation of multiple accounts in the same poker room. Those type of actions are discovered, sooner rather than later, and the player has all the money he deposited confiscated, so that's not exactly a bargain. I'm talking about bonus whoring within reasonable and legal limits. Creating poker accounts at several poker rooms in the same time is the right of the player, and as such, he can fully enjoy the benefits of several bonus offers at once. After all, playing to redeem a nice bonus is a lot like getting rakeback: the reduced rake will mean a great long-term edge for the player (rakeback lasts indefinitely while the edge offered by the bonus only until it is all redeemed).
In order to make the best of this bonus-whoring setup though, a player needs to be equipped with the ability to read bonus offers. You see, there are a bunch of different deals out there (every poker room offers some sort of bonus these days) and many of these deals are - though honest - not exactly the most beneficial from the regular player's perspective.
Most of the time, the bonus money advertised on the poker site you're about to join (because of the apparent generosity of the offer) represents a maximum. Very few poker rooms offer you fixed amount bonuses, because their very first goal is to make you- the player - deposit. It doesn't matter if you only deposit $20-50, as long as they can gauge the bonus offered according to your deposit. This is why the bonus offer usually represents a set % match on your first deposit, up to a maximum (which is advertised all over the net). Now that you know that the maximum is not what you in fact get, try to find an offer that gives you the biggest bang for your buck. 100% matches on your firs-deposit are common, but some rooms offer more than that. Bonuses of 200% or even higher, are not that difficult to come by.
Once you've managed to locate a bonus that offers great value on your dollar, check out the redemption methods. No online poker bonus comes without a redemption requirement. In order to have a bonus unlocked, a player needs to generate a certain number of action points (APs) per bonus dollar. The more such action points are required the more difficult it is to unlock the bonus. The rate at which action points are awarded also plays a big role in determining the overall value of the bonus. Action points are usually based on the rake generated by each individual player. The more rake one generates, the more action points he/she will earn. This relation between the rake generated, the action points and the bonus money is the fundamental factor that one should be on the lookout for. Some - often extremely generous – bonuses are damn near impossible to unlock, and that makes one wonder whether the very reason the poker room can afford to offer such a huge bonus is not the fact that they know: nobody will be able to unlock it anyway.
In this respect, the way the bonus unlocks is also very important. Some bonuses are only granted to players in a lump sum, while others can be unlocked in smaller increments. If a bonus comes with a huge rake requirement, a tight validity period and a “one lump sum” condition, you can be pretty certain the room is not looking forward to give you a fair chance for obtaining it.
The 'several smaller increments' setup means the room is indeed willing to give you your fair share of the bonus, under the given circumstances.
Look out for the rake calculation method the poker room uses. Dealt rake benefits a certain category of players, while the contributed rake provides advantage for a different group.
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