2009-08-15 03:00:24
Sign-Up Bonuses - What's The Catch?
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Many people ask the following question - why would a major online poker room give me the opportunity to earn a bonus of up to $600?
Why would they give away this much money when I was going to sign up at their site anyways? Surely there must be a catch?
With anything in life, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
While it's certainly true that online poker rooms hand out hundreds of dollars in initial deposit bonuses, there is a condition - you must earn it.
What does this mean exactly?
It means that online poker rooms won't just hand you money and let you immediately withdraw it.
Rather, they give you the opportunity to earn a sizable bonus - a bonus that is earned by participating in real-money cash games, MTTs and SNGs.
Online poker rooms will give you a certain amount of time in which you can earn your bonus - usually a period between three to six months.
For each real-money cash game hand or $1 in tournament/SNG fees that you pay, the sites will award you their variation of "player points".
The more "player points" that you earn, the faster that you will earn your bonus.
Bonuses are released in increments (the size of the increment depends on the site).
The bonus money that is released to you is yours to do with what you please. You can withdraw it or add it to your bankroll for play at the tables.
Basically, these online poker rooms are saying to you - we will give you the opportunity to earn free money, but you must earn it by playing at our tables.
They want people to play on their sites (obviously), and bonus money is the best way to accomplish this goal.
They are hoping that you end up liking their room so much that you keep playing even after you have earned your bonus.
So, in the end, the catch?
You gotta play to receive your free pay.
Filed under: Pokerstars Bonus Promotions
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