Most poker rooms offer bonuses and incentives of some kind. Online gambling is more popular than ever, but it still doesn't rival the popularity of traditional casinos. And often the people who frequent traditional casinos aren't convinced that online gambling can be that fun. So the bonuses are designed to get people to give poker rooms a try.
The problem with these bonuses is that often they're confusing. It's easy to think you're getting one thing and end up getting another, especially if you're new to the online gambling scene. Some casinos and poker rooms make their offers particularly ambiguous with the intention of drawing you in, and then once you've made your initial deposit you discover that there are limitations and conditions to the bonus that it will take a lot more spending for you to meet.
If poker rooms are offering bonuses that amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars, watch for hidden terms and conditions. A bonus that claims to give you a free $1000 to gamble with sounds good and probably gets several people to sign up and make that first $100 deposit. But the terms and conditions of the offer might state that you have to have spent $5000 more or gamble a certain number of hours in a certain time period before you qualify. Read all the fine print before depositing anything.
Some things to look for to understand the bonuses poker rooms offer are deposit matching or deposit bonuses. These bonuses are designed so that if you make a $100 deposit, the casino will match that and put $100 into your account. Often they'll be termed as a percentage bonus up to a certain amount, like 100% up to $150. That means that if you deposit $150 they'll match that 100% and deposit an additional $150. If you deposit anything over that amount, they'll deposit $150. If you deposit less than $150, they'll match the amount you deposit.
These types of bonuses are designed for the first time someone gambles there and only apply to the very first deposit. Other bonuses are considered to be renew or reload bonuses, where you've exhausted your initial deposit and the casino makes an offer to add money to your account if you replenish it with another deposit.
Deposit bonuses in poker rooms almost always have a time limit ranging from a week to a couple of months. Read the terms carefully to avoid surprises.
When you have a certain number of days or weeks to clear a bonus that means you have to play a certain number of "raked" hands in that time (hands where the poker room makes money). The notation for that will be given as a number and an x. 10X for instance would mean that every 10 hands you play where the pot is a minimum amount (a quarter, fifty cents or a dollar usually) you clear $1 of the bonus. You can figure how many hands and hours in general it will take so you'll know if the poker rooms offering this bonus are worth your while.
