Can you double your money with online poker offers?
With many online poker sites, it appears you can double your money or even do better than that before a card is dealt. With hundreds of different online casinos competing for business, there are always plenty of special offers to choose from that can make you feel like a winner from the start. But how do these offers work and what are the pros and cons of signing up?
No Deposit Offers
The least risky way to try out playing poker online is to take up a no deposit offer. As the name suggests, these offers do not require you to part with any of your hard-earned cash to take part. You will often find a no deposit bonus of 20, 30 or even 50 dollars, giving you cash to play with as you take your first tentative steps onto the site. These offers rarely give you more than a taster amount with to play, but at least the bonus is free.
Deposit Match Offers
If you want to get more from your poker site, then you must meet them halfway. There are lots of sites offering a deposit match bonus, which doubles your funds, and some may even stretch to 200 percent or more of your original deposit. They are generally limited to a maximum match amount, but up to that number, you will get a dollar for dollar what you put in as bonus funds.
What's the catch?
Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch, even for poker sites that are desperate to get your business. And you will rarely get free cash that you can wager and win real money. Otherwise, we'd all join to cash-in, and they'd soon be out of business! The aim of the bonuses is to get you playing on their site, trying out their functionality and making regular visits.
They minimize the cost of achieving this by making it complicated to get at your funds, even if you win with your bonus. Some sites will insist that you play any winnings multiple times, known as wagering, before you can withdraw your winnings. Others have a points system where you can only withdraw bonus winnings after you have earned points by playing other poker games with real cash.
Be Patient
Another way that sites try to make visiting a habit is by only releasing your bonus a bit at a time. It may be a few dollars a day or that you only get each bit of your bonus when you use a bit more of your cash. Conversely, you might also be in a rush to use your bonus funds, as sites will often put a short expiration date on bonuses, either to catch you while you are hot or in the hope that you will forget your bonus funds and miss out altogether.
So, are bonus offers worth it?
If you are aware of the game played, and I don't mean poker here, then you can do well with poker bonuses. Look for an online casino guide to help you find the best bonuses currently available to get you started, but make sure you read the terms and conditions thoroughly before you commit. Knowing the rules of the bonus game will help you make the most of the opportunity at hand and reduce the chances of the site reabsorbing your winnings, along with a big chunk of your cash.
Bonuses Work for Everyone
If you play them carefully, poker bonuses can work for you at whatever stage you are as a player. If you are starting out, no deposit bonuses are an excellent way to learn the game and practice without risking your money. They also give you the opportunity to try out lots of different sites to see which one you prefer before you settle on a place to play. As an experienced player, you get the chance to try and beat the system by playing smartly and getting the most out of the offer. Either way, it is unlikely that you will ever achieve anything like "double your money" as the adverts claim, but you could still walk away from your poker offer with a healthy profit if you play your cards right.