All online poker rooms are easily accessible for everyone, which make competition higher. Large sign-up bonuses have become one of the most important tools in attracting new players. As a new player you should definitely take advantage of this. The bonuses are usually set up in a way that you as a first time depositor receive an extra bonus as a percentage of your deposit. For example, a maximum $250 bonus at 50% deposit match means that if you deposit $500 (where 50% of $500 is $250) you will receive $250 for free as an extra bonus in the account for a total balance of $750. There are always restrictions on the bonus amount though. Typically you have to play a certain number of " raked hands" in order to receive or cash out the bonus amount. This is to minimize the risk of abuse, as poker rooms want to ensure to get their bonus investment back in the form of rake before you can cash-out the bonus money. Be aware of the risk of going broke before you have played the amount of raked hands needed to qualify for the bonus. In this case you would need to make another deposit to reach the requirement. Luckily many poker rooms either give you the bonus amount to play for right away or pay out the bonus dollars in increments as you earn them in portions while playing.

To decide whether an offer is good or not, you first have to think of how much money you are willing to deposit. For example, if a site offers a $250 bonus with a 50% match-up and another one offers a $100 bonus with a 60% match-up, but you only plan to deposit $100, which one is the best for you? Well, the first offer gives you an actual bonus of $50 (50% of $100) and the second one gives you an actual bonus of $60 (60% of $100), so the second offer would be most beneficial for you. However, the cash-out clauses can vary significantly so the 60% bonus might force you to play twice the amount of hands before cashing out and maybe the 50% bonus offer also allows you to use the bonus to play for while fulfilling the raked hands requirement, giving you a better chance to reach it. So depending on whether your deposit is going to be small or big and how much you plan to play, the relative value of the offers varies.

A bonus offer on the weak end of the scale would be something in the line of $50-$100 bonus with a 20-25% deposit match where 10-15 raked hands per bonus dollar is required. Conversely, a good offer would be something like a $100-$200 bonus with a 40-60% deposit match where 10 raked hands per bonus dollar are required.

In order for a sign-up bonus to be great it should have a high deposit match (%) and a low raked hands requirement. If you are promised $500 bonus at 20% match requiring 25 raked hands per bonus dollar you are not getting a good deal. You would then need to deposit $2500 and play 12,500 raked hands to clear the bonus!!!