I hope that by now you understand the basics of poker bonuses and are ready to learn more. Most of you need more information before you begin building a poker bankroll. In this part of our poker bonus guide, I’ll teach you more about poker bonuses, including how to clear them efficiently.
If there’s a “catch” to poker bonuses.. this is it
When most people hear or see an advertisement with “free” in it, they automatically wonder, “what’s the catch?”. With poker bonuses, the catch is that you have to play a certain number of raked hands or earn a certain number of loyalty points. That’s really no big deal, since you’re playing poker anyway!
Always check the terms and conditions
For the most part, a site’s terms and conditions are a lot of legal nonsense that you need not worry about. However, the bonus information is well worth understanding. This is the fine print that poker rooms would rather you not read. They don’t want to cheat you: they would just rather you keep playing at their site from now on.
Things that affect your bonus clearance rate
Many subtle factors influence how quickly you’ll clear your poker bonuses. Here are the main factors.
How the poker room credits a raked hand or loyalty point
Every poker room has their own guidelines about how to acquire points, or what constitutes a “raked hand”. For instance, the PokerStars bonus requires that you earn frequent player points equal to 10x your bonus. If you max out the bonus for $50, you have to earn 500 FPPs to clear the bonus. Here’s an excerpt from PokerStars about earning FPPs.
1. Earn FPP credits for cash game play
First Frequent Player Point (FPP) is awarded for playing a hand in which the rake reaches:
* $0.40 for fixed limit poker games with stakes $1/$2 and lower
* $0.40 for NL/PL poker games with blinds $1/$2 and lower
* $0.40 for “1-on-1″ poker games (this applies only to “1-on-1″ tables, not to regular tables which have only two players seated)
* $1.00 for all other gamesSecond FPP is awarded for playing a hand in which the rake reaches:
* $2.00 for all 6-max tables (this doesn’t apply for games being played 6- handed at 10/9/8 player tables – just 6-max tables)
* $3.00 for all other tablesThird FPP is awarded for playing a hand in which the rake reaches $5.00.
2. Earn FPP credits for tournament play
Five (5) FPP credits are awarded for each $1 in tournament fees paid.
For example, playing in a poker tournament with $20 buy-in and $2 tournament fee, each player will be awarded 10 FPP credits. *Note that partial Frequent Player Points are always rounded to the nearest whole number.
While most poker bonuses have reasonable terms, some are really difficult to clear profitably. That’s why it’s important to visit sites like this one where you get unbiased information on the best poker bonuses and easy poker bonuses.
The stakes at which you play
The stakes you play is the main factor that determines your hourly clearance rate. The higher the stakes you play, the more rake most hands generate, and the faster your bonuses clear. While you may be tempted to play higher limits to clear bonuses quickly, don’t do so without the proper bankroll. You’re much better off practicing proper bankroll management, while playing multiple tables at lower stakes.
The number of tables you play
If the stakes you play determines your hourly bonus rate, the number of tables you play multiplies it. For instance, let’s say you are playing $.25/$.50 Limit Hold’em and clearing $1.25 per hour. Playing two (2) tables instead of one doubles your rate to $2.50, and playing eight (8) tables gets $10.00 per hour. Playing multiple tables is a great way to clear bonuses quickly!
Conclusion
All poker rooms have certain requirements you need to meet in order to clear a poker bonus. Remember, a poker room’s terms and conditions include valuable information about their bonus requirements. Always be aware of a site’s T&Cs! Many factors go into how quickly you clear an individual bonus including, how each room values a point or raked hand, the stakes you play, and the number of tables you play. Playing multiple tables is the best way to clear bonuses efficiently.
In the next article I’ll discuss specific poker bonus strategy to help you clear bonuses at your game of choice.
Do you have any questions or comments about clearing poker bonuses?
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