When I decided to join the online poker fraternity, I was faced with the daunting task of choosing a site to play at. The biggest factor in my final decision was the deposit bonus. I wanted to clear the entire bonus that way; it would be like I was getting paid to play poker.

You don’t need to go to poker school but, you do need to understand the rules about how the bonus is paid. How much you need to deposit is the first thing to look at. $500 is a pretty typical upper limit. You can deposit more but, the bonus will only be paid on a maximum of $500. You should also understand that you will not be able to clear the bonus by playing poker tournaments.

How you earn your bonus is the next part to examine. Most sites will state that when you play X qualified hands you will clear a portion of your bonus. This portion may be $1 or $10. When a pot is raked a certain amount, it may qualify. Once you know what qualifies, find out how hard or easy it is to play qualified hands. The online poker lobby displays the average pot size. Figure out what the rake would be on an average pot and you know if the average hand would qualify. If you are playing Texas hold em, a conservative estimate would be 40 hands an hour. Now multiply the hands times the qualified points you would earn. Take the total points you need to earn to clear your bonus and divide by the number you just calculated. This is how many hours you need to play poker.

The final part is how much time you have to clear your bonus. Some sites may give you a month, others may give you several months. Whatever it is, figure out how many days in that time frame you will be able to play online poker and then figure out how many hours each day you need to play in order to clear the bonus. Some site will stipulate that you must clear the entire bonus in order to earn it. Others will pay only the portion you clear.

Playing online poker is fun. The deposit bonus can add significantly to your profits but, you definitely want to research the rules regarding the bonus and be sure you can meet them.