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Making Your Online Poker Bonus Work

You may understand that online poker bonuses allow you to add money to your online poker account, but you may not be clear how they actually work. In fact, online poker bonuses are very easy to understand and an important part of your online poker success.

Online Poker Bonuses: What's the Catch?

There really isn't one. You will have to play online poker awhile before you get your bonus, but the whole point of signing up with an online poker site is to play, right? How can the online poker sites give away free money? It's because they make money with every hand you play. Internet poker sites generate revenue through a "rake," a percentage they take out of each pot, usually no more than ten percent or $5.

Although you technically only contribute five cents or so, it adds up. Since you'll probably have to play over 100 hands to clear your bonus, the casino makes its money up pretty fast.

Using Online Poker Bonuses to Your Advantage

If the poker site is going to get their money back from you, what's the point? Well just because you are contributing rake every hand doesn't mean you're going to go broke eventually, as it does with many online casino games.

Poker is a game where you can have positive expected value, meaning if you play correctly and better than your opponents, you can expect to win over time. As long as your expected value is greater than the amount of the rake, you will make money. If you have the best poker bonus online working for you, your expected value will be that much higher in the short term.

Using up Your Online Poker Bonus

If you've had a bad run and your bonus is gone, don't worry. Keep playing on the site and eventually you may be offered a loyalty bonus. It works just like a sign up bonus except you are already signed up with the site. Use this bonus as a method for getting back on the plus side.