Clearing an online poker bonus

Visit any online poker sites and you will be introduced to a world of online poker bonuses with each site trying to outdo the other. Perhaps a quick look at our poker room reviews may help you to decide better on which site to choose to gain access to the best online first deposit bonus.

Once you have signed on you will surely be wondering how to clear that online poker bonus. How do you optimize the task of getting that extra money out of the bonus account and into your real money bankroll? Well here are a few basic steps that you could follow:

Learn the Conditions to clear the online bonus
In the early days of poker room bonuses, players could only clear the funds through cash game play while tournament players were out of luck. Currently, many sites do allow you to clear your bonus by playing poker in tournaments. These calculate bonus clearing the same way they calculate player points. Thus before you start trying to earn credit toward your bonus through playing tournaments, find out if the site allows this practice.

Raising the Stakes may not help always
Some players see bonus clearing as an opportunity to move up in limits. They figure even if they go on a losing streak that the bonus will make up for it. However, you can clear the bonus just as quickly by playing your current limit.

Check your bankroll
Check your bankroll and plan properly for every game that you take part in. You do not want to deplete your bankroll before you clear the bonus. If this happens, you will have to deposit more money so that you can release the bonus in the time allotted.

So once Bonus is in your account what do you do? Simple answer, be sensible with it. It is your own hard earned money and should be defended with the same care and skill which you apply to your regular bankroll.

 

Overcoming bad beats in Texas Hold'em

In order to win at Texas Hold'em or for that matter at any poker game, you need to have the right strategy. The kind that helps you win pots of money. Your poker strategy could be based on any aspect of the game ranging from specific in-game theory to the psychological aspects of play.

A major setback to any poker players' game is a bad beat. The kind that drops you from the high of being all in on the flop with top set against two over cards, to the low of being outdrawn to a runner-runner flush. This is where your strategy comes in, where you have a game plan before playing your next hand.

Losing a lot of money in the game can be pretty frustrating. An aggressive player will determinedly chase after it for the rest of the session while attempting to pull off huge bluffs and losing more money in the bargain. Some beats are so bad, they drive you insane and you waste the rest of your chips on that ten-high flush draw.

Do not lose heart; there are ways in which you can avoid such an obvious leak of chips:
Take a break: Cool off. Poker is a mind game, and your mind needs some rest, sometimes. If you return to the game in a rational frame of mind, the probabilities of you playing at the top of your game and winning your money back are higher.

Think in terms of expectation: Think of the money you had expected to win on the hand that you lost with. As for instance, if you hold an AA against an AK pre-flop, there are 90% chances that you could win the hand. You could use an odds calculator to figure this out. You can now say that you won 90% of what was in the pot, the 10% chance of losing being an occasional situation that caught up with you this time. Okay, maybe you lost this particular hand but later on you will be winning more.

A poker lover will come across bad beats at some point of time in his play. It is what makes the player sharpen his skills at the game and not just depend on luck alone. What is important is that we overcome the bad beats by playing the right strategy.

Poker CPA Program

CPA is Cost per Acquisition, in a poker CPA program ; a poker room pays a set fees or incentive to an affiliate when on every player that they bring in irrespective of their earnings.

Revenue share is a share wherein the affiliate gets a percentage, normally starts at 20%, of all the players’ revenue that they generate.

Study suggests that organization just started out for the short-term to go for a poker CPA program, while long-term look more towards revenue share, however then you have to remember this old adage.

There is no specific conclusion as it has its own advantages and disadvantages. There are affiliates who prefer a poker CPA program. However, in long term prospects than it has been suggested that affiliates shall opt for revenue share and not CPA program.

Let’s see what party poker affiliate program offers its affiliates, Affiliates of party poker are given two options. With poker CPA program, an affiliate gets $65 per player or can get a revenue share of 20% on each player.

Let’s take an example to explain these plans. With CPA program, get in 5 new players, all with “bonus whores” deduct 20% to $100 sign-up bonus at $0.5/$1 and withdraw. The total revenue paid for the players would be approximately negative $300. On a revenue share plan, you would earn no money at this point and would actually be in the red. You may consider a poker CPA program as a good plan. lets see the other side of the coin. The account manager looks at your stats and understands that you are owed $325 affiliate funds due to CPA program. Also he sees that your account is negative therefore he blocks the amount not allowing it to be withdrawn until the stats turn out positive. This is a ethical and a standard business practice.

With revenue share program, if an affiliate gets 5 new players and all of whom start playing the $10/$20 tables, multi-tabling. They would generate $8,000 in revenue in the first month. Here you may get 20% of that, or $1600. On a poker CPA program, you’d get just $325.

The poker rooms are established with the interest to make money and would only appreciate or except affiliates that would bring consistent business to them. They’re not going to entertain or pay an affiliate who is actually losing money for them. This is practiced by most of the online poker rooms, and there’s nothing wrong with what the poker room is doing; it’s just yet another reason why poker CPA program is not considered.

This article provides suggestive information for people who are willing to be an affiliate or want some information on it. If a poker room offers a choice then it is been suggested that affiliates should opt for revenue share program and not a poker CPA program as this program is considered to be profitable on a long term business prospects and also to create a recognition or status among online poker rooms .

Online Poker Bonus

Online poker bonus is an integral part of Internet poker. Just a bonus won't make you a winning player, but it can definitely help you along the way. These bonuses are perfect for those who are building a bankroll. The bonus can cover up for mistakes new players commit or just be extra cash on top of the winnings from the game. The most common and popular type of bonus is the sign-up match bonus where a site offers you money for signing up with their site equal to a percentage of the initial deposit.This percentage can be 100 percent or even more with some site promotions. The concept of an online poker bonus has a few pros and cons associated with it.

Pros:                                                                                    1.Financial Benefit
The most obvious upside to an online poker bonus is that it fetches you free money. All you have to do to get it is sign up for the site with the proper code and play on the site, which you would do anyway. If you're a winning player, this increases your expected value. If you are a losing player, it can stop the bleeding and if you're somewhere in between, it can put you over the top.

2. Shopping Around
The online poker bonus is a feature that attracts a player to any site.The online sign-up bonus allows you to test out a new site without investing too much of your own capital. You can play as long as it takes to release the bonus, and if you decide you enjoy playing on that particular site, keep going. If you don't care for it, you can take your bonus money and head elsewhere.
 
3. No Obligation
Collecting a sign-up bonus from one online poker site does not preclude you from collecting another one on a different site. All that is required is that you play the requisite number of hands to clear the bonus into your account. Beyond that, what you do with your online poker time is up to you.

Cons:
1. Clearing Requirements
You will not be able to collect your online poker bonus until you play a certain number of raked hands, usually determined by the size of your bonus. This is a reasonable requirement on the part of the site, however, if you decide you do not like the site right away, you will still be stuck playing on it for awhile in order to clear your bonus. Fortunately, most sites have non-sticky bonuses, which mean that once you meet the requirements you can withdraw all of your bonus money without penalty.

2. Time Requirements
Most sites require you clear your bonus within a given amount of time. If you deplete your bankroll and cannot reload your account in time to play the given number of raked hands, you may lose your bonus. If you play a super tight no limit texas hold’em game, clearing a bonus might take some time.

3. Overconfidence
Resist the temptation to see the bonus chips as house money. The online poker bonus  is real money that belongs to you, and you should treat it with just as much respect as money you earned from your job. Playing recklessly with bonus money because it was so easy to get is just a waste.

In short online poker bonus can be considered as an incentive that is given by a poker room to players.The bonuses come with a code that needs to be entered at the time of depositing, this code is the bonus code. The rate of how fast a bonus will clear is called the clear rate and the expiration time is the time available to the players before the bonus expires. These are some of the terms associated with an online poker bonus.

Mansion Poker Card Room Review

Over the week end was able to write this Mansion Poker card room review. Mansion Poker is sure to please almost every online gamer.

The highlight of this Mansion Poker card room review is the fact that Mansion Poker has a good 100% first time deposit bonus of up to $500. If you make your first deposit using moneybookers, the deposit bonus increases to $150% up to $500 which makes moneybookers the place to deposit from for Mansion poker.

For every 1000 Mansion Poker Points earned, $10 of your bonus will be released as cash into your Mansion Poker account. It is easy to earn points with 20 points for every single dollar spent on a tournament and points are earned in ring games regardless of whether you play the hand or not, so long as you are dealt cards and rake is taken from the hand.

Another good thing found during this Mansion Poker card room review  is that the refer a friend bonus is also good. A $75 bonus for you and a $25 welcome gift for your friend is up for grabs. You will receive your bonus amount as soon as your invited friend makes a successful deposit. Your friends deposit must be $50 or more and they must earn 200 Mansion Poker Points before you receive your bonuses.

Mansion Poker offers happy hours where point earning doubles making all promotions easier to accomplish then a lot of sites. They seem to continually change, but are always offering fabulous promotions and bonuses with extraordinary pays. There really are too many promotional tournaments and challenges to list as part of this Mansion Poker card room review and i will leave it to you to explore further on the mansion poker site.

Deposit Methods 10/10
Mansion Poker offers a massive amount of deposit methods for its customers. With such a huge range everyone is sure to be happy no matter what location they are from in the world.

Tournaments and Sit N Go's 7/10
Mansion Poker offers a massive 1 million dollar guaranteed tournament every month, what's more, you can make your way into this massive prize pool for free. Satellites to the tournament run continually. Download Mansion Poker and search for them in the lobby for your chance to win your way to 1 million dollars cash. They also have on other other guaranteed tournaments including their massive (but not quite as big as 1mil) 20k GTD.
Mansion splits tournaments and Sit N Go's into 2 sections. What i saw during the Mansion Poker card room review is that there Sit N Gos cater for the biggest of online gamers down to the smallest with up to $5000 entries. Private Sit N Gos are available if organized.

Mansion Poker offers tournament satellites, major online qualifiers for live events and a regular tournament schedule also. Tournament buy ins range form the smallest of all being freerolls through to $500 entries.

Tournaments and Sit N Go's run around the clock on Mansion Poker. Depending on your stakes, you shouldn't have much of a wait time to get a game.

Withdrawal Methods 10/ 10
There is no hassle getting your winnings off Mansion Poker. Mansion has just about every part of globe happy with the withdrawal methods they have available at the time of this Mansion Poker card room review .

Traffic 7/10
There is never a shortage of traffic at mansion poker with as many as 20 thousand plus players online at any one time during peak hours. Players are primarily tournament players but you can find thousands in the ring games also.

Customer Service 8/10
Mansion Poker offers a great support system with email, chat and telephone support available 24/7. One bad thing about this Mansion Poker card room review is that it cost money to call Mansion Poker as phone calls are not toll free.

Game Selection 8/10
Mansion poker offers a good selection of the basic poker variants such as:

• NL Texas Holdem
• Pot Limit Texas Holdem
• Limit texas holdem
• Omaha hi
• Omahahi/lo
• 5 Card Stud
• 7 card stud

Unfortunately Mansion Poker doesn't offer games such as H.O.R.S.E in either ring or tournament play due to the unavailability of RAZZ. If RAZZ and H.O.R.S.E unavailable doesn't effect you, mansion may just be the right home for you.

Ring Games 6/ 10
Mansion offers ring games in all of its game selections:

• NL Holdem; 1c/2c through to $200/$400 blinds
• Limit Holdem Games available in 2c/4c through to $300/$600 limit blin
• Pot Limit Holdem 2c/4c through to $50/$100 blinds
• Limit Omaha is available in 2c/4c Blinds through to $50/$100 blinds
• Pot Limit Omaha has blinds to play from 1c/2c through to $100/$200
• Limit Omaha Hi/Lo has stakes from 2c/4c through to $200/$400
• Pot limit Omaha hi/lo available from 1c/2c to $50/$100
• 7 Card Stud you have the option of 5c/10c stakes through to $50/$100
• 5 Card Stud has blinds from 5c/10c through to $100/$200

However during the Mansion Poker card room review i noticed that Mansion Poker is missing some ring games other sites have but if you are not a big fan of them there is no great loss. As with most sites, most of Mansion Pokers traffic is on the lower limit ring games. There are few players in the stud ring games at most times.

Software 7/10
Mansion Poker although in Lime Green is a very attractive site and it looked quite good while doing my Mansion Poker card room review. The graphics are clean and smooth and the lobby is easy to maneuver around. The avatars are all pretty plain, but are human like. The software seems very stable and smooth running. Mansions software is nothing to be excited about other then you can be pretty sure it isn't going to crash on you.

Mansion offers a filter system that can be very handy, it can be reset unlike a lot of others leaving you stranded with an annoying lobby mess. Mansion sends newsletters to its customers on a regular basis so you are sure to know what's hot at any given time. They have a comprehensive section for club M where everything is finely detailed. There are really not too many extra features but the site itself is practical and simple to use which is what counts.

Overall while doing this Mansion Poker card room review i would say Mansion poker is known for weaker players, a moderate amount of traffic, but with unique software, large deposit bonuses and the cash-added tournaments. Unfortunately U.S. Players are Not Allowed.

Party Poker Room Review

While doing this party poker room review, one astonishing fact which came out was that party poker is the largest poker rooms online and having some of the weakest competition out there. This site has rebuilt its player base and has become the largest non-US poker room online.

Bonuses and Promotions 10/10
Party Poker has a welcome bonus for its new customers. The bonus is simple, Party Poker match whatever you deposit; it is only up to $100 though. The bonus is delivered in 10 bite sized chunks. So if you deposit $100 you will receive your bonus in $10 increments.

After you have signed up and made your first deposit, you are eligible for the exclusive entries into daily freeroll qualifiers. This is part of Party Poker's Bakroll builder promotion. This depositor's bonus lasts for 60 days after you've made your first real money deposit. If you qualify you have the opportunity to play in $2500 freerolls. The steps up continue as you continue to win, if you do well in $2500 freeroll you'll be able to play for some serious cash in the $10000 monthly finale. There are more than 100 chances to win cash in the first 60days, and what's more, it's free. There are an additional 100k of freerolls each month.

While doing this party poker room review, i realized that another bonus Party Poker offers is "the bad beat jackpot". Sit down at any red marked bad beat jackpot table and cop a bad beat and you could be a lot richer, even after losing. Party Poker collect 50 cents from the pot of every raked hand played on the Bad Beat Jackpot tables, so the jackpot grows the more you play. With more than 100 tables, the jackpot typically increases by $1000 every hour. You win the bad beat jackpot if you are on one of these tables and you lose with a hand of Four of a Kind, 8s, or better. 70% of the jackpot is distributed and 20% used as a seed for the next jackpot. 10% is retained by Party Poker as an administrative fee. Of the distributed amount, 50% goes to the loser of the hand (the Bad Beat), 25% goes to the winner, and the remaining 25% is split between the other seated players who took part in the hand. Players who sat out of the hand will not receive a portion of the jackpot.

Party Poker offers continual new bonuses. Everytime you look at your account there seems to be a new bonus offer where you get cold hard cash. Party Poker are always looking after their players in this respect. These continual bonuses work much the same as the first depositor's bonus but are generally released in 2 increments.

Party Poker alike other sites offer a points system, where the more you play the more you earn. These points are not only used for the release of bonuses but remain in your cashier account even after your bonuses are released. Furthermore; you can use these points for the purchase of Party Poker merchandise from their unique store or even for tournament entries. Other bonuses or in this case promotions include the slashing of charges for all single-table tournaments over $200 to a flat $10 fee. No matter how high the stakes, the fee will be just $10. Party Poker have introduced a complete range of high-end Single Table Tournaments with buy-ins all the way up to $5,000. So with a fee of just $10 - far less than any other poker room - you'll be getting tremendous value.

Tell a friend bonus is just another bonus on offer from Party Poker. Let a friend know about Party Poker and when your friend deposits and start playing and you receive $100 and your friend gets $50. This is subject to conditions which you will find within your account under "tell a friend". When it comes to bonuses, they never seem to stop at Party Poker and there is something for everyone! Indeed Party Poker is the strongest online poker site when it comes to customer loyalty rewarding.

Ring Games 10/10
When it comes to playing in ring games (or cash games as some call them) Party Poker is pretty high up the ladder with what they offer. Stakes in ring games are from1c/2c through to $250/$500 depending on the poker variant you choose. If you play low limit stakes or high stakes there is a table for you. You can sit and play heads-up against an opponent on 6 and 10 seater tables. There are a variety of games to choose from including NL Hold'em, Pot Limit Hold'em, Limit Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha hi/lo, and 7 card stud. Party Poker has a section for beginners only so anyone starting out has a great chance of playing a good game.

Tournaments and Sit N Go's 10/10
Party Poker is home to some of the biggest online tournaments available. Each month, Party Poker has a $1,000,000 guaranteed on the first Sunday of every month. You can qualify for this tournament from as little as a $1 buy-in.

Party Poker also has a $300,000 guaranteed tournament on Sunday's and gaining entry is just as cheap as the 1mil dollar tourney. You can do this by playing in the 50 seat frenzy where 50 seats are up for grabs. Entry into the 50 seat frenzy is $15, alternatively you can play in one of two $2 qualifiers or in a daily freeroll for your specific country where the top 10 players receive an entry.
PartyPoker.com now offers over $6 Million a month in Guaranteed Tournaments. With a variety of buy-ins suited to every bankroll and different game types. Something very unique in this party poker room review is that  Party Poker guarantees the prize pool amount before the commencement of the play in all guaranteed tournaments so you may have less people to beat then you expect,

On the lowest scale of the tournament ladder, Party Poker offers continual freerolls to its customers daily. These range is from $100 upwards. This is a great opportunity to experience the Party Poker tournament world for all new players and also increase your bankroll at the same time. There are also as mentioned above, new depositor freeroles. On the scale of low limit buy-ins, Party Poker tournaments start from $1 each right through to your desired limit. The tournaments at these levels include regular tournaments through to satellites for the major Party Poker tournaments mentioned above. They also have qualifiers for major live tournaments such as the poker news cup which has qualifiers running as this review is written.

Tournaments for almost every poker variant can be played...
To save you waiting for your tournament to start, Party Poker offers Sit n Go's from a minimum $1, through to a massive $5010. There is a Sit N Go to suit every budget with minimal wait. Again, these are available in most poker variants. Satellites for the major tourneys are also available by simply sitting and going.

Party Poker has incorporated a Steps Challenge for low limit playing Sit N Go fans. It is a six step challenge where you can turn $3 into $2000. The idea is simple. Buy in to any of the six levels and place first, second, or even third in some levels, to move up to the next step. Place further down and you can still win a chance to try either the same level or a lower level step again. This is a great opportunity for every Sit N Go player who wants to take on the challenge.

Software 9/10
The poker software is simple to use, the main lobby has things pointed out precisely. It is easy to find your way around the party poker site. The graphics are not the best available online, but if your computer and internet speed isn't the fastest it will suit your needs. You can choose to use your own avatar or one of the ones available which are of things such as high heels, trees and lobsters. I prefer to use my own face at the table, each time you choose to change your avatar it must be approved by party poker. Choice of custom picture is a great feature and highly regarded by most people who discuss Party Poker. You have the option to switch from avatars and change card colors at tables. You can change the table themes to one that suits your liking. You can go back to the older style, original party poker tables with standard avatars also.The software runs smooth and is clear and precise. Favourite tables and games are displayed when signing in. There are many great features about Party Poker Software. The software is reliable and stable.

Payouts 8/10
Payouts are easy, very non complicated with Party Poker. They are handled fast and professionally. Direct bank transfers are received within 3-5 working days worldwide and that's just unbeatable. Other withdrawal methods (depending on country) include:

• Netteller
• EntroPay
• Money bookers
• Check by mail
• Check by premium delivery
• Bank Wire Transfer

Each withdrawal method allows a minimum of $50 and the maximum varies up to the sum of $10,000 for the local bank transfer method. Some methods are almost instant; pending approval and others take 3-5 working days.

Customer Service 10/10
There is no need to wait for email replies from Party Poker. Party Poker is available toll free or for the cost of a local call from anywhere in the world. Their support is second to none. If you would rather email, replies are quick and precise. There is no comparison to support online.

Traffic 8/10
Party Poker is one of the true online gaming giants with a fair amount of action available 24/7 at most levels of play. The restrictions on US customers however have slowed a lot of this giant's traffic. High stakes play attracts the least traffic.

Games Selection 7/10
Doing the Party Poker room review i realized that Poker offers its players No Limit, Pot Limit and Limit Hold'em tables from micro to high stakes. Tables are available anywhere from 2 seat play (heads-up) through to 10 seats. All Hold'em games are available in tournament play and Sit N Go's also from micro to high stakes.

Omaha - Party Poker offers their customers both Omaha hi and Omaha hi/ lo. The Omaha tables are fairly low in traffic compared to Holdem. Omaha is available to play from 25c/50c through to the high stakes levels. Tournaments and Sit N Go's run fairly often.7 card stud adds to the games list on Party Poker. It is a less commonly known game but again, available from low to higher stakes.Party Poker lacks some poker variants such as RAZZ and H.O.R.S.E. If poker variants such as razz are not your cup of tea all isn't lost.

Other features 7/10
Party Poker has a few other features available to its customers including the key system. As you earn more points you unlock availability of more items in the Party Poker shop. Party Poker has the extra feature of an attached online casino suite. Transfer of cash can be made to friends who play on the site. Gift Certificates are available for purchase.

Overall for this party poker room review i will give a score of 8.8/10 .