Real Money Poker Perks

Besides the convenience and ease of playing online poker at home, on the go, and anywhere else you have wireless connection some players still prefer the thrill of a land based casino. Why play online? Some people live nearby to a casino with poker tables, others may hold poker nights with friends. Even more view poker as an exciting part of a vacation. So online poker rooms offer perks to draw in players. What are some of these perks?

Bonuses

The most well known of all the online poker perks is the bonuses. These are typically deposit bonuses. This means that every eligible deposit made by a player is usually matched a percentage by the poker room. Different deposit methods can offer different percentages.

For example, one poker room may offer 50% deposit bonus up to $500. This doesn't mean you will get $500 free, however. There is quite a bit of fine print. In simplest terms, a player can deposit up to a maximum of $1000, and the poker room will match it up to a set amount. In this case, depositing $1000 means you will get $1500 in your account. When it comes to the best value for your dollar taking advantage of online poker bonuses is a huge perk to playing online.

Casinos and poker rooms may comp you rooms, dinners, or even shows, but how many give you more money to play with? On top of this, some of the biggest poker rooms will from time to time give away free money to play with.

Promos and Giveaways

The best promos are typically found at the biggest poker sites. This is because they have large player base to be able to afford giving away thousands just to draw in new customers and keep the loyalty of their current customers.

Giveaways can vary widely- from contests, cash, to even merchandise. Some poker rooms will give away small cash amounts to players to celebrate milestones, or quite often for bad beats. Some poker sites will give away merchandise like shirts regularly. While shirts aren't a big expense, branded merchandise helps give them advertising. Everyone likes to get free swag, so it's a win for both the player and the poke room.

The most common types of promotion at all poker rooms are freerolls. There's usually a very wide selection of free tournaments. Freerolls are very popular with players as they allow them to practice their strategy while playing for free. Some types of freerolls include new player freerolls and satellites to larger tournaments. The prizes for freerolls can be very modest, but some of the prize pools can get quite generous, especially the satellite and exclusive freerolls.

VIP Clubs

VIP clubs, Points Programs, and Loyalty Programs are all the same when it comes to being a great poker perk. These programs allow players to earn points and rewards while playing poker. Many land based casinos have points cards as well- although it's typically much more difficult for the lower level players to earn enough points to qualify for any rewards or comps.

The best perk to online poker reward programs is that you don't need to remember to bring your card, or have to stop every time you switch tables to get your card and program information sorted. The poker room will automatically keep track and credit your account appropriately.

Some of the most common things offered by online poker room reward programs offer are cash rewards, and exclusive tournaments. Every poker site varies in how they award players for playing, but they will all have the ability for players to redeem what they've earned.

Besides earning cash and tournament entries, online poker rooms typically have a shop where players can spend their points (sometimes called chips or cards) on branded merchandise such as shirts, electronics, jewellery, big screen tvs and iPads. Sometimes there are even bigger items, geared towards the biggest spenders, like vacations and cars.

Taking Full Advantage of Perks

While it can be tempting to sign up for every single poker bonus, this can work against you. Read the fine print of the bonuses you sign up for. If you are on a larger site that has a casino and racebook as well as a poker room, you want to be sure that you sign up for only the bonuses that correspond with the gambling you prefer.