Changing Strategy When Clearing an Online Poker Bonus
Getting online poker bonuses is terrific.
You sign up with an online poker site by depositing $100 into your account,
and just like that you have $200 or more to play with! What could be better?
Of course, it’s not really “just like that.” To get that extra cash, you’ve got to clear your bonus.
The way you clear the bonus is by playing.
Depending on the size of your online poker bonus, you have to play a certain number of raked hands.
You’re welcome to play free online poker on the site as well of course, but this won’t count towards clearing your bonus.
The question is: What should your strategy be for clearing poker bonuses?
Even if you have bonus money coming, you should always be playing your best poker.
Playing recklessly because you have house money coming to you is simply a waste.
There’s no such thing as playing with house money.
That bonus money belongs to you, just as much as if you had won it in a game,
and it spends just the same too. If you play haphazardly while anticipating getting that bonus money,
you may lose your stake before you clear the bonus.
Then you’ll have to scramble to reload so you can clear the bonus before the time
you are given to get that bonus expired and the money lost.
One strategy you might use to your advantage while clearing an online bonus is multitabling.
Multitabling means playing a number of games at once.
Most of the better online poker software allows players to play two, three or four tables at once, some allow even more.
Remember your bonus is cleared by quantity of raked hands played, not by chronological time.
If you’re playing four hands at once, you’ll clear your bonus four times faster.
Remember that a raked hand is simply one that you are dealt into when a rake is collected.
Even if you folded pre-flop, if rake is taken from the hand, it counts.
If you play at many tables simultaneously, you should preferably adapt a tight strategy.
When playing a straightforward game,
you won’t find yourself in that many tricky situations and manage to avoid costly mistakes.
(Note: If you are sitting out, at any table, which will happen if you let your time expire without acting,
you won’t be getting hand credit at that table until you get back in and re-post the blinds.)
Once your bonus is cleared, you can use that bonus money for anything you want,
including immediately withdrawing it for personal use.
Some people like to use the bonus money to practice a new type of poker that they may not have played before.
Even though the money at risk is real money,
you may feel more comfortable experimenting and learning a new game with money
that was a bit easier to earn than your traditional poker winnings.
Even if you lose the money in this way, it will not have been wasted,
as you will have gained valuable experience in the new game that you can trade on later.
Find an Online Poker Room at our A to Z Guide
Flush Fever
