Poker bonuses have come on a long way since the early 2000′s.  It’s hard to believe now, but for years Poker Stars did not offer any bonus to their new players. And even when they did start offering a new deposit bonus, it was only for $50, when most other rooms were offering at least $500 or $600!

They did eventually come into line a couple of years ago and started offering a deposit bonus of $600.

There are still online poker sites that are offering very small deposit bonuses of $100 or $200 though. I really can’t see how that can work these days when most internet users are fairly clued in and know how to do a simple search.

And maybe it doesn’t work, anyway, as most of the more well known poker rooms all have bonuses of a least $500 and usually a lot more.

I can remember the days when online casinos offered bonuses that were large and had a positive expectation on proper play. You could make a deposit of $1,000, attract a bonus of $1,000, and play Blackjack with perfect strategy and clear half or more of the bonus cash. Those days are gone now too, it appears, and the last few casino bonuses that I analyzed all had negative expectations.

The only way those casino bonuses are worth playing is when you intend to play a lot of your favorite casino game anyway. Players that are simply making a small deposit to check out the casino software, or big ‘win or bust’ players should never take a casino bonus. The wagering requirements on these bonuses will eat away at any early big wins, and with only a small expected return it isn’t much of a cushion against losses, and so is not really an incentive for smarat gamblers anyway.

But back about ten years ago it was a totally different story. Of course  some gamblers got clued in faster than the online casinos did, and were able to make a guaranteed profit off of some of the better bonuses. So much so, that many of these players were able to use their friends and family members personal details to open multiple accounts and clear the bonuses over and over.

Thanks to these bonus busters the casinos eventually figured out what was going on, and instead of their bonuses luring new casino gamblers to offset the cost, they were luring bonus ‘abusers’ who were creaming cash out of the casinos.

It was only a matter of time before this would have to stop of course, and stop it did.

Poker bonuses are a different type of bonus, though and always were. Not so much a free bonus, as a percentage of your own rake given back to you, they are eminently fairer and more profitable for the online gambling site.

There is no guaranteed profit in them as not only do you have to play, but you have to play properly against skilled opponents, in order to squeeze some cash out of them.

The same criteria apply to these as casino bonuses in that if you intend to play there anyway then you may as well take a bonus, but if you are only having a look at the software, then being tied in to raking a certain amount could be a drawback for you.

As always, read the small print.

Poker Bonuses 2011