Getting the best bonuses from a site

When signing up for a site, there are a few things to consider to make the most from your sign-up.

One is supporting the forum that you frequent (so if you want to sign up to a site that cardschat promotes, then you're helping support those running this great site. It also allows them to offer freerolls which we all enjoy playing in.

Second is rakeback offers from third parties - if you sign up to a site like InterPoker via the like of RakeBreak, then you'll get rake back on your play at that site, so on an ongoing basis you'll find playing on there to be more profitable. I've got a section on my site discussing rakeback a little more, although it is promoting rakebreak, which I'm an affiliate of (just so everyone knows up-front). Don't bother hunting around for rakeback offers for Party or Poker Stars, though, because they don't allow or facilitate rakeback offers, so for those you can probably just support cards chat by using the links above.

Next is any additional offer a 3rd party poker offers. Cardschat offers the freerolls as their way of saying thanks. Some sites allow you to offer more direct bonuses - like a free poker chip set or poker software, if you sign up through them. There are also a few offering a cash bonus into your account if you sign up through them.

The main one that I wanted to cover though was the tactic of not depositing immediately. When you actually sign up for a site it's generally because you want to play on there or you want to make the most of the sign-up bonus that the sites themselves offer, so you want to make a deposit fairly soon. In some cases, though, it can be more beneficial to create an account and either leave it mostly untouched for a little while or play a few freerolls. Some sites will then give you additional bonus offers for your first deposit, in addition to your standard ones.

Examples of the latter are Noble Poker. Since getting the free starting bankroll via the survey offer, I haven't needed to deposit, instead playing on that money (which is at nearly $25 now, so it's gradually getting there). Several times now I've had a chat window open from one of their staff offering an additional amount if I deposit immediately. Since I'm not wanting to deposit on there at the moment I just close the window, but if you do want to make a deposit there then it's definitely worth waiting for that offer to be given to you so you get that bit extra by way of a bonus. Because of that, if you're tempted by Noble Poker, then definitely the way to go is to sign up via the survey, play with that money, and then while you're playing they'll probably chat to you with an offer to pursuade you to deposit - that way you'll be supporting cards chat with your sign-up, getting some free playing money, AND getting an extra bonus when you first put money in.

CDPoker also offers a bit extra if you don't deposit immediately, although they email the offers instead. I signed up with them, but didn't deposit (my funds are mostly in PokerStars at the moment), and after a few days they sent me a $30 extra bonus offer. I thought this sounded reasonable, but not wanting to use funds that aren't already in poker accounts, I didn't act on it. A few days later they sent me a $50 one. Ignoring that for a couple of weeks now, they've now sent me an $80 one. There's no specific terms and conditions attached to the email - just in addition to your normal 1st deposit bonus, email them when you've make your deposit with the bonus code they've sent, and they'll add $80 to the bonus dollars amount... sure you have to play through the bonus, but it's a pretty reasonable addition to their standard 1st deposit bonus, anyway, so it's worth holding off on putting that first lot of money in to see what a site will offer to get you to play there.

Does anyone else have experiences with any other sites doing similar offers to entice people who've signed up to deposit?

great thread.

rep+

It looks like Poker.com also send a bonus offer if you wait a little while, as well, although it's a selection of offers and nothing as impressive as the CDPoker one, to be honest.