Bonus whoring at online poker sites is not as bad as it sounds – this is a well know term for taking advantage of poker bonuses to augment your bankroll. If a site is giving free poker money away, why not take advantage of this? Many avid online players do this and it basically means signing up at more than one site, making sure you understand what rake back means and how to take advantage of this. No other player will look down on you. For many, taking advantage of these bonuses is as much a part of the game as playing online poker itself. It is certainly not illegal, although this may be difficult for US players right now as the Department of Justice has shut down Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Absolute bet; but UK players have many choices.

By definition the player will be taking advantage of no deposit bonuses if there are any on offer, the first deposit bonus, re-load bonuses and of course rake-back as well as any other bonus offers. The real bonus whores, chase these bonuses from site to site and take advantage of as many as they can, this does not mean that they cash out this money, it just means they can play longer, more games and at more tables.

Any online poker site worth their salt who is worth giving your business to, offers various incentives. This is a competitive industry and if they want you to play they must also pay. Bonuses can bolster a bankroll very effectively and it did not take online poker player very long to find this out. However, all the good things in life don’t come easy and it will take time and hard work to get the system to work for you – spend too much time bonus whoring, and you won’t be left with any time to play poker.

One of the vital aspects of this form of incentive hunting is understanding what the rake-back means. Basically a raked hand is a poker hand where the site takes a portion of the prize pot for offering players the opportunity to play at their table. It is a percentage of the prize and as a bonus for being loyal; a percentage of that percentage is paid back to the players who play enough games – “enough” being the operative word. Some young poker-guns have mastered the technique so well they can play upwards of 12, 24 or even more table simultaneously. Obviously play too many tables and your game will suffer – no matter how many tables you play, and how much rake-back you earn, it will not off-set what you are losing if you manage to lose more than you win.

Therefore the first question to ask yourself is “how many tables can I play successfully and continue to win?” You have to be a winning player to win from bonus whoring or at least a break even player; so, really good players make really good bonus whores and that is the gist of it!