What’s in a Poker Site Review
If you’ve found yourself on the prowl for a new real money, or even a play money poker site, you might have noticed that the amount of information can be a bit overwhelming. How do you figure out which poker sites are really the safest? What’s a legal poker site and how do you even tell if a site is operating within the law? What goes into a great poker site? Which sites operate on the very same network as others? There are so many questions that you might encounter that make site shopping a really daunting task.
We’re going to share with you in this article what it is we look at when we compare poker sites and write poker reviews, so that when you review an online poker site you will have a better idea as to what you may be looking for.
Most poker site reviews will contain the sites most current bonus offer, in fact, if that offer is outdated, that’s a good sign you’re reading an old review.
For those of you scouting out your own new poker site, let’s break down the review process so that you’ll know just what to look for in a new real money poker site.
Bonus Offer Review
The first thing that draws most players to new poker sites is the bonus offer. Before we delve too deeply into the different bonus offers available and the vast differences between them, there’s something you should realize right up front. The bonus offer is what you get right now from the poker site, however, if you’re a frequent player, and plan to be playing on the poker site for any amount of time; the bonus offer isn’t where you’re going to get the most value.
The welcome bonus is a one n done sort of deal. It might come with some free tournament entries, some cash on top of your deposit, and other perks that are designed to quickly boost your bankroll and grab your attention which is great. What you need to realize however is that the sites ongoing promotions like their VIP program and any cash-back or other loyalty programs are going to provide you with future return on that initial investment boosting your ROI overtime.
Reviewing Bonus offers
With that said, let’s look more in depth at First Deposit Bonuses, which are also commonly referred to as Welcome Bonus Offers. It’s important not to take any bonus offer at its face value, you’ll notice that in our reviews, we examine the offer very thoroughly, that’s because some bonuses are set up to be actually unattainable. Meaning you’ll never see a dime of the bonus money, or others are set up so that you’ll receive some, but very little of the bonus money.
No Deposit Bonus Offers
A no deposit bonus is just what it sounds like, it’s free marketing money provided to players by the casino or poker rooms marketing department to get new players to go ahead and try their software. In most cases this money is available as soon as the player signs up for an account at the site. There will be some withdrawal restrictions with no-deposit-bonuses, meaning the player will actually have to meet some play-through requirements before being eligible to cash-out. Many players over the years have actually built entire bankrolls from these bonuses, so they’re real, they’re not scams.
1st Deposit Match Bonuses
A deposit match bonus requires the player to make a deposit to claim the bonus offer. For instance, let’s look, at the bonus offer currently being advertised at GR88 Poker. Gr88 Poker is currently offering all new players at the poker site a 150% deposit bonus up to $750 in free poker chips.
So a player making a deposit of $25 would receive $37.50 in free poker chips. A player wanting to max out that bonus offer would deposit $500, receiving $750 in free poker chips.
Those chips wouldn’t immediately become available for use after the player deposits though, see this is the part that matters. 
The player would need to clear the deposit bonus, and at some sites, it’s really not even possible for some players to clear big bonuses. At Gr88, players are able to clear their deposit bonuses in chunks, and they’re given 90 days to do it. Meaning every time a player clears $10 of their bonus (which is done by playing poker, and there for paying rake, and subsequently earning loyalty points) that $10 is placed in their real money player account.
At some sites, the player receives NONE of their bonus money until they’ve cleared ALL of it. After a bonus expires, the bonus money left uncleared is forfeited forever. So at Gr88, for instance, players begin clearing their bonus the moment they begin playing real money poker games, and they’re given 3 months’ time to clear it. At the end of the three month period, Gr88 keeps whatever is left. Gr88’s bonus terms are pretty lax and in tune with the industry standard.
There are however sites that only give you 30 days to clear a bonus, sites like 888 Poker. 888 Also pays bonuses out in chunks however, so you do get to keep whatever you’ve earned after 30 days.
GR88 Poker Welcome Bonus
The GR88 poker welcome bonus, which is the very 1st bonus that players will become eligible for at the poker, is a 150% first deposit bonus for deposits up to $750. What that means is that players who deposit at least $25, and up to as much as $500 will receive a 150% deposit bonus.
Another way to lose poker bonus money is take a withdrawal before you’ve cleared it. Most online poker sites nullify any pending bonuses when a withdrawal is made.
VIP and Loyalty Programs
Many VIP and Loyalty programs today have taken the place of old rakeback type programs. What that means is that over time, you’re really going to earn more as a player by finding a poker site that offers a solid VIP program. You’ll want to take cash-back programs into consideration as well as free tournament entries, and all other benefits that can be translated into cash.
Games and Rake Reviews
Other aspects of a poker review that are really important from a player perspective include the games that the room offers (for those players that bore of Holdem, or are looking for some variety) as well as the sites rake. Bonus offers and loyalty programs have a positive effect on a players ROI the same way that high rake has a negative effect. There are sites that cap rake at $1 per hand, others cap it at $3 per hand, and others still are now charging $5 per hand as a cap. Take note also at the %rate that’s being taken from each pot. Many sites are charging as much as 5% of the value of an entire pot. Why we wonder are they charging a percentage anyway? Does the site have higher expenses if the pots are bigger? Why are they charging the same fees online as offline? These are things players should really be questioning.
