If you’re looking for a new online poker site that offers real money play you’ve come to the right site. This article will help you to discern what goes into a good real money poker site. You’ll learn what to look for when deciding whether or not a poker site is a safe place for your hard earned money, as well as whether or not the poker site offers a valuable VIP and loyalty program, and clearable, lucrative poker bonuses.
Feel free to use your own personality, but don’t sell me the poker site. Don’t say it’s the best, or the worst, or add in opinions about the site. It’s fine to let your personality shine through, as long as you can do so without stating opinions as fact.
Real Money Poker Bonuses
One of the 1st things that most poker players look for in a new online poker site is a lucrative online poker bonus offer. The first bonus offer players will encounter is the Welcome Bonus offer. Poker sites vying for new business will usually offer a percentage of a new players deposit in the form of free poker chips.
Let’s say for instance you’re planning to make a deposit at GR88 poker. That poker site offers all new real money players a 150% new player 1st deposit bonus up to the maximum bonus amount of $750. So new players could make a deposit of $25 and receive a $37.50 bonus for a total of 62.50 in real money, after clearing.
A player with a more liquidly available bankroll could max out this deposit bonus offer by making a real money deposit of $500, and receiving the maximum deposit bonus of $750 for a total playable bankroll of 1250 after clearing.
Real Money Poker Promotions
The bonus is what we see when we visit a new site, it’s the gold at the end of the rainbow that draws us in, but what many players don’t realize is that the promotions offered by poker sites, when they’re truly taken advantage really are the long term ROI boosters.
Promotions over the long term can be much, much more lucrative than 1st deposit bonuses. For instance, sites like PokerStars allow players to use their points to enter into real money tournament events, as well as to by PokerStars marketing memorabilia, but what’s more important is that PokerStars players can trade their points straight across for cash. This option is becoming more and more popular with online poker sites as rakeback programs that have been a thorn in the side of real money poker sites for years are phased out and replaced with new site-run cash-back programs.
VIP Club and perks and Loyalty Program
How does the VIP program work? Are there points? Can you trade them for cash? How much does one VIP point equal in cash? How do you get points? How many points do you get in comparison to the amount of rake you pay? These are all things you’ll want to take into consideration when comparing loyalty and VIP clubs at real money poker rooms.
Clearing Real Money Bonuses
When you’re shopping new poker sites, and looking for the best bonus offers, it’s important to take notice of poker bonus clearing procedures. For instance, two rooms may offer identical deposit bonus offers, let’s say 100% up to $600.
Now at room A the player deposits $600, and earns 2 points per $1 raked at the poker site. The player is given 30 days to clear the bonus, if the bonus goes uncleared after that time has expired, the player forfeits the bonus.
Room B gives the player 90 days to clear the bonus, and releases bonus money in chunks, so every time the player clears $10 of the bonus, the site adds $10 to the players real money player account.
Very few players at Room A ever actually receive their deposit bonuses. Had they made smaller deposits, they may have actually received some benefit from this bonus offer, but not having read a review here, or the terms and conditions, they may never realize that the two bonus offers are not identical. The best way to find the most detailed bonus information is to go straight to the terms and conditions.
Software
Most poker software is pretty graphically advanced when compared to poker software that was available 10, or even 5, or 3 years ago. There are some clear differences though, for instance, some poker sites suck up a lot of your computers resources, offering neat perks like 3D poker tables with a real live video game feel. Other poker sites are more streamlined, but pretty dull aesthetically.
So there’s that… but to the serious poker player, there’s a lot more. For instance, what statistics are available using the software? Is the sites software comparable with popular tools used by professional real money poker players, like PokerTracker 4 and HEM?
Players may also want to play at a room that offers a variety of poker applications. For instance, does the site offer real money play on mobile phones? Android Tablets? Macintosh computers? Is the software available in an in-browser version?
Security, banking, and legalities
Other things that make poker sites individually more appealing than their competition include things like licensing and legalities, random number generators, banking options, and the overall security of a poker site.
