The online poker industry is one that is extremely competitive between poker rooms, which is generally great for customers as each poker room fights for new players to play on its site and generate valuable rake. The most common way for an online poker room is to offer cash rewards, known in the industry simply as bonuses.

Bonuses generally come in two forms, the first deposit bonus and the reload bonus and using a little bit of common sense you can probably figure out what each type entails! First deposit, or sign-up, bonuses are only for new customers and are usually quite substantial in their offering. For example, a quick look down some online poker room reviews shows some sites will match a new customer's first deposit 100% up to $600 meaning that player has the chance to get $600 for free!

Reload bonuses are normally available to all players, even those who have cleared the initial sign-up bonus and are offered periodically throughout the year. The amounts offered are generally less than the first deposit bonus but if you were already playing at the said site then you will essentially be getting paid to play their so it is a win-win situation!

When each poker room gives a bonus to a player it attaches some terms and conditions to it so that the site is not literally giving away money, otherwise they would never make any profits which is what they are all there to do. Every site is different so it is worth checking out some online poker room reviews for the clearance rates and terms. Some sites will give you up to six months to clear your first deposit bonus whilst others only allow you 30 days. Some may release the bonus as a full amount whilst other drip feed it into your account once you have cleared $10 or another fixed amount.

Try not to get overly attached to the bonus and treat it just as that, a bonus. Play your normal game, your usual stakes and if you play enough to clear some of the bonus then great, if not then it is not the end of the world.