Bonus whores and bonus hunting
What are Bonus whores?
The online realm of poker is suddenly abuzz with multiple players looking for the best deals. The poker rooms and poker sites will occasionally offer deposit bonuses and signup bonuses to entice customers. Typically, they will credit a certain percentage of your deposit or else offer a fixed amount of say $ 25. They also put forward a stipulation as to how many hands you can play in order to collect your bonus money.
Some one who thus takes maximum advantage of this offer of free money is called a Bonus whore.
Bonus Hunting
Bonus hunting is very similar to bonus whoring. In bonus hunting, online poker players will take advantage of several different bonuses they are offered on multiple poker sites. They will in effect sign up for varied sites and collect as many bonuses as they can.
As online poker continues to gain popularity, online poker sites are also gearing up to entice new players with cash incentives and deposit promotions. This is resulting in more and more people opting for bonus hunting, especially the beginners, who wish to accumulate their bank balances before they set sail on their poker playing journey.
Bonus hunting can also earn you lots of money. Many players are able to convert their initial $50 into $2,000 or more through bonus hunting while still playing the $0.50/$1.00 game or $1/2 game. Although it sounds fantastic, it is relatively easy to do so. Bonus hunting involves a relative low risk option. But, what it does require is a huge amount of patience, which the beginners can acquire while learning the ropes of the game. For experienced players, it's not uncommon to see players raking in over $15/hr just through book poker and bonus hunting.
If you are a high stake gambler or profitable player, bonus hunting can make you plenty of money. However, in the case of a beginner or if you happen to be a conservative player, even if you just break even, bonus hunting is a good option to make money.
In any event, whether you are bonus hunting or not, you will obviously wish to play a tight and solid game of poker with the intention of making maximum money. Mostly, then you will be playing games carrying low limits as well as a fundamental game of betting with best hands, only drawing to nut straights or flushes and folding everything else.
Thus bonus hunting and bonus whoring are the same thing, only bonus whores, although more popular, is a politically incorrect term used in the context of making money.
The necessity for promotions and sign-up bonuses
With increasing competition in poker games online, and in order to survive, it has become imperative for poker sites to come up with new and improved incentives and promotions to lure customers. The more incentives and sign-up bonuses there are the more customers the sites attract. It has become a win-win situation for both, the poker sites and the poker players as there is plenty of money to be made for both.