Getting your hands on a free no deposit poker bonus isn’t so easy these days. In fact, it’s the most rarely promoted bonus from any online poker site. With a little diligence, however, you can find and acquire a free no deposit poker bonus to start your bankroll off from scratch.
I have been unable to find any online poker site openly promoting this kind of bonus for the last year or so. It’s not nearly as easy as finding free online casino sites that advertise no deposit bonuses on a regular basis. Fortunately, by sifting through the multitude of third party poker sites, I have come across several free no deposit poker bonuses on the world wide web.
Currently, the only way to claim a free no deposit poker bonus is to visit one of these sites and use their links to sign up at the right online poker rooms. You’ll find free no deposit poker bonus deals presented for a few major brands, including BetFair Poker, Cake Poker, Absolute Poker, Bodog Poker and UB.
Third party sites that offer these free no deposit poker bonus deals are often referred to as “bankroll providers”. They are affiliates that earn a very small percentage of your generated rake from each poker site they refer a player to. To encourage more players to sign-up through their links, they offer each player a free bankroll to get them started.
As soon as you sign up through the bankroll provider’s web site, a small amount of money, usually anywhere from $10 to $50, is transferred into your player account. This is basically a sponsorship deal, as the bankroll provider is expecting you to generate a nice profit for them over time via that miniscule percentage of rake they are earning as your referring affiliate. Before they hand you any cash, they will expect you to confirm your ID and legal eligibility to play for real money, and may go so far as requiring you to pass a poker quiz. They are looking for good poker players, not freeloaders seeking a handout.
Another way to claim a free no deposit poker bonus is to start out with play chips and work your way towards a real money bankroll. Through solid poker play, you can actually accumulate enough play chips to enter real money poker tournaments. Finish in the prize bubble and you’ve got yourself a real cash bankroll without ever making a deposit.
Don’t discount the idea of getting a traditional free no deposit poker bonus though. Promotions change on a daily basis, and you never know when an online poker site will decide to offer its new members this kind of deal, just like free online casino sites do every day. It’s happened before, and will surely happen again.
Fortunately, by using any of the other methods – obtaining a free no deposit poker bonus via a bankroll provider, or using play chips to enter real money poker tournaments and freerolls – you won’t have to worry about the wagering requirements associated with traditional bonuses. So long as you’ve racked up enough winnings to qualify for a minimum withdrawal (typically $50 or so), and have put your credit card details on file (to confirm your ID and age), you should be able to withdrawal any winnings from your free no deposit poker bonus.
By Donna Dorsa
A seasoned veteran of the online gambling industry, Donna Dorsa has studied the underbelly of the market for near five years now. She shares her knowledge through publications so that anyone piquing interesting in online casino, poker, bingo and sports betting has a genuine vision of what they are getting themselves into.