What is a Poker No Deposit Bonus?
If you’ve ever hit up the homepage of a casino site before, you’ll probably have been offered free cash to play games with or free hands of poker. These offers are so commonplace, we have a tendency to take them for granted. But what a lot of people do not seem to realize is that you can actually get poker free money, no deposit required!
So why wouldn’t you? Well, some of these poker no deposit offers are better than others for a variety of reasons, but at the end of the day, the right bonus used in the right way can really be a great treat for your online poker experience. We can show you how to spot an online poker no deposit bonus that is worth your time, and also point out some of the red flags for the bonuses that are worth steering clear of.
A poker no deposit bonus is one of the most exciting forms of casino no deposit bonus, so if you’re into your poker, you won’t want to miss out.
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A Good-Looking Bonus
‘Poker free money no deposit’ might seem attractive right off the bat, especially if you are being offered an irresistible amount of cash. But actually, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that can be the difference between a bonus that is worth your time and one that you might wish to avoid.
We’re about to take a look at some of the aspects of a poker welcome bonus that get the thumbs up from us, and some of those that signify a waste of your time.
Green Lights
The best free online poker bonus will have at least one of the following positive aspects going for it:
- Lots of cash or hands: at the most basic level, a poker no deposit bonus that hands you plenty of cash is always a great thing! Why bother signing up for a new customer offer that offers $20 when you could grab one that offers $100? It’s a no-brainer!
- Low wagering requirements: a wagering requirement refers to how many times you will need to play through your bonus winnings before you are able to cash out. Say you win $100, but the wagering requirement is 65x, this means you will need to play through $6500 before you can withdraw. Believe us when we say, that will take a long time!
Actual cash or hands to play with: the bonus might offer you cash or rounds of poker, but if you have not read the terms and conditions, you might find that the bonus was actually an offering of something like tournament tickets all along. These are just a little more difficult to use. Actual cash is definitely the way forward, as it is more flexible.
Red Flags
Most red flags with welcome bonuses for poker come in the form of terms and conditions that need to be met in order to claim any of your bonus funds. It might seem super simple to cash out at first glance, but once you get into the small print, things seem to get a little more tricky. Here are some things to avoid at all costs:
- A short time limit: it’s fairly common for a welcome bonus to be limited in terms of the time you are allowed to play through it and cash out. Just make sure that this time limit isn’t too constraining, as you’ll have to have those wagering requirements in mind.
- Retrospective deposits required: one of the sneakiest terms is to have to put down cash after you have played through your winnings.
Limited games to play through wagering requirements: this isn’t too much of a problem with poker when compared to the likes of slot games, however, it is still worth bearing in mind. Some poker games might be left off of the wagering requirements playthrough, which means that any money you spend on them will not count towards that. Keep an eye out for this, as well as the rest of these points, in the terms and conditions.
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The Different Types of Poker Sign Up Bonus
It’s important to distinguish that there are, in fact, two categories of welcome bonus for poker: those that require a deposit to unlock and those that are credited as soon as you sign up. We call the latter of these a poker no deposit bonus, and that is what we are focusing on today.
Poker free money (no deposit) can come in a few forms, believe it or not. The two most popular of these are free cash and free hands, which aren’t too dissimilar from one another, but are still worth distinguishing from one another so that you know what you’re dealing with when you sign up for your first no deposit poker bonus:
- Free cash: this is probably the most common form of poker signup bonus (no deposit) simply because it is the least complicated. Here, you’ll be given a fixed amount of cash to play poker with just for signing up! You might see this written as ‘$100 free poker cash to play with when you sign up’.
Free bets or hands: this type of welcome offer is not too different, it’s just communicated in a slightly different way. Here, you’ll get a fixed amount of hands or bets on poker that are worth a certain amount. For example, you might get 10x $5 to play with.
Other Things to Note
The two things to note when considering these poker sign up bonuses are a) the terms and conditions that we mentioned before (namely the wagering requirements) and b) the fact that you might need to enter a promo code when you sign up.
Any promo code should be made clear to you on the homepage of the site, or at least in the promotions section of the site. It’s worth keeping an eye out for, because you will not be able to claim your bonus funds if you do not enter the required promo code when prompted.
What Else Makes a Great Poker Site?
A poker no deposit bonus is definitely one of the most exciting parts of the whole poker playing experience for us players, but there are actually a lot more factors that go into defining what it is to be a good poker casino. It’s easy to be wooed by an exciting bonus offer, but we’ve got to remain level-headed and consider the other areas first.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones.
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Availability of Games
When it comes to online poker, there is a lot more choice out there than people seem to know about! Some of the best online casino game providers out there have created poker games, and you can play them online or solo!
Here are a few of the top poker game providers for you to try out:
- Evolution Gaming
- Microgaming
- NetEnt
- PokerStars
- TCSJOHNHUXLEY
You may wish to find out whether the casino site you have your eye on offers games from all, or most, of these providers. You don’t want to run out of options if you get bored of a poker game from one particular provider. It’s always nice to have a wide range of choices!
This doesn’t just apply to poker either. Think about some of the other online casino games you love to play. What happens when you fancy a punt on a slot game instead of poker for a change? Make sure that your casino offers a bit of everything if you have an inclination to try out something different.
Restrictions on Countries or States
Gambling laws over here in the US are a little difficult to navigate, as not all states are currently legally allowed to bet on poker. On top of this, it can be tricky for a poker casino to acquire the necessary licenses to be able to do business in each state. Because of this, you might find that the state you live in is limited on the number of casinos available.
The same can be said of the rest of the world. If you are based in Europe, Asia or elsewhere, you may wish to check that the country you live in has poker casinos available.
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Top Quality Site Design
If you get the green light on a couple of poker sites in terms of their licenses, and you find out that they have a good choice of games and providers available to check out, the next thing to do would be to check out the site itself to see what it looks and feels like to use.
Having a great-looking site can vastly improve the overall experience for the players. Not only will it be pleasing to the eye, and therefore satisfying to use, but it will also be easier to navigate if it is sensibly laid out. Find out what we think is the best online poker app for more on this.
If you are a mobile player, it will probably also be worth downloading the mobile app if it is available. We all know that a mobile app is much more satisfying to use than your mobile browser, so if you spend most of your time playing poker on a phone, there’s probably no need to settle for a casino that does not offer a mobile app.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Nowadays, most casino sites will offer a wide range of deposit and withdrawal options (e.g. VISA, Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, PayPal etc.), but some of the casinos out there do fall down on this front with only a couple of options available that will not suit all types of players.
On top of this, deposit and withdrawal times are important to consider. Any withdrawal time over about seven days in this day and age seems a little unfair, especially when some casinos are offering instant withdrawals. We don’t know about you, but we’d much rather receive our winnings into our bank account straight away rather than having to wait more than a week!
Consistent Customer Support
If you have any problems throughout the signup process (including claiming your no deposit welcome bonus), placing a deposit, making bets on poker, withdrawals, or anything else during your casino poker experience, you’re going to want to reach out to the casino for some help.
Some poker casinos will not allow you to speak to them during the night time, whereas others will offer 24/7 customer support. The latter of these sites are much more desirable. You may not feel like you need it right now, but if you get stuck out of hours, you’re really going to wish that you had some help there and then instead of having to wait until the following morning!
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How to Claim a Free Poker No Deposit Bonus
The beauty of no deposit bonuses is that in most cases, they require the minimum amount of effort to sign up for. In fact, all you will really have to do is head to the site and sign up for an account!
How this process works varies from site to site, but as a general rule of thumb, it will look something like this on most sites:
- Head over to the homepage of the site you are interested in and press the ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Join Now’ button.
- Fill out a few details, and possibly confirm your email address by clicking a link that will have been sent out to you, and confirm your phone number by entering a code that will have been messaged to you.
- You also may have to confirm your identity. To do this, you will need to upload a scan or a clear photo of your passport, driving license, or other form of government issued ID. You may also have to confirm your address by uploading proof of this, such as with a bank statement or utility bill addressed to you at the correct address.
- Finally, enjoy your bonus! Remember, you may also have to enter a bonus code to activate it, so keep an eye out for that throughout the signup process.
After you have played through your bonus, you will probably want to put down a deposit so that you can continue to play. To do this, you should be able to see a ‘banking’ or ‘deposit’ section in the main menu of the site. Ensure that you are logged in, then head to this section. Choose a deposit method and put down the amount of cash that you wish to add.
Remember, some providers only accept certain payment methods. If you only wish to use the likes of Neteller, PayPal or Skrill then it may be worth taking the time to find out if your casino of choice allows for the use of these.
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The Best Free Online Poker Bonus Sites
With all of these factors in mind, and with a focus on online poker no deposit bonus offers, we’re about to provide you with some of our top recommendations for poker sites to sign up for online.
It’s worth bearing in mind that each of these recommendations is based on carefully selected criteria, such as the list we provided above, but at the end of the day, this list is subjective. Just because we like the look of a site, it does mean that it is going to work out perfect for you!
Nonetheless, most of these sites should work out for most punters. They’re some of the best out there, and are definitely tried and tested! So let’s take a look at the best online poker sites, no deposit bonus offers in mind.
PartyPoker
As you may be able to tell from the name, PartyPoker specializes in poker. In fact, they don’t actually do anything other than poker, which means, as you would imagine, they’re uniquely good at it. But what exactly do they do that makes them so good? Well, one of their major benefits is their sign up bonus.
At PartyPoker, you can get a $25 no deposit bonus to play with, provided that you are based in one of the states that PartyPoker is legally allowed to operate in. On top of this, you’ll be able to get a 100% matched deposit on your first deposit up to $1000! Very exciting stuff.
888Poker
888 as a company is divided into a number of sections: 888Sport, 888Casino, and 888Poker to name a few. Today, we’re going to look at their poker section as we feel that they are one of the best sites in the world for the game! This is for a number of reasons, including their bonus.
Technically, it’s not a no deposit bonus. But, it is a cracker. It’s not quite as strong as that of PartyPoker, but how does this sound? $20 free with no deposit, just for signing up! After this, you will also be able to claim up to $500 in the form of a 100% matched deposit.
PokerStars
PokerStars is the only recommendation we have that is not currently licensed to operate in the US, but we hope that they will soon as they are a very exciting site. A big part of that excitement comes from their welcome bonus.
Available to customers based in Europe, the PokerStars welcome bonus consists of 2 free bets worth €10 each. That’s not bad considering that you do not have to place a deposit in order to claim it.
Final Thoughts on Poker Free Money No Deposit
Poker is one of the most exciting online casino games to play in the world, and it can be made even more exciting with a free, no deposit bonus. With this article, you’ll be able to find the best bonuses, and be able to consider some of the other factors that go into what makes a great poker site.
The three recommendations we have given are a good start, but there are hundreds of poker sites out there to choose from! Good luck with making the right choice, and have fun.
By the way: if you’re looking to stay on top of all the latest no deposit bonus offers in poker, take a look at the hottest poker deals right now.
Poker No Deposit FAQ
🚀What is the best poker game to play online?
Poker is one of the most competitive industries in the world of online casino games, so as you can imagine, there are loads of awesome poker games to play. These include live games, and those played against the computer like the video poker games you may have seen in brick and mortar casinos. One of our favorite providers out there for online poker games is Evolution Gaming, so check them out if you can.
🌈What other casino games can I claim a bonus on?
The no deposit bonus excitement does not finish with poker. In fact, you can claim no deposit bonuses on most online casino games: slots, blackjack and roulette to name a few. Check out some of the best bingo no deposit bonus offers if you are interested in that game.
