Size of Initial Deposit Bonus

PokerStars initial deposit bonus is only a 100% matching up to $50 which is one of the smallest initial deposit bonuses in online poker.  Some say that PokerStars keeps the bonus this small because they don’t need a big bonus to attract players, while others say that it is part of PokerStars strategy to attract new players who aren’t planning on depositing any more than $50 anyways.  Then once these players play at PokerStars they enjoy it so much that they decide to stay.

Full Tilt’s initial deposit bonus is a 100% up to $600 matching bonus which is much larger than the $50 max at PokerStars.  This bonus amount is pretty much the industry standard that all other poker rooms try to match or exceed.  The amount is solid because players will rarely deposit over $600 anyways.

Point Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt definitely has the better size of initial deposit bonus.

Player Friendly Clearing Conditions

PokerStars initial deposit bonus is very easy to clear.  To clear your bonus you must earn PokerStars frequent player points by playing in Stars cash games or tournaments.  Each frequent player point you earn is worth $0.10 of your bonus.  In cash games you earn 1 point when $0.40 or more rake is taken from a $1/$2 or below cash game and in bigger games 1 point is awarded for rakes of $1 or more.  A second point is awarded when 6-max tables reach $2 in rake or when full tables reach $3 in rake.  Then a third point is awarded when the rake reaches $5.  In tournaments you earn 5 points for every $1 you spend in tournament fees.  So this means that you clear $0.50 for every $1 that you spend in tournament fees.  Partial points are not awarded.

Full Tilt Poker’s initial deposit bonus is also very easy to clear.  You must earn Full Tilt Points by playing in cash games or tournaments to clear your bonus.  Every FTP you earn clears $0.06 of your bonus.  In cash games you 1 point for every $1 that is raked from a cash game hand.  For example if the rake is $0.50 you earn 0.5 FTP’s.  This means that if you are playing a 9-max table and $1 is raked then you earn 1 point which clears $0.06 of your bonus.  On average you would have contributed $0.11 to the rake for each point you earn at a 9-max table which means that you clear about $0.55 for every $1 that you pay in rake in Full Tilt cash games.  In Full Tilt Poker tournaments you earn 7 FTP’s for each $1 that you pay in fees, which equals out to you clearing $0.42 of your bonus for each $1 that you pay to the house.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that if you are cash game player it is easier to clear Full Tilt Poker’s bonus because you receive points regardless of how much rake was taken each hand and it is much easier to earn multiple points in the same hand.  If you are a tournament player then PokerStars bonus is slightly easier to clear because you clear at a rate of $0.50 per $1 paid, which is better than Full Tilt’s $0.42 per $1 paid.  Therefore this category is a tie.

Pay Increments

At PokerStars you don’t receive any increments; instead you receive your full bonus after you have cleared the entire amount.  At Full Tilt Poker you receive increments of either $20 or 10% of your bonus whichever you reach first.

The Full Tilt Poker pay increments are better because you will receive at least a portion of your bonus if you don’t clear the entire amount by the deadline.

Point Full Tilt Poker

Expiry

PokerStars gives you 6 months to clear your bonus whereas Full Tilt Poker gives you 120 days.  Both of these time frames are very long and are much longer than the majority of online poker rooms.  However, since PokerStars is long they receive the win.

Point PokerStars.

Final Tally.  Full Tilt Poker 2 – PokerStars 1

We have proven that Full Tilt Poker’s initial deposit bonus is better than PokerStars’.

Make sure you sign up at Full Tilt Poker using Full Tilt referral code “THEFULLTILT” in order to receive your initial deposit bonus.

At Full Tilt you earn 7 FTP’s for every $1 in tournament fees you pay.  Every FTP you earn is worth $0.06, which means for every $1 in tournament fees you pay, you earn back $0.42 back in cleared bonus amounts.

Use Full Tilt Referral Code – THEFULLTILT when signing up at Full Tilt today to start clearing your bonus.

Cake Poker

Cake Poker is the same as Full Tilt.  You earn 7 FPP’s for every $1 in tournament fee you pay and every FPP is worth $0.06 of your bonus.  This means that, just like Full Tilt, every $1 in tournament fees you pay, you earn $0.042 back in cleared bonuses.

Use Cake Poker sign up code – CAKEBC500 when signing up at Cake Poker today to start clearing your bonus.

CD Poker

At CD Poker you earn 15 CD Points for every $1 paid in tournament fees.  Every 10 CD Points you earn is worth $0.08 of your bonus.  This means that for every $1 paid in tournament fees at CD Poker you only earn $0.12 of back in cleared bonus amounts.

Use CD Poker coupon code – THECDBONUS when signing up at CD Poker today to start clearing your bonus.

PKR

At PKR you earn 100 PKR Points for every $1 paid in tournament fees.  If you get the 100% up to $600 bonus then every 225 PKR points you earn is worth $1 of your bonus.  However, if you choose the $50 fixed bonus you must earn 7500 PKR points to clear the entire bonus, which works out to only 150 PKR points for every $1 of the bonus.  Therefore, if you get the 100% matching bonus up to $600 at PKR every $1 paid in tournament fees earns you $0.44 of your bonus.  Whereas, if you take the $50 fixed bonus then every $1 paid in tournament fees earns you $0.67 of your bonus.

Conclusion

From this information you can easily conclude that CD Poker is the worst poker room to clear bonuses at through tournament play.  PKR’s $50 fixed bonus is the easiest to clear with $0.67 of your bonus being cleared for every $1 in tournament fees paid.  The problems with the PKR bonus is that the bonus amount is only a maximum of $50 and you do not receive increments of the bonus, but only the lump sum once the total amount of PKR points is accumulated.  Also, if you aren’t able to clear the bonus in 90 days you lose the entire amount and all the PKR points you have up to this point were pointless.

The Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker bonuses are both fairly easy to clear from tournament play, with each clearing $0.42 of your bonus for every $1 in fees paid.  The Full Tilt bonus is a little bit better though, just because you have 120 days to clear instead of the 90 days that Cake Poker offers.

In conclusion, if you don’t have a lot to deposit and are just looking for the easiest to clear and best value poker bonus to build your poker bankroll, without the size of the bonus really being of concern I would go for the PKR $50 fixed bonus which you can get by entering PKR bonus code PKRFREE50 when making your first deposit at PKR Poker.  If you are looking for a larger bonus that is still easy to clear through tournament play, go with the Full Tilt bonus, by entering Full Tilt referral code THEFULLTILT when signing up as a new player at Full Tilt Poker.