As I mentioned in the first article in this series, bonuses are evaluated based on four primary aspects:, maximum dollar amount of the bonus, percentage the maximum dollar amount of the bonus is to the deposit amount, the ease (speed, rate) at which the terms of the bonus can be met to make the bonus cashable, and site intangibles/player preferences.  This article will focus on the third aspect: the ease at which the terms of the bonus can be met - a.k.a. "clearing rate".  In order to understand clearing rate, the bonus chaser must first understand the terms of the bonus - how does it clear?

The terms of poker room sign up and first deposit bonuses are many and varied, but I will attempt to separate them into five categories.  As online poker players have become more sophisticated, so have online poker rooms.  Thus, the bonus clearing regimens are becoming more complex and not all of them will fit neatly into these five categories.   Nevertheless, I find it useful to be able to compare bonuses both within groups and between groups - so group them I must!

The first group is the Raked Hands group.  The general terms of this bonus group are that the player must play a number of raked hands equal to a multiple of his bonus in order to clear the bonus.  So, if the player has a $100 bonus pending, and the raked hands multiple for this bonus is 7, then the player must play 7 X 100, or 700 raked hands before he has cleared the bonus.  The raked hands group is the easiest to understand - the ease of
clearing is determined solely by the multiple involved.  The lower the multiple, the easier it will be to clear the bonus.

One caveat that a few sites throw into the Raked Hands group is that a hand will only count as raked if the rake reaches a certain level.  Interpoker, for example, only counts a raked hand if the rake is $1 or more.  If the rake is between $0.25 and $0.99, Interpoker only counts that hand as 1/4 of a raked hand.

The second group is the Contributed Rake group.  In this model the player must play a number of raked hands in which they have contributed to the pot equal to a multiple of his bonus in order to clear the bonus.  Typically the sites will consider the blinds as a pot contribution, so you can fold your blinds and still get credit for the hand toward bonus clearing.  To get credit for any other raked hand, you must make a bet.  If the bonus has a
multiple of 7, then the player must play 700 raked hands in which he put money in the pot before his bonus is released.

Contributed Rake bonuses are frequently mistaken for dealt rake bonuses - and I believe some sites intentionally assist players in making this mistake.  It is common to see a site discuss how many "raked hands" are required to clear the bonus, yet elsewhere on the site a "raked hand" is defined as one in which the player contributes to the pot.  When reading the bonus terms and conditions (T&C) the player must take care in making sure he understands the definition the site is using for "raked hand" at their site.

The third group is the Player Points group.  In this group, the player must earn a certain number of player points for each dollar of bonus.  The method of earning these points, as well as how many points are required per bonus dollar, determines clearing rate on these bonuses.  It is essential that bonus chasers learn how points are earned to determine the value of this group of bonuses.

Sites that award points based on a raked hand are really operating as a raked hands group bonus, but with a twist - raked hands count differently at different limits.  For example (as of this writing) Noble Poker awards their sign up bonus based on earning "crowns" (points).  A player will earn $10 of bonus for each 500 crowns he is awarded; or 50 crowns/dollar.  A player earns crowns by being dealt cards in a raked hand (dealt raked) at the following rate:*
 
If the blinds are .25/.50 the player earns 1 crown
If the blinds are .50/1 the player earns 2 crowns
If the blinds are 1/2 and higher, the player earns 4 crowns

Thus at .25/50 the bonus clears as 50/1 X bonus in dealt raked hands (50X).
At .50/1 it clears at 50/2 X bonus in dealt raked hands (25X).
At 1/2 and above it clears at 50/4 X bonus in dealt raked hands (12.5X)

However, points are not always awarded on the basis of just raked hands.  Some sites, such as PokerRoom and skins, use a sliding scale for the number of points awarded.  Poker Room, for example, awards points based on the amount of rake.  Bonuses on this type of points system can become difficult to understand and evaluate.  Continuing with PokerRoom as our example - the way in which the bonus clearing is structured, points accumulate very quickly at $3/6 limits and above, but quite slowly at $1/2 and below.  Players should always understand how the bonus structure will be effected by the limit they play before depositing.

The fourth group is the Rake Back group.  This is a bonus in which the site refunds a portion of the player's rake as a bonus. Most sites are very straightforward regarding the fact they are paying rakeback - and at what percentage.  Some sites, however, attempt to obscure the true nature of their bonus by describing it in flowery terms such as, "For every $3 the player contributes in rake, we will pay out $1 of bonus money".  This is simply a 33% rakeback deal.  Some sites also award player points based on how much rake is paid, and then a bonus is released when a certain number of points is attained.  This is just another fancy rakeback deal.  Bonus chasers will do well to learn how to spot these.

The final group is one that I will call the Intentionally Unclear group.  This is where I lump together all the sites that obfuscate their bonus rules to intentionally confuse players.  For example Irish Poker Table offers a 30 % deposit bonus that clears by earning 6 POP (player option points) for each $1 deposited.  For each $0.10 paid in rake, the player earns 1 POP.  To evaluate this bonus we need to know how many POP per bonus dollar.  Since the bonus will be .3 X deposit and we need 6 POP per dollar deposited, the relationship is 6/.3 = 20.  
We need 20 POP per bonus dollar.
Since we pay $2 in rake to get 20 POP (which gets us $1 in bonus) this is really a 50%rakeback bonus.
Clear as mud, right?

To be an effective bonus chaser, it is important that the chaser understands how to evaluate the bonus rules and use them to estimate the clearing rate of the bonus.  In my next article I will examine some of the downsides to bonus chasing.

* Since the original publication of this article, the bonus clearing terms at Noble Poker have changed.