New Jersey has become one of the most popular states for online casino gaming. As a result, it should come as no surprise that internet poker is also available in New Jersey. We will go over some of the best poker bonus offers below and show you how to take advantage of the free money waiting for you.
Best Online Poker Bonuses In New Jersey
The rising number of online poker sites in the state benefits players.
Players now have more options when it comes to where they may play, and there are more U.S.-based online poker rooms now then ever before for New Jersey Players. This also means there are more bonuses available to players than ever before.
Is online poker legal in New Jersey?
Online poker dates all the way back to the late 1990s, but it was never fully legal and regulated until 2013.
In 2013, New Jersey was one of three states to bring online poker to its shores.
New Jersey also joined in on the Multi-State Internet Agreement, a pact that had Nevada and Delaware prior to New Jersey joining.
This deal essentially combined player pools from these states for these states to create a larger and more competitive playing field.
Today, New Jersey is home to seven online poker platforms. The first to launch was 888 Poker in 2013.
Here is a complete list of all seven sources of online poker in The Garden State.
- 888 Poker
- PokerStars
- WSOP
- BetMGM
- Borgata
- Pala Poker
- PartyPoker
Purpose of An Online Poker Bonus
While earning a bonus from an online poker platform will give you an immediate boon to your virtual wallet, there is a business side to it for these companies.
Even though it is a business strategy, this shouldn’t stop you from taking advantage of what is being offered.
Let’s face it—online poker is not a wide and vast sea of opportunities like online sports betting has become, but online poker has its own niche.
Even in such a small niche, there is still market share. With market share comes companies wanting to get as much of that pie as possible.
An online poker bonus is the first step is capturing one new player here, one new player there, until before you know it, they gobble up enough market share to be the industry leader in either the state in which they are operating—in this case, New Jersey—or the space as a whole.
The chances are good that online poker players likely know other online poker players. If they receive a good welcome bonus or promo/bonus in general from a site, they’ll tell their friends, and word of mouth will allow for free marketing and grow the brand even more.
So, while the online poker site may “give up” some revenue upfront, the goal is to curate an experience that is memorable and long-lasting so that even after the bonus period has dissipated, the player will stay and continue to play with them.
Online poker bonuses In New Jersey
The number of available poker bonuses surpasses even the number of online poker providers in New Jersey, and that’s saying a lot. With so many digital poker rooms just a few clicks away, players have ample opportunities to score all sorts of free cash. We’ll look at some of these options below.
888 Poker
888 Poker has a two-part welcome bonus that consists of a deposit match and a no-deposit bonus.
The no-deposit bonus involves receiving $20 in bonuses. This involves $10 in FreePlay, six tournament tickets, and $4 in bonus cash that will be added to your wallet. No deposit is required for this offer; you just need to make an account.
This bonus must be used within 7 days of registration. The wagering requirements for this offer, however, consist of wagering the bonus amount 30x within 60 days.
For the deposit bonus, 888 Poker will match your first deposit at a 100 percent rate up to $1,500. However, the bonus is considered “pending” as you will receive the welcome bonus in $10 increments each time you have collected 10 Bonus Points per every $1 of the welcome bonus.
The welcome bonus expires after 90 days.
PokerStars
New players at PokerStars will receive $50 in free play. However, this offer is available by downloading the PokerStars app. There is a $10 minimum deposit required, and you must opt-in within five days of account creation. You will find this offer in the “Challenges” window.
The $50 bonus comes in the form of tournament tickets that will expire within 7 days of earning them.
WSOP
World Series of Poker NJ (WSOP) offers quite a lucrative batch of welcome bonuses.
The first is $50 in free play simply for creating an account.
The second part is a 100 percent deposit match up to $1,000. Similar to 888 Poker, you will receive this match in increments as you earn APPs, which are a type of points you earn by playing games and ascending the loyalty program ladder.
Lastly, you will receive tickets to seven $100 freerolls that are for new players only after you complete your first deposit of $10 or more.
BetMGM
BetMGM offers new players a $1,000 deposit match at a 100 percent rate and $50 just for creating an account.
In what is a trend with online poker sites, you will receive the welcome bonus deposit match in 10 percent increments. You will need to earn 20x whatever 10 percent of your deposit is in iRPs—another point system.
Borgata
Unfortunately, Borgata does not appear to offer any kind of welcome bonus at this time.
Pala Poker
Pala Poker does not currently offer a welcome package for the poker platform but does so for its online casino contemporary.
PartyPoker
PartyPoker also offers a deposit bonus at a 100 percent rate, but this time it’s up to $600. You will receive the bonus funds in increments of 10 percent. For every four points earned playing poker, you will receive $1 toward your bonus.
This offer expires after 60 days.
Types Of Online Poker Bonuses
Just above, we saw a vast collection of online poker bonuses. Some currently did not offer bonuses, but more did than did not. These bonuses include things such as deposit bonuses, no-deposit bonuses, tournament tickets, and more.
Most of these offers are linked to a points system that they have with their site, which is mostly correlated to the rewards program. This allows for players to ascend the rewards ladder and receive additional perks in addition to the welcome bonus.
Also, as we mentioned before, the goal is to create an atmosphere that keeps players coming back, so as they ascend the rewards structure while also achieving their welcome bonus, this creates a feedback loop that results in myriad bonuses and perks for the player.
Still, some players wish to play more casually, and this could result in the player not getting to take full advantage of the offer.
No Deposit Signup Bonus
No-deposit signup poker bonuses are usually the most straightforward and easy to understand. The amount of money is fairly slim compared to other offers, but it’s meant to be just a quick bonus to add to your wallet that you can spend rather quickly.
There are sometimes wagering requirements involved with this, either on the bonus itself or the winnings. This means you will need to wager cash in order to be able to withdraw either this bonus or winnings received from the bonus.
Always be sure to read the terms and conditions of all offers.
Deposit match
Deposit matches are more often than not coming in with a 100 percent rate. These essentially make it so that your bankroll is doubled.
With online poker sites, it appears, however, unlike casinos or sportsbooks, that instead of receiving the bonus upfront, you will receive it in increments of about 10 percent as you earn points.
There are typically time limits, which is normal. However, the emphasis on points could alienate more casual players.
Tournament tickets
Poker tournaments come with a buy-in, and each player receives the same amount of chips. A winner is not crowned until a player gathers all of the chips. This is a long-lasting game that you can be part of, thanks to these tournament tickets.
These tickets allow entry into whatever tournament the online poker site chooses or whatever tournament is equal to the ticket amount assigned in the bonus.
Loyalty Or Rewards Program
While not all online poker sites offer them, Rewards/Loyalty Programs can be a perfect incentive to continue playing exclusively with one site.
Considering some of the welcome bonus is tied to receiving points that are for the programs, this provides additional perks for playing naturally.
The perks you receive vary from site to site, but they can include things such as higher and better conversion rates from points to bonus cash and more.
Rakeback
Rakeback is a term that was first popularized in 2004—nine years before the first legal and regulated online poker sites in the United States.
Essentially, this was somewhat like a rewards program before online gambling rewards programs were a thing.
The rakeback referred to when online poker sites would pay out a portion of the rake—a commission paid to whoever was operating the poker tournament or other contest—back to the players.
The reason for this was that this would encourage players to come back and play there again because of the chance of receiving that additional payout.
There are two different methods for calculating rakeback: dealt and contributed.
For dealt, this would give players back the same amount of rakeback to each player dealt into a had.
The contribution method basically paid players out based on their contribution to the overall pot.
Building An Online Poker Bankroll
Building and managing an online poker bankroll is vital to long-term success. There are multiple ways to approach it, but a common rule of thumb is to arrange a bankroll for you that is equal to 20 buy-ins for whatever type of game you enjoy playing. For example, if the buy-in was $10, keeping $200 in your account would be a good place to start.
From here, treat your bankroll like it’s your own personal small business. Try to limit or totally expunge all emotional wagers, such as desperate moves to try to turn your luck around. Continue to play your game the way you know how and don’t let superstition override what you’re trying to accomplish.
As mentioned, you should have enough funds in your account for about 20 buy-ins, so curate your games to reflect your bankroll. If you had $200 but lost $100, start playing games that require a $5 buy-in, and so on.
One way to get an instant boon to your bankroll is via online poker room welcome bonuses. This is when the site will give you a kickstart on your virtual wallet, such as a deposit bonus, simply for creating an account, depositing, and playing with them.
This can allow you to increase those original buy-in amounts upfront in hopes of making money and earning even more cash to keep the bankroll trending upward.
Online Poker Bonus Strategy
For a new player, there are definitely some safer games to start off playing than others. With your extra bankroll, you may want to try something different, but before venturing out, there are some games that will be better suited for you out of the gate.
First up, there are certain cash games to look for. These include things like No Limit Hold’Em. These games can start as low as 1-cent/2-cent blinds. Blinds are forced bets by players to the left of the dealer. This is typically around two per game.
The best way to approach these is to go into them with a set amount of money and stick with it. If you go into it with $50, if you walk out with $51, this is still a win. The other thing to look out for with cash games is the maximum amount of players per table.
Right now, 6Max games are seemingly more popular. Cash games are just an easier type of game to manage in that it’s the most transparent to see how you are performing.
Turning over to tournaments, Multi-Table tournaments offer an exciting finish that usually comes with payouts on the higher end. The downside to tournaments is that there is a large element of luck involved.
Sit N Go’s are like tournaments, but they feature far fewer tables and are much shorter to play.
So, as a new player, the best games to look for 6Max cash games, multi-table tournaments, and Sit N Go’s.
This will get you the most bang for your buck as you use your bonus and will help you meet those wagering requirements.
Cashing Out A Poker Bonus
The key to cashing out your bonus is to meet the wagering requirements. Generally speaking, the goal is to wager enough cash within a certain amount of time. However, each online poker site has different parameters in terms of points you need to achieve and how much you need to wager in order to earn a point, and so on.
The best bet for this is to read the terms and conditions of each offer thoroughly. This is a general outline, but there are details that are unique to each site.
To fund your account in New Jersey, here is a list of banking methods that you will typically find that are either for just deposits, just for withdrawals, or used for both:
- ACH Transfer
- Cash Cage: This is an in-person cash transaction performed at the retail casino partner for the online poker site.
- PayPal
- Visa/MasterCard
- Online Banking
- PayNearMe: This is an in-person cash transaction done at retailers such as 7-Eleven, CVS, Family Dollar, and more.