Back in Britain, one of Marilyn’s friends was an avid online gambler. I used to go over to occasionally trouble shoot his technical problems, and watch while he ‘worked’ online. His favourite past time was to find online poker sites that offered to match your initial deposit, or at least add one third on top.

The idea is that the site pulls in people interested in playing poker tournaments, many of whom may not be experienced in playing cards. So the site sees giving deposit bonuses as an investment to encourage more people to use their site, and experienced players are happy, as they see their deposit added to for free.
One way to ensure you do not needlessly lose money is to research poker before playing. There is a poker forum rather handily based at poker.com, where people share their experiences, both good and bad. You’ll also find the site has a blog that presents a more personal PoV on poker related news.