When you search for any information about making extra cash from playing online poker you are usually bombarded with poker training sites and other products that you need to pay for.

Generally it seems that in order to make some money from playing poker you need to turn professional. and esentially start working from home as an online poker player.  That may be alright for a few players that have the bankroll and the ability, but for most of us casual players that are able to win some of the time, it is not really an option.

Occasionally, some players would like to generate just a small bit of extra cash from playing the game that they enjoy, without having to change their career and their lifestyle.

And even though it seems difficult to get the information, it is actually surprisingly easy to generate a bit of extra money from playing poker. Even losing players can take advantage of the existing state of online poker to generate a profit from their play.

I’m not talking about rakeback here – losing players will benefit from that just lose a bit less if they go the rakeback route.  In order to benefit financially from rakeback, you need to not only be a winnng player, but you need to play a whole lot too.

For the casual player the best, and easiest, way to turn a quick profit from poker is by using the various sign up bonuses that are offered by every online poker room.

Even opening just one new poker account – at a different room than the one you are currently playing at – can give you a deposit bonus of $500 or more that you can play for, and even if your normal game loses a few dollars for you, when you factor in the deposit bonus, you can end up with a nice profit.

Poker players that have an existing account online should find it fairly easy to calculate how much they can expect to gain from any particular bonus deal.

Simply look at the terms and conditions attached to the deal – there are always terms and conditions – and check those against your normal play.

Start with the time you have to clear the bonus. This can be as little as 30 days, or as much as a year. An average would appear to be about three months.

So check how many hands you have played in the last three months on your existing account.  Try to calculate how much rake you have paid on that play. That may not be too easy depending on the site you play at, but you should be able to get a rough idea.

Now work out how much of the deposit bonus that amount of play would have cleared for you.  Subtract from that amount the amount of your losses, if any.

That is the amount you can reasonably expect to generate form signing up with the new room and playing the required number of hands to clear the bonus.

It is a simple mathematical equation. If the resulting number is a significant amount then you really should go ahead and start to get that bonus.

Once you have reached the required amount of hands you can stop playing and take out your money, but it would be a good idea to play a bit more than the minimum. That way you won’t get flagged as an ‘advantage player’ and you will probably get offered a redeposit bonus after you have not played at that room for a while.

So you don’t have to turn professional – just take a more professional approach to your game play and you can get a nice boost to your bankroll every once in a while.