Last week, I started on Full Tilt Poker with a deposit of $200.00. With enough playing, they will match my deposit with a bonus of $200.00. Unfortunately, it could take me a long time to reach that magical mark.

Full Tilt makes it look easy with their promotions: "Each point is worth $.06, so you can earn up to $18 per hundred hands".

You would have play for very high stakes to earn that bonus money in a reasonable amount of time.

Over the week, I've played many "Sit and Goes" from a $2.00 buyin to a $5.00 buyin. With over 80 games under my belt, I've only earned $12.78 in bonus money.

You have to reach the $20.00 mark before they put the bonus money into your Full Tilt account.

My original online stake is a little below break even.

Recently, I've been reading about Chris Ferguson and his phenomenal run of earning $10,000 from a cash stake of $0. He donated all the money to charity.

If playing for poker bonus money appeals to you, make sure you're prepared to play lots of games. It also helps if you play poker well too.

After two years, I'm still learning.