We're talking about two different types of no deposit bonuses here. One is provided by the poker room, like the old Royal Vegas $10 free deal and other similar offers, and the second is done by larger affiliates who provide the bonus to the player in exchange for a signup at a recommended poker room. As a rule they take only non-U.S. players and only offer a few sites. I actually tried this out with a competitor to see the process and if they actually coughed up the dough and sure enough they did put the $50 in for me which is still there by the way. I even told them who I was and that I was really after a co-operative deal and they still gave it to me. The rooms often chip in with regular bonuses as well freed up from play.
The first one is the kind that we want to focus on although they aren't very common as I assume they aren't very profitable. I've seen some exceptions though, and I've seen some of my students start with this free 10 and get it up to a grand or more. Of course you need them to deposit along the way but if they ever intend to take any of that out then getting them to cough up 50 bucks isn't a problem. On the room's end, the reason why this never really worked well is that they get folks who have no clue and the 10 bucks or whatever is very very soon gone and I assume many don't come back. It's a cool deal though especially if you have a bunch of new players and you arm them with a little knowledge and get them to play micro NL and you're on your way to a signup often times.
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