PokerStars bonus code and welcome offer: how the $600 bonus clears

The PokerStars bonus code is STARS600. Enter it with a first deposit of at least $10 and PokerStars matches 100% of it, up to $600. The bonus isn’t paid at once: it’s released in $5 pieces, one for every $15 you pay in rake or tournament fees, and you have four months from each deposit to release it.

That makes it one of the easier welcome bonuses to clear among the big poker sites, but only if you deposit an amount your volume can actually release. Below: which PokerStars bonus you get depending on where you live, how to claim it, how the points work in each currency, how much rake each deposit needs, and the rules that cost players part of the bonus.

Which PokerStars bonus you get

PokerStars now runs separate sites and partner brands in several markets, and each has its own welcome offer. The table shows what we found during our check in November 2026.

The rest of this page covers the international offer, STARS600. The US offer is set by FanDuel and can change at short notice, so check the terms in the FanDuel app before you deposit. If you’re not sure which PokerStars you can use, our PokerStars review explains the markets and the list of countries where PokerStars.com doesn’t accept players.

How to claim STARS600

The code works only with a first real-money deposit, and the order of steps matters:

1. Create a PokerStars account with your real details.
2. Open the cashier and choose a deposit method.
3. Enter STARS600 in the bonus code field.
4. Deposit at least $10 (or €10, £10, C$10). The bonus equals your deposit, up to $600 in total.
5. Play real-money cash games or tournaments. Released money appears in your account in $5 steps.
6. Optional: make a second and third deposit within 60 days of the first. Each one is matched too, as long as the three together stay within the $600 limit.

I forgot to enter the code. What now? Contact PokerStars support within seven days of the deposit and ask them to add STARS600. The terms allow this, so you don’t lose the bonus for a missed field.

One more condition: PokerStars allows one first deposit offer per player across all its products. If you take a casino or sports welcome offer first, you can’t take STARS600 as well.

How the bonus releases: $5 for every 75 points

The bonus works through its own counter, separate from Stars Rewards. You earn 5 redemption points for every $1 of rake you pay in cash games or tournament entry fees, and each time you reach 75 points PokerStars credits $5 to your account. The terms count all real-money poker and don’t exclude any format.

In plain terms, $15 of rake releases $5, so you get back a third of the rake you pay, 33.3%, until the bonus runs out. The rate is slightly different in other account currencies, and it isn’t as generous:

Playing in dollars releases the bonus fastest; Canadian dollars are the slowest, needing 25% more rake per step.

Tournament players can count it in entry fees. In a $5.50 tournament where $0.50 is the fee, each entry earns 2.5 points, so 30 entries release $5 and the full $600 would take 3,600 entries.

In an $11 tournament with a $1 fee, the same $5 takes 15 entries. Cash game players release it faster at higher stakes simply because more rake is paid per hour. You can follow your progress in the My Rewards section of the client, where active bonuses are shown.

The time limit is four months from each qualifying deposit. The terms say no bonus is credited after that, so anything you haven’t released by then is gone.

How much rake it takes

Because every $5 needs $15 of rake, the full bonus always needs three times its size in rake. The table spreads that over the four months.

To compare it with other welcome bonuses, here’s the rake each one needs to release $100.

For comparison, the ACR Poker bonus releases $1 for every $5 of rake and the CoinPoker bonus $1 for every $10 in fees. If you’re new to rake, our guide to rake in poker shows how much a typical session pays.

Is the PokerStars bonus worth it?

For a player who will release it, yes, and the reason is the rate. While the bonus is clearing, a third of your rake comes back as bonus money: $5 of every $15. That’s on top of Stars Rewards, which at the entry Blue level returns about 15% of rake through chests. For those four months, a new player’s total return is closer to half of the rake paid than to the 15–20% most players get afterwards.

The US offer on FanDuel works the same way but at a lower rate. Its $5 per $25 of rake returns 20%, and the full $1,000 needs $5,000 of rake within 120 days, about $42 a day. Its $10 in Spin & Go tickets need an opt-in and expire quickly, so use them early. Whichever version you get, the bonus only pays for the volume you would play anyway; increasing your stakes or hours just to chase it usually costs more than it returns.

STARS600 next to other welcome bonuses

Headline amounts vary a lot between sites, but the share of rake that comes back while you clear the bonus tells you more. The table compares the four offers we’ve reviewed.

The bigger headlines need far more play: CoinPoker’s maximum needs $20,000 in fees, ACR’s $10,000 in rake, against $1,800 for the full STARS600. For a player paying a few dollars of rake a day, the PokerStars bonus is the one most likely to be released in full. Our guides to the GGPoker bonus and to bonus hunting explain how to compare offers on the same basis.

Pick a deposit you can clear in four months

The best deposit is the one you’ll fully release. A simple rule: deposit about 40 times the rake you pay per day. That comes from 120 days of play, divided by the three dollars of rake each bonus dollar needs.

To estimate your rake per day, look at your session results or the rake shown in your hand history. As a rough guide for cash games, a full 100 big blind pot at NL10 pays up to $0.50; dozens of raked hands per session add up quickly. A few examples of the rule:

• You pay about $2.50 a day in rake: deposit around $100.
• About $7.50 a day: around $300.
• $15 a day or more: the full $600 is within reach.

If you’re unsure of your volume, split the bonus. Start with a smaller first deposit and add a second or third within 60 days once you see how fast the points come in. Each deposit gets its own four months.

Rules to know before you deposit

Most of the terms are standard, but a few cost players money every month:

• Up to three deposits in 60 days. Only deposits made within 60 days of the first qualify, and the total bonus can’t pass $600.
• Withdrawing ends the bonus for later deposits. If you cash out after a qualifying deposit, deposits you make afterwards no longer get matched.
• One first deposit offer per player. It’s STARS600 or another PokerStars welcome offer, not both.
• Four months per deposit. Bonus not released by then isn’t credited.
• Restricted countries. PokerStars.com doesn’t accept players from a list of countries, including the US; see the PokerStars review.

Don’t open an account through a VPN or claim the bonus a second time with another account. PokerStars’ terms prohibit both, and the usual result is a closed account and confiscated winnings, not just a lost bonus.

Other offers: THIRTY, freerolls and no-deposit

The PokerStars app listing in the App Store also mentions an alternative first deposit offer, $30 for a $20 deposit with the code THIRTY. It wasn’t on the PokerStars.com promotions page during our check, so confirm it in the cashier before you rely on it. Because only one first deposit offer is allowed, it’s either THIRTY or STARS600: THIRTY gives more for a small deposit, STARS600 more for anyone depositing $30 or more who will release it.

There’s no permanent no-deposit poker bonus at PokerStars. Freerolls run regularly, and the casino’s free-play offers don’t count as poker bonuses. Our guide to the no-deposit bonus in poker lists how such offers work elsewhere, and poker freerolls covers building a bankroll without a deposit.

Bonus and Stars Rewards together

The bonus and the loyalty program run on separate counters: redemption points for STARS600, reward points for Stars Rewards. Both are earned from the same rake, so while you clear the bonus you also fill reward chests.

For an idea of the total, take the full $600 bonus. Releasing it takes $1,800 of rake, which also earns 180,000 reward points at 100 points per $1.

If your chests return 15–20% of rake, as they do at the lower Rewards levels, that’s roughly $270–$360 on top of the $600. Together, about half of the rake you paid in those four months comes back. Details of the levels are in the Rewards section of our PokerStars review.

The bonus is one part of the picture. Before you deposit, check that PokerStars suits the games you play.

PokerStars bonus FAQ