Here's the email response I got:
Dear Dave,
Thank you for contacting us.
With reference to your email, to get this GET15bonus make your next deposit
before 25th DEC 2005 to get the bonus in to your bonus account, you are required
to play raked hands 5 times the bonus amount, with in 30 days. To get bonus
released into your real money account.
However, you can always check the status of your bonus and how many raked hands
you have played by clicking on the 'Cashier' option on our Lobby, and then on
'Bonus Account'.
A raked hand is any hand in which a rake (service fee) is taken out of the pot.
A player is considered to have played a raked hand when cards have been dealt
and the hand has generated at least $0.01 in rake for that player.
To accumulate raked hands, just participate in hands (any live game, any limit)
where a rake is taken. The buy-in' for tournaments does not contribute to your
accumulated raked hands. Furthermore, as there is no rake taken in tournament
hands, you cannot obtain raked hands through tournaments. The amount of rake
collected appears as a small chip stack next to the dealer tray.
For more information about our rake structure please check out the following URL
from our website:
http://www.empirepoker.com/games/rake.html
Thank you for choosing us as your online gaming site!
Deepesh
Poker Customer Care