Casino Bonuses and You When you first step into the online world of gambling, casino bonuses are a regular site. Players are hit with offers from every casino online, with each one promising bigger and better rewards should you join them and no one else. Are these offers worth taking? What even are they? Here we discuss the need-to-know information about online casino bonuses. Presenting how they work, what you get, and what all the small print is that no one ever reads.
What are casino bonuses?
So, are casino bonuses just some gimmick or do they actually have some worth to them? Well, it’s a bit of both. Casino bonuses are certainly used as an arm of the advertising model. They are used as aids to get player’s attention but is that too cynical. Casinos are, after all, a business and rewards are no new thing.
But what they say, you get. Promotions may be there to lure you in, but you will still get the real offer that is promised to you. They can be trusted also and for a very good reason, that they are checked by the regulators and governing bodies to make sure they are honest and fair to use.
What are they exactly? Well, there are many types of promotions out there all looking different, but they all essentially breakdown into two types of bonuses: the free spins and the cash credit.
These are the only kinds of offers you will come across within every casino online. They will take on different forms of the deal presented, free spins, for example, can take the form of a promotion selling you a Game of the Week Bonus, or Bonus Codes for all NetEnt games, even Welcome Bonuses can be formed of free spin rewards.
Should I use bonuses?
Bonus value and worth are all relative. If you are online, getting free spins as a bonus may not be of interest to you, so you would need to be looking for sports betting bonuses. There are rewards out there to suit your preferred form of gaming, it just takes a small bit of time to do the research to locate them.
For more on this, we spoke with Ingerlise Dalen, Editor-in-Chief at Kalevala Kasino whose website is reviews online casino games. We asked her about the value of casino bonuses are if they are worth using.
“A bonus’s true worth can only go as far as the terms of the offer allow it. We must continuously remind, where possible, our Norwegian users to always read the terms and conditions of a bonus because there are many factors that can either make it an unprofitable bonus or one that is of real value. In the world of bonuses, our Finnish players have found that the best Finland casinos online are those offering sports betting bonuses and no deposit bonuses.”
The terms and conditions
Indeed, the terms and conditions are of the utmost importance when it comes to picking a promotional bonus offer and using it. Each casino will present their own rules to how their bonuses can be used, so do not assume that they are all the same. There are five key elements that form all bonuses that give players clear guidance to what they are and how they are to be used.
- Deposits: You will be informed if upfront payment is required. In most cases, bonuses are deposit-based offers, where you will need to put money into your account in order to receive the bonus in return.
- Reward: You will be informed of what the reward value will be relative to the amount you deposit.
- Games: Certain games will be eligible to use with the bonus.
- Withdraw: There are rules to how money won from using a bonus can be withdrawn, these are the wagering requirement terms.
- Expiry: All bonuses have a use-by date.
Reading and understanding these five key factors is essential in knowing if your casino bonus is of worth or value. Is the cost of the deposit greater than the realist potential of a cash payout. Is that value then greater than the cost of the wagering requirement? There are lots of factors at play and the wagering requirement issue is the greater one of them. If you win any money with your bonus, it’s not a simple case of being allowed to withdraw the money as many players expect. Every bonus has a wagering requirement term, what they do is determine the value of the prize and the bonus. If you wish to withdraw the winnings, you are going to have to pay for them. The wagering requirement is a multiplication of the bonus value. If you received $100 to play with and won from that, you will be asked to pay maybe 25x or 35x, or even perhaps 75x the value of that $100 bonus and you must deposit and play this cost first before you can withdraw any winnings you initially made. So, this tells you the true value of the bonus. If with your $100 bonus, you only win $50, is it worth spending a further x-amount to be able to withdraw $50 winnings?
Casino bonuses
As mentioned at the start of this guide, there are many different types of promotional bonuses that are packaged and presented to players, but all essentially offer two things, either free spins or cash credit. We look at the four most popular ones that can be found within a vast majority of casinos online that you can opt to use. Remember that all bonuses are optional, so don’t feel you need to use them, even if some of them are entirely 100% free to use.
Welcome bonus
The most popular bonus is the welcome bonus offer. This bonus is presented to new players only. They are often the largest of all rewards because of this need to attract new players into their platform to play the online casino games they hold and not at some rival platform.
Welcome bonuses can be a mixed bag, you might be offered cash to play with. You might be offered free spins to enjoy. You may even be presented with both. 99% of the time, you will have to deposit into your account before this offer can be correctly claimed.
Note: Always read the terms and conditions.
No deposit bonus
The reverse of paying is to have an offer of a no deposit bonus. This is your 100% free casino bonus offer that will either be presented as cash or spins. The size of the bonus return is fairly minimal compared to other bonuses. Understandable given the casino does not really want to give you 1,000 free spins for you to win a potential million from, it would be business suicide. Instead, these rewards will give you a small number of spins between 5 and 50, or cash that is between $5 or $25 to use inside the casino. Note: Always read the terms and conditions.
Free spins bonus
Free spins are the most common bonus you will come across because it’s user-friendly and can cover a vast number of games, most notably the slots which are the most popular casino game online. The number of spin players are rewarded vary. If you are depositing first to claim free spins, then the size of the deposit plays a part. Spins can vary between 5 and 500 if making a deposit. The games eligible are not just slots though. Bingo games, scratch cards and others have been included on free spin gaming lists. Note: Always read the terms and conditions.
Loyalty bonus
The ‘thank you’ bonus from your casino. These rewards land in your account at random intervals of your membership time. Either weekly or monthly, these are a way of the casino saying thanks for sticking around. They are a mix of free offers and deposit-required rewards. They again are often minimal but at least it is something that you’re able to use and make real money from. Note: Always read the terms and conditions.
