Why do online casinos offer bonuses?
Nowadays, there are hundreds of casinos for players to choose from. And how can one stand out from the rest of the competition? The answer is simple - with casino promotions. For example, welcome bonuses allow players to explore the casino and play their favourite games. At the same time, bonuses can be an excellent way to reward player loyalty.
Most Popular Online Casino Bonuses
If you're familiar with online gambling, you'll know that there are many types of bonuses. The main bonus categories can be divided into no-deposit and deposit bonuses. No-deposit bonuses are casino offers that players can receive for free, meaning no deposit is required. Usually, no-deposit promotions are free cash with wagering requirements or free spins. However, with deposit bonuses, there are multiple promotion types.
- Welcome Bonus
Welcome bonuses are undoubtedly the most popular type of casino promotion. A welcome bonus can be a single first deposit bonus or a welcome bonus package. Usually, the welcome bonus value is 100% of the player's initial deposit amount or more. Since welcome offers are for new casino players, to receive the bonus, players must create a casino account and make a qualifying deposit. Some casinos use deposit bonus codes, which players must enter when depositing. Also, many welcome offers include a deposit match bonus and free spins.
- Match Bonuses
A match, or reload bonus, is a standard casino promotion. Match bonuses are available for existing players once they have claimed the casinos' welcome offer. Reload bonuses are usually smaller than 100%, with the average being 20% to 50% or 75%. Similar to welcome offers, match bonuses can often come with free spins.
- Cashback Bonuses
Nowadays, Cashback offers are becoming significantly more prevalent among online players. That's why many casinos use Cashback as a form of rewarding loyalty. Most Cashback bonuses are based on player losses, meaning players will receive Cashback from their net losses. However, the appealing part of Cashback promotions is that they usually have either no wagering or very low turnover requirements.
Bonus Terms And Conditions
Every online casino has its terms and conditions, which include bonus terms. Since bonuses are ultimately free money the casino gives away, they come with some strings attached. Some of the most significant parts of the bonus terms are bonus wagering requirements, eligible games and maximum cashouts.
Wagering Requirements
While some casinos have no wager bonuses, most casinos implement bonus wagering requirements for their casino offers. The wagering requirements can either make the offer appealing to players or make players lose interest in it. Most commonly, free spins bonuses have wagering requirements of 30 to 40 times the bonus amount, while match bonuses and casino welcome bonus offers usually have 20 to 40 times wagering.
Eligible Games
Whenever you claim a casino bonus, you must check which games you can play with the bonus. Every online casino has a restricted games list for wagering bonuses. Most Canadian online casino promotions allow players to place bets on slots, video slots, instant win and scratch card games. Sometimes, table and live dealer games can be played with bonus money, but their contribution towards turnover is lower. That said, most casinos don't allow wagering bonus funds on progressive jackpot games.
Validity Period
Every casino bonus has a validity period, which describes the time the player has to claim the offer and wager bonus winnings. The validity period can be different in each casino. However, in most online casinos, players have up to 30 days to wager the bonus. Once the validity is over, any winnings that haven't been converted will be removed from the player's balance.
Maximum Cashout
Frequently, casinos add restrictions to casino bonus offers to limit the potential for bonus abuse. One of the most common limitations in this case is the maximum cashout rule. Playing with bonus cash gives players an advantage in playing casino games with a bigger balance and potentially more significant stakes. That's why many casinos restrict the maximum winnings players can withdraw from free cash bonuses. Maximum winnings from no-deposit campaigns can be low. In comparison, winnings from deposit offers, reload bonuses and other types of promotions where a deposit is required are kept at a reasonable amount.
Deposit Requirements
Casino campaigns usually have a deposit requirement. For example, if you're playing with a free spins no deposit bonus, you may need to make a minimum deposit to withdraw winnings. Most of the time, when claiming a deposit bonus, welcome bonus, deposit free spins bonus or special promotion with a bonus code, players must make a minimum deposit. For example, players usually need to deposit $10 to $20 to be eligible for welcome offers.
Author
Dean McHugh
I am a full-time Casino and Sportsbook Writer from UK, who has years of industry knowledge, covering a broad range of different sports and casino games. If I don't know about it, it's not worth knowing! My favourite sports are tennis, football, golf, cricket, snooker, boxing and MMA. As you can tell...I am big sports guy!