Different Types of Casino Bonuses Offered

Playing at online casinos is different that playing offline such as in Las vegas. if you are new to online casinos, keep reading for information about the different types of bonuses that can be found at online casinos and how the bonuses offered differ from each other.

The traditional casinos reward players differently for gambling and I take it you have experienced the different incentives given as a "thank you" for playing at the casino. Free drink, free meals, special room rates etc. those are all incentives.

An online casino will also reward its players but does so in a different way. They use bonuses and other special promotions as incentives to keep players playing at the casino. Online casinos as opposed to offline casinos has its advantages but for the purpose of this article let us limit it to the "bonus" incentives. They offer very attractive bonuses that many are turning to online gambling rather that offline gambling!

After understanding the types of bonuses available and have read the conditions that apply you can redeem the bonus. Usually you would enter a coupon code at the casino cashier while doing a deposit.

There is a lot of competition online amongst the casinos and hence they are trying to constantly offer the next big bonus. As a new player you may get over confused by the different terminology used and the terms and conditions that apply. I will now try to sort some of the confusion out by outlining the different bonuses available at online casinos!

Common Types of Casino Bonuses Offered

There are several common bonuses such as the "no deposit bonus", "welcome bonuses", "reload bonuses", "cashable& non cashable bonus", "high roller bonuses", "1 hour free spins" & "sticky bonus"

The no deposit bonus : The no deposit bonuses can definitely be a really great way to try out the online casinos games without having to invest any money. This means that you will be given the chance to start playing online casino games with real money for free. There will be of course some wagering requirements imposed to the bonuses, but you can definitely try out an online casino and get a very good idea about how it’s going to be while playing the games. This is a bonus that the casino give away in the form of money to play with and no deposit is required. You would need to create a real player account. Most often a small amount and tends to be abused by bonus hunters. You can click here to read about no deposit casinos

The welcome bonus : This has different names and also often called a "sign up bonus". You can have "credit card sign up bonuses", "bank deposit sign up bonuses""free sign up bonuses" etc. Different casinos will offer welcome bonuses of different size to welcome a new player to the casino. They are used to attract new players in creating a real account thereby getting a feel for the casino. It is usually in the form of a percentage. For example it could be 100% matching bonus meaning for every hundred deposited you will receive 100 dollars extra to play with.

Reload bonus : The reload bonuses are different species of bonuses. These bonuses are prepared by the online casinos especially for those that are already members of an online casino. These bonuses will be available from time to time at the online casinos and are usually advertised via e-mail by the online casinos. This is the reason why we suggest that you keep a close eye to the commercial emails that you will be receiving from the online casinos.

Cashable bonus & non cashable bonuses: Players are offered bonuses as an incentive to play and it could either be a cashable bonus or a non cashable casino bonus. A cashable bonus means that it can be withdrawn by the player after certain wagering requirements are met whereas the non-cashable bonus is one in which the winnings as a result of the bonus can be cashed out but not the bonus amount itself. Both are great bonuses.

High roller bonuses: Some players are either "whales" or "high roller" meaning that they like to deposit at the casinos in large sums of money. This is also common in land based casinos. The high roller online casino bonuses are definitely some of the most rewarding ones available out there. These bonuses are given out to the online casino players that are able to make some large deposits and at the same time that are able to gamble with some huge amounts of money. In case you are a high roller you will also get the chance to receive many perks that are usually able to take the online gambling experience to a totally new level. These bonuses can sometime even get you part of some exclusive VIP club memberships that will mean more loyalty points for every dollar that you wager. There are many online casinos out there that are able to offer you a good high roller bonus and most of the time in order to be able to receive this type of bonus you must be able to make a deposit of at least $1000 or even more.

One Hour Free Spins: As casino try to become more creative and find ways to attract players, they come up with cool bonuses. This type of bonus is fairly new and essentially gives players 1 hour free play on the house and you keep the winnings after meeting certain requirements.

A Sticky Bonus: This is pretty much a non cashable bonus. say you get 100 dollars for depositing 100 dollars and win 200 on a single bet then you would cash out 200 - 100 (sticky bonus) = 100 dollars. This bonus is used by casino to protect themselves against bonus abusers.

Loyalty bonus : The loyalty bonus can be a good little extra to your online casino bankroll in case you are planning to stick to a certain casino. The concept behind this bonus is very simple, you will be rewarded for playing online casino games, the more you play the higher your rewards will be. While at first sight this might not seem like much, as time goes by you will be able to cash in some nice sums of money out of your loyalty bonuses.

Preferred payment method bonus : The preferred online casino bonuses are an excellent way you can cash in a little extra on the deposits that you make. These bonuses are given out to players the moment when they start using the preferred payment methods. Most of the time, these methods are the payments that are made via ewallets. The preferred payment method bonuses are not as big as the other bonuses that you can receive and most of the time they are situated around 5% - 15%. The great thing about these bonuses is that they will add up to the welcome bonus and this means more money for you to play your favorite online casino games.

Overall the online casino bonuses can most definitely prove to be a very rewarding experience for online casino players, but there are a few things that you should make sure to take into consideration when signing for a casino. The number one thing is the reputation of the casino. It will take you just a couple of minutes to seek information about an online casino and it could save you a lot of money and time in the future. While the size of the bonus might be considered to be a very important factor, most of the time it’s best to stay away from the bonuses that look extremely profitable. This is happening because these bonuses most of the time will have some pretty hard to beat wagering requirements. You should also try to have a look at the terms and conditions imposed to the bonuses the moment you sign up for the first time at an online casino. The softer the wagering requirements will be, the easier it will be for you to start enjoying the bonus money and to cash it out when you need them.

 

What about the Bonus Restrictions & Wagering Requirements

When accepting the bonus you need to understand the terms and conditions that apply for the bonus you are using. This varies between the casinos and what makes one caisno more favorable than another.

If you have learned anything in life it should be that nothing is free and this applies to the casinos bonuses too. Even if it is called a free bonus you need to meet certain requirements. It is true that an online casino can afford to provide players with very attractive bonuses since they do not have the same overhead that an offline casino in vegas would yet they need to impose restrictions otherwise it would not be good business practice.

I advise you to read all the fine print about a bonus you wish to claim and not get any surprises later! Here you can read about clearing the bonus

Another thing to know about is the wager requirements. ALL casinos have them... 99.9% and if they do not than something is very fishy indeed. The requirement is usually fairly clear and can not be missed unless you simply download and play without reading.

It is either X number of wagers of the bonus amount or bonus amount + deposit amount. Here is an example:

You deposit $40 at the casino and got $40 from them (100% matching bonus)

They require 15 X B

This means you need to wager for 15 x 40 = $600

They require 15 X B&D

This means you need to wager for 15 x (40 + 40) = $1,200

 

 

When You Shouldn’t Use the Online Casino Bonuses

Everyone does it. When they are involved with any free promotion or free discounts here and there they will jump at the opportunity. I’m here to convince you NOT to take these free promotions when it comes to online casinos!  The first thing you should realize is that there are a whole slew of different online casinos that you can try in order to secure the best possible profit when it comes to playing the big game.  Yet make sure that when you skip around from online casino to online casino that you are taking full advantage of the bonus. Here I will tell you when NOT to take advantage of bonuses.

Sometimes online casinos bonuses are there as a promotion in order to increase their revenue.  Obvious as it seems, a bonus may not be a bonus, but in fact a ploy to capturing players and forcing them to put money into the online casino company.  This will mean that they may have increased wagering requirements or may not even allow you to touch the bonus unless you deposit exorbitant amounts of money.  So for example, if you are given a bonus promotion of 50%, or even 100% this may seem like a great amount of free funds!!  But this is not the case; instead you may have a few requirements.  These requirements, say for poker, would be the requirement to play 500 hands.  Sometimes you even have to play 1000 hands.  As you know, any form of gambling, even poker, is very short term and by 1000 hands you could easily have flopped a few hands and lost all of your money.   These are scenarios you should avoid if you can.

Its also not worth the bonus if the website/online casino looks seedy.  Don’t go after a company, giving them hundreds of dollars, if you don’t trust them!  Always read reviews about the various online casinos, and know what you’re getting into.  Don’t make the mistake of putting your money into an offshore account and then kissing it goodbye for good!  Many times, as gambling is illegal here in the USA, there are going to be involved in your transaction several different third world countries where the rules and regulations regarding the transactions are quite asinine.  IN those cases, you are going to lose all your money without the ability of doing anything about it.    Due diligence is the name of the game.  As there are plenty of different casino sites that are available, it wont be hard to find the reviews that tell of players who won and lost in a certain online casino, which is the best advice towards whether or not to accept the bonus of a certain site. Read the RTG casino guide!

Therefore, there is a great deal to be said about any promotion such as the microgaming bonuses.  Many times these promotions may be good, but most of the time (as we live in a world of great uncertainty) these promotions could lead to something that is not wanted.  Your money and the fool are to be separated at all costs, so don’t buy into the hype!  Any time a promotion or bonus offer is offered to the customer, don’t be afraid to read up on the literature and see what requirements have to be unlocked in order to gain access to the money.  Many times these requirements are going to ensure that you dump all of your money into an account, and you will never see the money again as it is in offshore accounts. 

Other times there will be several other fine prints that will make it very difficult to gain access to the bonus offer itself, even if you are a winning player.  SO the moral of the story is make sure you read up on every review for a particular online casino before you invest your money and make sure that you don’t buy into the hype of bonus offers!