Are you puzzled by the workings of casino bonuses, with those pulsating dollar signs and offers of free cash? Let's see if we can demystify the situation. Different rules apply to different casino bonuses - know these rules and avoid disappointment. In addition you may think you're receiving the best treatment because a casino gives the best percentage bonus, then you learn that your small deposit hasn't bought that much of a bonus after all. In this article we'll explain how to work out which bonus is actually the best, drawing from typical bonus schemes to help you make your selection.
Types of Casino Bonuses
Casinos typically offer four types of bonuses:
- Free cash or no-deposit bonuses.
- "Match bonuses" or bonuses when you sign up or pay your first deposit.
- Bonuses for renewing your membership or making further deposits.
- Bonuses for using a preferred deposit system, such as paying through Neteller.
We'll consider these bonuses one by one.
Free Cash Bonuses
There's nothing strange about these bonuses. Once you've signed up at the casino, you can place free bets up to the value of the bonus. But there is a snag - you may not be able to cash in until you've either paid your deposit or staked a sum real money many times greater than the bonus value.
Even so, newcomers to online casinos should accept this type of bonus to use as your initial stake money. There's always a chance that you could win real cash with your free bet!
Find out more at our Free Casino Cash page.
First Deposit Bonuses
Now things become a little more complicated. Deposit bonuses come in two forms, namely, the straight cash bonus and the percentage bonus.
For a good illustration of a straight cash bonus, look at All
Slots Casino. Here you'll get free credits worth $100 for the first $25 you deposit.
Take note that this bonus applies only to the first $25. Afterwards you qualify for other
types of bonuses, like the one for making a re-deposit.
Golden
Riviera Casino provides a good example of a percentage bonus. They add a 200 percent bonus to your initial deposit with a $100 limit. Thus you'd get a $100 bonus on a deposit of $50. The free $100 is taken off whatever amount you cash out and they pay the remainder. In other words you can win cash by playing with their "free credits" but you can't draw money which is actually theirs if you're left with less than the $100 they gave you.
The golden rule is this - always study the terms and conditions for bonuses.
Find out more at our Casino
Deposit Bonus List.
Ongoing Bonuses
Casinos offer numerous forms of re-deposit bonuses as inducements to retain their gamblers. At a number of casinos the extent of these bonuses depends on the loyalty ratings of the members. Most of the time these bonuses are subject to the same conditions as the bonuses for initial deposits, but sometimes you have to bet multiples of this deposit to qualify for a cash-out. If your bonus is $50, for instance, you may have to bet 10 times as much - yes, $500 - to qualify. To do so you'd obviously have to be on some sort of winning streak. For examples of good ongoing bonuses, go to Cirrus Casino.
Special Bonuses (for example, based on payment method)
Here too there is a range of bonuses. The two most frequently applied are deposit mechanism and special event bonuses.
The deposit mechanism bonus rewards you for making deposits through a
preferred payment system, of which Neteller is the most widely used. You can get an additional 20 percent from some casinos for using Neteller. Terms and conditions are much like those for first-deposit bonuses.
Special event bonuses may be dressed up in different ways. You may receive one of these special bonuses if, for instance, you bet a minimum amount on a particular game. A good example is New York Casino, where you'll receive 300 free if your total bets on blackjack amount to $25,000. You'll find numerous other examples at many more casinos than we can list in this article.
One worth mentioning, however, is one of my favorites, Grand
Online Casino. In one of their many novel incentives they award valuable weekly bonuses to randomly selected members who have paid deposits. The terms and conditions follow the general pattern.
