Casino Bonus Guide
You have probably noticed all the gigantic casino bonuses offered all over the internet, all with different names and conditions. Is it really true that casinos are giving away free money? Well, it all depends on how you look at it. The online casinos give away money because they want you to become a customer at their casino. Everywhere you turn you can see these impressive bonuses, but what do they really mean and can you really earn money from them?
Example:
You are offered to make a deposit of $500 to a casino and the casino will add $300 extra to your deposit, your total bankroll will become $800. That’s a good amount to play with, but when can you withdraw your money? The answer in this example is: When you have played, or wagered for at least $9600, in other words 12 times the total bankroll. Note that every bonus that you will ever be offered will have playthrough requirements.
Playthrough/Wager Requirements
The playthrough requirement must be fulfilled before you can cash-out your winnings. Knowing the exact playthrough requirements of a bonus is the most important thing when it comes to playing casino bonuses. The principle is that you must play/risk/bet the bonus money you have been given a certain amount of times before you can cash out. Sometimes you just have to wager the bonus itself and sometime you you have to wager both your bonus and deposit as well.
Bankroll playthrough
This is the most common playthrough requirement these days. When faced with a bankroll playthrough it means that you have to wager not only the bonus but also the deposit you made. Let’s say you make a deposit for $100 and you receive a bonus of another $100 with the bankroll playthrough requirements of 20x. This gives you $200 to play with but before you can cash out your winnings you need to bet/wager $4000 - in other words $200×20.
Bonus playthrough
In this case you only need to wager the amount of the bonus a certain number of times. These bonuses used to be common but if you find one today they usually have really high wager requirements like 30x to 40x. However if you find this kind of bonus with good wager requirements it can mean half the playthrough requirements compared to a bonus with a bankroll playthrough. If we use the same example from earlier you would deposit $100 and get another $100 in bonus . This would give you $200. If the playthrough requirements were x20 like in our last example. You would only have to bet/wager $2000, in other words $100×20.
What games are excluded?
It’s important to check what games that are excluded from the wager requirements. Playing these games does not count towards the wager requirements. Usually games like Black Jack, Roulette and Casino War are excluded from the playthrough requirements. However, you can of course play these games to increase your bankroll and then use the winnings from these games to wager on slots etc, but betting on Black Jack itself wont get you any closer to cashing out.
Matching Deposit Bonus
The principe of a matching bonus is always the same no matter what it’s called. Usually it’s referred to as match bonus, sign up bonus or welcome bonus. When you deposit money at a casino, the casino replies by giving you some free cash to increase your bankroll. This is a so called matching bonus. The matching bonuses can vary much in size and percent.
Percent: A 100% bonus means that if you deposit $100 you will get another $100 from the casino (a total bankroll of $200) If it was a 200% bonus you would get $200 for your $100 (a total bankroll of $300). Bonuses usually vary from 25% up to 250%
Max Limit: Online Casinos often limits the bonus amount that they offer at a certain limit. For example, a 100% match bonus could be up to $200. This means that you will only get a bonus for the first $200 you deposit. If you deposit $500 you will only get a $200 bonus.
Restrictions: Always read the terms & conditions when you claim a bonus. Some games are excluded from the wager requirements and sometimes a cash out before the wager requirements are fulfilled could lead to disqualification and you could lose all your winnings. Although we strongly recommend you not to play at casinos with bonus conditions like that.
Loyalty bonuses / Reload Bonuses
If you are lucky and you play at a generous casino you can get offered reload bonuses or loyalty bonuses from time to time. The amounts on these types of bonuses can vary a lot and sometimes the playthrough requirements are a lot easier then the first deposit bonuses. The reload/loyalty bonuses can even be without playthrough requirements in some rare cases.
Sticky Bonus
Some online casino sites gives sticky bonuses. These bonuses can’t be withdrawn from your casino account and can only be used to play with. The thought with these bonuses are to give the player a larger bankroll to play with, thus give the player an increased chance to win. These types of bonuses can be very big, often larger then $300. The sticky bonuses can also increase you chances of winning the jackpots since your have lots of money to play with. When cashing out your winnings, the sticky bonus will be removed from your account.
Advices
When looking for good casino bonuses the most important thing is to make sure you know the wager requirements and to read the terms & conditions carefully. You should never play a bonus that require more then 25 times playthrough. You should try to find casino bonuses around 12 times playthrough requirements. If you play at the casinos that we recommend at this site, you never have to worry about strange bonus requirements. Good Luck with your bonus hunting!