Comparing Casino Bonuses: Here is Why!

An online casino bonus is the amount of free money that a casino places in your account to play with. The most popular form is the online casino sign-up offer, which is typically a percentage match with the amount of money you deposit.

• For example, you could find a casino that provides a 200% real money bonus on your first $100 deposit. This means you are going to deposit $100 and get $200 in bonus money transferred to your account—you are going to get $300 to play with instead of the $100 you invested.
• This sounds too good to be true for a lot of online/live casino players, but whether you’ve spent some time playing online or researching online gaming, you probably already know that these casino bonuses often come with a catch. Much of the time, the biggest catch is that you have to make a certain number of wagers before you have a chance to cash out.
• For eg, with the above bid, the wagering requirement might be 50x the deposit plus the bonus. This means you have to bet $50 x $300=$15,000 in bets before you can withdraw any of your winnings.
• The statistical edge of a casino over a player is called the house edge. That is calculated as a percentage, and it is the sum of money that the casino calculates you will lose objectively over time in a particular game.
• For eg, if you are playing a game where the house edge is 1%, you would expect to lose $150 on $15000 in bets. Blackjack is the only game where you will get a house edge that low.
• Many slot machine games, however, have a house edge of at least 5 times that of blackjack.
• There is more to online casino bonuses than this. Many casinos make it possible for you to wager on other games, but they reduce the number of bets on such games by a fraction.
• Some casinos encourage you to gamble on blackjack when you meet your wagering conditions, but they only count 10% of your wagers towards that goal.
• There was also a time when you could make fast cash out of casino incentives at several casinos. But it was a long time ago.

This doesn’t mean you cannot use casino incentives to have fun at online casinos. It just means that most of the beneficial play opportunities using these bonuses won’t work.

Is the casino bonus cashable or not-cashable?

Casino bonuses may also be classified as cashable or non-cashable. Many casino incentives are in the non-cashable range.

• For a cashable bonus, you can only cash out whatever’s left on your balance after you have met your wagering criteria, 
• Although for a non-cashable bonus, the casino assumes that whatever money you have spent is your money first. The funds left in your account will be deducted from the payout before you can cash out.
• Another term used to characterise non-cashable incentives is “sticky bonuses.” That sounds sweet, but it doesn’t. This ensures that the bonus remains to your account and cannot be deducted.
• “Phantom Bonus” is another term used for this type of bonus. The best thing about this kind of perk, though, is that you can always play with it. In certain casinos with non-cashable incentives, the offer will vanish from your account as soon as you withdraw.
• You are a lot better off keeping the bonus money in your portfolio because it gives you another shot to make more gains and cash out.

Free spins on slot machine games

A newer form of casino incentive that is now being offered is a free spin on a particular game promotion. These are not the bonus spins that you get when you activate the correct combination of symbols on the slot machine. Casinos offer you a certain amount of free spins on a specific game as an opportunity to sign up for a real money account at their casino.

You may find several types of this promotion, but the most common type of promotions is:

• Free spins when a deposit is made
• Free spins without any deposit
• Free spins and a sign-up bonus anytime you make a deposit.

• Typically, because you get free spins as your incentive when you make your deposit, you have greater wagering expectations than other sign-up bonuses would have.
• Free spins with no deposit needed can be a big deal, but it can also be a sly way to get you to make a deposit. You may not have to deposit to get the free spins, but you often have to deposit to be able to withdraw any winnings. Usually, you are going to have a wagering provision for this bid, too. You are also going to have a restriction to the amount that you can earn from your free spins.
• The greatest of all potential free spin bonuses is the one where you get extra chips (a regular deposit incentive), but you also get free spins as a bonus on the slot machine.
• You also need to update your account at the casino to get your free spins.
• All winnings on free spins are turned into real money prizes, which are tracked independently from the cash you have invested in your account.

No deposit bonuses

A no deposit bonus is a bonus on your real-money portfolio that you can collect even though you’ve never made a deposit. It’s essentially a free chip, and it is usually for a very limited sum of money, based on the casino and the promotion.

• You do need to set up a real money casino account to get this incentive. This means providing your contact information to the casino. Many reputable online casinos will need some paperwork to check if you are old enough to play there. They also want to protect themselves against identity fraud.
• Many of the no deposit bonuses are connected to the incentive code that you enter when you build your account. They don’t send you the money overnight, but their turnaround period is typically short.

• No deposit incentives also have wagering criteria. They often also offer a maximum sum that you can win and cash out without having made a deposit. Sometimes, you have to make some sort of contribution to be able to cash out at all.

What to consider when comparing casino bonuses

Not each casino bonus is an ideal one for every player. Any platform that tells you that casino bonus no-1 is better than casino bonus no-2 without considering your targets as a gambler is not worth doing transactions with.

Here are some of the variables that need to be considered when comparing casino bonuses.

1. Percentage of the matching bonus

Generally, if you are going to deposit a bunch of money, the higher the matching incentive percentage, the better. That is how you are going to get more free money. When you are nearly cashless or don’t have a lot of money to spare, free spins and no deposit benefits prove to be a great deal.

2. The casino’s wagering criteria

The higher you are expected to wager the bonus along with the deposit, the poorer the bonus deal is. For example, it is best to leave with your winnings if you just have to wager 20x of your money, than to wager 40x of your money.

You will also have to evaluate how long it takes you to fulfil the wagering criteria depending on what denomination of slot machines you want to play.

3. What games should you choose to play?

• If you are a dedicated online Baccarat player you won’t go anywhere near a slot machine if your life depends on it or it provides you with the most lucrative bonus.
• Similarly, if you are an avid Blackjack fan most deposit bonuses won’t do you a lot of good. Many online casinos don’t count Blackjack bets towards satisfying the bonus criteria.
• And if any casino counts wagers on Blackjack or other games against the wagering criteria, they just count a portion of the bet.

4. The reputation of the casino

• Not all of the online/mobile casinos are reputable. Many of them are square robbers. Some online casinos don’t have malware that cheats, although there have been rumours of such activity on some of these sites.
• The best way to check the credibility of a casino is by reading feedback and trustworthy gambling statistics. Another alternative is to invest more time with some of the better-known websites like The Online Casino.  
• The greatest challenge players face with disreputable online casinos is the difficulty of cashing out their winnings. Most of these casinos do not have enough resources to accommodate your withdrawals.

Conclusion

You have a lot of different options when it comes to online casino bonuses, but an online casino bonus that is perfect for you might not be ideal for another player. It depends on what sort of games a player likes to play. It all depends on your bankroll, what kind of stakes you are okay with and how much time you have got to enjoy.