When you switch from land-based casino to the online arena, many players are thrilled by the huge size of online casino bonuses. Do not worry though, most of them are too good to be true. Online casino bonus offers are designed to attract new players to sign up and open an account. Online casinos have the possibility to provide high bonus offers as their expenses are much lower than their massive brick and mortar forefathers. One signed up, you will be overwhelmed with loads of different bonuses in all shapes and sizes. We give you four criteria for determining the best bonuses:
- Matching deposit bonuses for the biggest payouts.
- Fixed bonuses that may benefit lower limit players.
- No deposit offers that come with no strings attached.
- VIP loyalty deals to reward loyal players.
Going back in time one or two decades, when online gambling was still in its infancy, nobody knew who to trust and shifty casino operators used every trick to offer big bonus reward and then forget paying any of it out. Nowadays, the industry is much more transparent thanks to sites like ours. Today modern players pay attention to all details of the terms and conditions including bonuses therefore there’s much more competition for the title of best casino bonus out there.
Match bonus offers
Matching deposit offers are the most common type of online casino bonuses. The amount you receive is actually determined by your deposit and it always has a maximum value. In most cases, these are 100% match bonuses meaning the offer will be exactly the same value of your deposit. Let’s see at an example in practice to better understand! If there is a 100% match bonus with an advertised amount value of 800 USD, it means that the casino welcome offer will be worth 100% of your deposit. So if you deposit 200 USD, you recive 200 USD. You only get the maximum size of the bonus in one case, if you deposit 800 USD or more. Good to know that depositing more than this does not lead to more casino bonus money as the maximum size of the bonus is 800 USD.
Fixed bonus deals
The next category is fixed bonuses when the casino simply pays you a certain amount of bonus money, as long as you make a qualifying deposit. They are usually far smaller than matching casino sign up bonuses. Now take an example from real life to see how fix bonuses work. If new players are welcome by a sign up bonus of 100 USD, then that is the only size that your deal can be. Always read the terms and conditions to be aware of what a ’qualifiying’ bonus is.
No deposit bonus codes
And last but not least, there are no deposit bonus opportunities that have one important advantage over other kinds of promotions – there is no deposit required. These are few and relatively small but risk-free. You just sign up with the casino (try FairGo, KingBilly or Planet7Oz), request the bonus (usually with a code) and watch it land in your account. Even as a risk-free fun money player, you can enjoy these bonus opportunities and feel free to try out new casinos. But of course, for the biggest rewards, there will always be some kind of deposit requirement.
Casino bonus restrictions
Do not believe that bonus money is just a gift. There are a few restrictions in place to make sure you cannot easily take advantage of online casino bonus opportunities with no risk. It is always recommended to read the fine print to avoid any impossible-to-win situations. With the best sites, these restrictions are very reasonable including expiration date of the promotion and certain wagering requirements.
Wagering requirements
Wagering requirements (also called as playthrough requirements or clearing minimums) are set amounts of cash that you must gamble in order to make your bonus money available for withdrawal. This is a basic tool that even the best casino bonus must use to assure only genuine players are taking part in the action.
The wagering requirements for any casino bonus are calculated by multiplying the value of the bonus by a set multiplier – usually between 20x and 50x. The value of all of your wagers must meet this value to completely clear the bonus money for withdrawal, and you only have until the expiration date. Some casinos require you to withdraw your online casino bonus money in smaller, bite-sized chunks.
Others count wagers from different games differently, while some sites put you in an all-or-nothing situation. Slots and video poker with nearly 100% contribution rates are the best choice to clear a casino promotion.
And finally: a quick guide for enjoying your casino welcome bonus:
- Never forget to read the terms and conditions as the devil is in the details.
- Then verify the wagering requirements and how much your favourite games contribute towards it. There is absolutely no point to chase a bonus that you’ll never clear or one that requires you to play games you do not even like.
- Finally check out the expiration dates since there is nothing more frustrating than getting within striking distance, and then losing everything by simply running out of time.
We advise you to stick with top online casino sites with fair policies that actually make online casino bonuses enjoyable!