Many casinos offer bonuses to get you to sign up and play or keep you playing. There are 2 types of sign up bonuses. Deposit and no deposit ones. They are pretty self explanatory.
Deposit bonuses require you to deposit money and the casino will give you a percentage of this. The standard is 100% but I have seen 50% up to 300% depending on the casino. To protect themselves they make you turn over the bonus and deposit so many times before you can withdraw.
A typical casino may ask you to wager the stake and deposit 20 times before you can withdraw. For example, a casino may offer 100% match bonus up to £100 with a 20x deposit and turnover requirement. Say if you deposited the maximum, you would get £200 to play with. However, to withdraw any winnings, you need to turn over £4000.
That’s actually the best case. As an extra layer of protection they also have game weightings. Slots usually count 100% toward the wagering requirements but other games do not. Roulette, can be anything from 100% down to 0%. At zero percent, you’ll never be able to withdraw the bonus if roulette is the only game you play. Always read the small print carefully and decline bonuses if you don’t want to have to wager loads.
Its happened to me several times when I’ve been winning, thought I’d quit whilst I was ahead but then couldn’t cash out due to the fact that I’d not wagered enough.
A better type of deposit welcome bonus is cash back on losses. Some casinos will offer a percentage of losses back on your first deposit. For example, 50% of your losses back in your first week up to £100. This is better because you don’t have to mess around playing extra games. The refund is usually withdrawable straight away.
For example, you deposit £100, lose that, the casino will give you £50 back. You can withdraw that straight away. Its like having a 50% deposit bonus but with no wagering requirement. These are not as popular as the match bonuses but are more lucrative for the player.
No deposit bonuses are bonuses the casino gives you to really just to try the games out. There is very little chance of winning anything. These have some very strict requirements, for example, you must turn over 50x and make a deposit before you can withdraw or can only withdraw up to a set amount.
No deposit bonuses are popular though as players can try out the games and for the casino they don’t cost that much. For a low roller, £10 free will last the night and so there is no need to deposit. With a bit of luck they might be able to cash something out. For everyone else though, a good deposit bonus or welcome package is much more lucrative.
Once you have deposited, the casino have other ways to reward players. The first and most popular is the loyalty scheme. Think Tesco Club Cards points but you get points whenever you gamble. If you play a lot, these can add up. You should check your loyalty points every so often. You may be surprised by how many you have accumulated.
Each scheme is different but can be very lucrative. If you are a high roller you may get invited to the VIP sections, get corporate hospitality and free gifts depending on how much you play and how much you lose. You usually just get approached by the casino manager if you are eligible.
Some casinos will offer what it called a reload bonus. This is a monthly casino bonus which they give you on the first deposit of every month. Some do it weekly but usually its monthly. The wagering requirements are different to the sign up bonus and are usually more generous than the initial deposit bonuses but the amounts are smaller.
The odd casino, most noticeably Bet Victor give you a bonus just for playing. These are rare but some casinos give them out to get you back on the site. I’ve had emails off casinos a week after a session telling me I’ve been award a mystery bonus. Usually these bonuses can just be withdrawn. That’s probably the best thing.
[sc:betfair468]Read more below.
Leave a Reply