Casino bonuses come hand-in-hand with signing up with virtually any live online casino nowadays. This is one of the great advantages players have when choosing which casino to sign up with, but it can sometimes be difficult to fully understand exactly what your bonus means to you. Here we take a look at the most popular kinds of bonuses available and how they work:
First Deposit Bonuses
This is certainly the most common and beneficial bonus to new players. Sometimes also referred to as a welcome bonus, the vast majority of live online casinos offer this kind of bonus. Basically what happens is that when you make your first deposit with your new live casino of choice, the amount you deposit is doubled, with the casino itself matching the amount you have put down. There will be predefined limits on the maximum bonus you can receive, although this is not exactly stingy and can be up to £300 – £400 in some cases; more usually £100 – £200. Also, this kind of casino bonus is not always a 100% bonus; some casinos actually go above this and offer a 150% or 200% bonus on occasion. A healthy first deposit bonus is always worth looking out for, simply because of the amount of additional funds it can add to your account.
No Deposit Bonuses
This type of bonus is becoming more and more popular and prominent with live online casinos. Rather than having to make a deposit in order to receive bonus, with no deposit bonuses you simply have to register. The amount you are given to play with is usually only around £5 – £10, although given that this is literally free money, even that is good news. The real benefit of no deposit bonuses is that you get to play the real cash versions of games on a live casino website you are considering signing up with permanently. Although most casinos have play many areas for you to try their software, there’s nothing like playing with the real thing, and no deposit bonuses gives you that opportunity.
Reload Bonuses
Although the two bonuses above are designed to give bonuses to new customers, there are a few types which are aimed at rewarding current players. Casino reload bonuses are the most common type of promotion as far as this is concerned. These bonuses are vary quite a bit from casino to casino, although essentially how they work is to give small deposit bonuses of around 10 to 15% on either a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Some casinos will even give a bonus every time you make a deposit. Other times, the casino will give reload bonuses on a certain day of the week, or deposits made between certain times of the day or night. Reload bonuses are certainly good for frequent players and worth keeping an eye out for.
Random Cash Giveaways
Although the different kinds of deposit bonuses are very common with live online casinos, sometimes they just want to mix it up a bit and throw some money your way. These random cash giveaways will sometimes come completely out of the blue, other times you will have to do something to be eligible for the draw, like trying a new game or betting a certain amount during the week. This kind of promotion is often a lot of fun, but is completely unpredictable.
Wagering Requirements
One of the downsides to casino bonuses, which are generally a very good thing for players, is the presence of wagering requirements – in other words, the small print. Of course, it is unrealistic to expect a casino to give a large first deposit away etc with no conditions to stop the player from withdrawing immediately. This is the reason why wagering requirements exist. These requirements basically state that the bonus money must be wagered a certain number of times before being withdrawn. Sometimes the winnings from bonuses must also be wagered a number of times before being withdrawn also. Although this can sometimes take the edge off bonuses a little, for frequent players, wagering requirements are not really worth thinking about, seeing as you’re going to be using your full bankroll anyway, and when it becomes available to withdraw, you then have the option to do so.
