Almost all online casinos offer their customers a variety of incentives – bonuses. In some casinos bonuses are more generous, in others less so, but, one way or another, today every online casino has its own bonus program.
Bonuses are cash for free play, which online casinos provide to registered users as an incentive. All bonuses, conditions for their receipt and wagering are combined into a single system – the bonus policy of online casinos. The main objective of the bonus policy is to attract new users to the site and maintain interest in the game among regular customers.
What is a “wager”
To begin with, let’s clarify that bonuses are not charity. The player can not withdraw from the account “free” money as long as the bonus will not be fully played according to the terms of the wager. The wager (vager or vager) is a number (x-fold) defining the amount of the total amount of bets after which the bonus will be considered won. To understand the meaning of this definition is much easier by an example: a player has received a bonus of $100 with a vager of x10. To determine the amount of total bets, he needs to multiply the amount of the bonus by the Vager (100 x 10 = 1000).
This means that under the terms of the online casino player must make a number of bets totaling $ 1000. Under the total amount of bets refers to the total amount of money that the player has bet throughout the game, it does not matter how many bets he won or lost. Below, we will list the main types of bonuses that are most commonly used in online casinos and describe their advantages and disadvantages.
No deposit bonus
This type of bonus is the most attractive to users, as it does not require a deposit. Most online casinos offer no deposit bonuses to new players, encouraging them to open an account at this casino. The advantage of this type of bonus is that the client who decided to use it, does not risk his own funds and gets the opportunity to play for real money. However, there is one major drawback – it is very difficult to withdraw the won amount from the account.
To win back the no deposit bonus, the player will have to meet the difficult conditions of the wager – to make a lot of bets for a large amount, which exceeds the size of the bonus tenfold. In this case, all bets must be made in a short time and only in a particular group of games. Even if the client manages to win back the bonus in full, without violating the conditions, often he is not allowed to withdraw money from the account immediately. Before the player must make a real deposit of some amount. Thus, casinos keep new customers and insure themselves against bonus-hunters (bonus hunters).
Deposit bonus
The most common type of bonuses, which are awarded to players for the first or next deposit. It may be a fixed amount, or a percentage of the payment made. The value of the fixed bonus is specified in the terms and conditions, as well as the amount of the minimum deposit, which the player must make to his account. For example, it looks like this: a bonus of $100 on a deposit of $50 or more. The value of the percentage bonus directly depends on the amount deposited. Therefore, each casino sets its own limit, indicating the minimum and maximum amount of possible deposits. For example, a bonus of 100% on a deposit from €10 to €200 is charged.
Deposit bonuses as it is necessary to wager, as well as no deposit bonus. Only in this case, online casinos offer a lower wager and loyal conditions of the game. It is better to select the deposit bonuses on the following principle: it is necessary to calculate how much of your own funds you will theoretically spend, fulfilling the conditions of the wager. If the amount of payment exceeds the value of the bonus – it is better to reject the “free” money. A profitable bonus offer must have a high percentage of the deposit, a small vager, as well as minimal restrictions on the terms, games, etc.
Bonuses for the proposed method of payment
Many online casinos offer small bonuses of 10-20% on all deposits that the user makes with the recommended payment system. As you know, a small commission of about 3% is charged when making a deposit through most payment systems. With such bonuses, the institution not only encourages the client, but also compensates his expenses on depositing through unpopular systems with high commissions. The bonus amount comes out modest, but it is not very difficult to wagering. If this method of depositing makes sense to you, it makes sense to try the bonus as well.
Bonuses for regular and VIP-players
Each online casino encourages regular and most active users in its own way. Regular players are entitled to regular bonuses (monthly, quarterly, weekly), individual bonuses on their birthday, for referring a friend, participating in tournaments and promotions organized by the online casino. For a certain number of bets all players are awarded additional bonus points – comp points, which can later be exchanged for money. But the biggest and most profitable bonuses with soft vager requirements go to players with VIP status. All online casinos value their VIP customers and try to encourage them in every way.
Sticky and phantom bonus
These bonuses are not popular, which is why most casinos do not use the term “sticky” or “phantom” in their promotions. The fact is that the sticky bonus cannot be withdrawn from the account even if the player has fulfilled all the conditions on the wager. It can only be used for betting. When you withdraw funds, the account will be written off the amount won and the balance of your deposit, which was not used for betting. Hence the strange name “sticky”, as this type of bonus sort of sticks to the gaming account. The advantage of a sticky bonus is that it helps the player place larger bets, and it helps casino owners fight off bonus hijackers.
At this point, there are hardly any “sticky” bonuses left. They have been replaced by “phantom” bonuses, which now have another unpleasant property – to disappear from the gaming account. This happens at the moment when the player cashes his winnings. Simple or sticky bonuses remain on the account even after withdrawal: it is possible to continue playing and winning with this money. A phantom bonus is deducted the first time you try to withdraw money from your account.
Refundable Bonus (Cashback)
This is the rarest bonus, which is more often used by young online casinos to build up a customer base. These institutions offer to compensate for a possible loss through a special bonus, allowing to return some part of the lost money. Most often it’s 5-25% of the lost amount, while the casino may set some restrictions on the use of the refund bonus. Lose money bonus is considered the most unprofitable for online casinos, so it’s unlikely you’ll find it in a solid institution with a rich clientele.
Conditions when playing with bonuses
As you have already understood, in order to receive bonus money a player must perform certain actions, such as registering, making a deposit, inviting a friend or fulfilling other conditions of the online establishment. Banners and pop-ups, which invite the player to take advantage of the bonus, do not provide him with full and correct information regarding the conditions of this promotion. The most important points of the rules of the game with bonus money can be found only in a special section on the website of the online casino.
Note that there is no unnecessary information there. Therefore, read all the points very carefully, so that in the future freely withdraw the won money from the account and avoid unnecessary conflicts. Often players rush to use the bonus money and are disappointed when they find out that they played against the rules of the casino and are not allowed to withdraw the long-awaited winnings from the account.
