Fierce competition between the ever-increasing number of online casinos has
resulted in new players being offered exciting bonuses. It's not unusual for
first-time customers to get up to $100 free, just for depositing $10 or $15 to
download an online casino's software. Some larger online casinos have loyalty
incentives like VIP Status or Reward programs.
Because they have much lower overheads (lower staff, marketing, equipment and
premises) than traditional sited casinos, online casinos can afford to do this.
Besides, it's not like you can run away with the bonus! All online casino
promotions have a strict set of rules that normally require the player to bet
their bonus between three and five times before they can collect any of their
profits.
There are primarily three main types of online casino promotions:
High Roller Bonuses
At the top end, high roller bonuses are for "heavy online casino
users". Generally these promotions are free "percentage match
bonuses" (where the casino will credit a player's account with a percentage
of the amount that they deposit in their online account). High roller bonuses
are generally amounts of $200 upwards.
Loyalty Bonuses
Many online casinos reward the loyalty of their repeat players with retention
promotions or bonuses. These take a number of different forms. Some online
casinos offer a monthly percentage match bonus, paying out a percentage of
deposits over the past month (or other specified period). Others run monthly,
weekly or daily prize draws, where amounts of money are credited to players'
casino accounts, subject to the players fulfilling particular requirements or
conditions. Or they may offer a free "happy hour" bonus to players who
are online or making deposits during a particular (often random) hour. They may
offer other special bonuses on a bettor's birthday, or the anniversary of their
joining as a member. These bonuses can take the form of credits to a player's
online account, or may be apparently unrelated to the online casino, like a
skiing trip!
Welcome Bonuses
Finally, a number of online casinos offer "attraction" or
"welcome" bonuses to their new customers. These are once-off bonuses
which are given to users on signing up, opening an account or taking their first
bet. Welcome bonuses can take a variety of forms. The following four are the
most common: - Deposit with fixed bonus (also known as a "matched
deposit"): Here, there is a minimum deposit which the gaming club will
match. For example, if a player who deposits $100, the online casino may deposit
an additional $100 into their account. If the player deposited $150, the casino
may still only deposit $100. - A percentage bonus: The gaming club will match a
certain percentage of a bettor's deposits, with a defined ceiling or maximum.
For example, a player buying $500 may get $600 in chips, because the gaming club
concerned is offering a percentage bonus of 20% for all purchases between $100
and $600. Bettors have a good chance of making a decent profit, but they need to
make big deposits to receive percentage bonuses. - Bonus with no deposit (also
called a "no purchase" promotion). A limited number of casinos offer
new clients the option to simply download their software and try out their games
without actually making a deposit. New clients would need to provide the online
casino with a little background information (just to ensure that they are only
granted this bonus once). Although no purchase bonuses aren't that high (so
bettors should keep their bets low!), this promotion is useful for clients to
evaluate a casino. - Bonus linked to a particular purchase method. Online
casinos might reward bettors by crediting their gaming account with bonus $ for
using particular purchase methods like Firepay or Netteller. Often, bettors can
enjoy these bonuses in conjunction with other promotions.
Conclusion
Bettors need to pay careful attention to the specific terms and conditions of
casino bonus promotions. They need to familiarize themselves with the contents
of the promotions page on an online casino site, before they make any purchases.
They need to understand how long the bonus will be valid, how many times bettors
must bet the deposit and/or bonus before they can withdraw their profits.
Finally, bettors need to understand which games they should or should not play
to ensure that their profits are valid for inclusion in a particular promotion.
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