Nearly all online casinos offer some form of bonus or promotion to their customers, click on any casino page and it’s the first thing you’ll see: ‘Sign up and get free spins on us!’.

 

But why are these bonuses important? Well, to casinos they’re important because they help them to get customers. To players, they’re important because they help them to win and try out games without risk. But, if you’re thinking of using an online casino, it’s best to know a little more.

 

What Types of Bonuses do Casinos Offer?

All bonuses either give away either free spins or bonus money. Bonus money is money that you can use at a casino to play almost any game – for example, one of the many Platincasino games – whereas free spins are spins to be used on slot machines that don’t cost players anything.

Bonuses are then either given to players when they sign up to a site and make a deposit or when they simply sign up – these are called ‘first deposit bonuses’ and ‘no deposit bonuses’.

Lastly, there is a type of bonus called a ‘no wagering bonus’, which is a bonus that comes with no wagering requirements. This basically means the bonus comes with fewer terms and conditions, but we’ll look at wagering requirements in more detail below.

All of these different types are often mixed together, so you can get ‘first deposit no wagering free spins’ or ‘no deposit no wagering bonus money’. Whatever the casinos think make a good offer.

 

Why are Casino Bonuses Offered?

The question, then, is why do casinos give bonuses?

Well, the answer is simple: mostly, casinos give away bonuses to try to get new customers.

Because there is so much competition in the casino market, casinos use bonuses to stand out – if players have a choice of 5 casinos, and one of them offers a bonus, then most people will choose that casino with the bonus.

The casinos hope that new customers will continue to come back and become long-term customers. So, although they’re giving something away, they’re hoping that, over the long term, it’ll be worth it for them.

 

What Are Wagering Requirements?

Wagering requirements are conditions placed upon a bonus that requires the recipient to wager a specific sum of money, which, once wagered, allows the player to withdraw that bonus money as cash. But, until they are completed, players cannot withdraw that money.

Wagering requirements are always stated as a multiple, e.g. x20, and either apply to bonus money, or bonus money and a player’s deposit.

So, for example, you might get a 100% up to £100 bonus, with wagering requirements of x20 on the bonus + the deposit. This would mean that if you deposited £50 and thereby got £50 as a bonus, the sum of money you’d have to bet before you could withdraw any bonus money would be £100 x 20 – which is £2,000.

 

Final Say

If you are thinking of playing at a casino site and you want to take advantage of a bonus on offer, you should ask yourself two things. First, ‘have I read the terms and conditions?’. If the answer is ‘no’, then make sure to read them – there’s vital information in there that you need to know. Second, ‘is this the best bonus available to me?’. Again, if ‘no’, then you should keep looking for the bonus with the lowest wagering requirements (preferably none). Once you’ve done that, you’re good to go.