Understanding Online Casino Bonuses: Maximizing Your Value

In the intensely competitive world of the online casino sector there is a battle going on to secure your custom.

To do this, and to stand out from the others in the market, the use of bonuses is key for the casinos in question. This puts you, the player, into the driving seat. Plus, if you know your way round these offers you can get much more bang for your buck.

But before you can do this effectively it pays to do a little homework. So here’s your first lesson in maximizing the value when you play.

Types of bonus

There are a number of different types of bonus commonly in use and all are based in sound marketing principles. 

No deposit bonus – although increasingly rare to find these days this is an offer to provide you with free stake money to start you playing. 

Deposit bonus – this is probably the most common kind of online casino real money bonus that you’ll come across. In this, the casino will match your initial deposit, up to a maximum amount, when you start to play. This means that you’re effectively doubling your stake money.

Cashback offers – another popular form of bonus is the cashback offer. As the name suggests, you will be credited with money back once you reach some agreed thresholds. At some casinos this even includes receiving a portion of your stake money back, even on losing bets.

Free spins – slots games are by far the most popular on all sites, so it’s no big surprises that many offer a set number of free spins on selected games. These may be split so, for example, 70 free spins are divided into 25 in the first week of play, 25 in the second and 20 in the third. This is designed to keep you coming back for more.

Loyalty bonuses – these usually kick in when you’ve been playing on the same site for a while. They can take the form of any of the above or even entry into exclusive games or prize draws like Wheel of Fortune-style games.

Maximizing the value of your bonuses

Bonuses are undoubtedly a good thing. And there are a number of ways that you can make them better.

The first of these is to be extra diligent with your research. If you want to find the very best online casino real money deals, then it will pay to spend plenty of time searching for them online. You can do this quite easily through the huge number of review sites out there. Not only will these have details of all the latest bonuses, they also give the casinos in question a start rating, or equivalent.

The next tip if you’re going for a deposit bonus is to max out your allowance, provided it fits in with your gaming budget. After all, the casino’s effectively giving you free money to play with so why not go all in?

Thirdly, if the bonus involves free spins this is likely to be on a specified group of slots games. But not all are the same and the Return To Player figure can vary considerably. So always look for the slot with the highest potential RTP to be in with a better chance of winning.

Exploiting loyalty programs

Once you’re into the habit of playing on a specific casino, the last thing they want to do is lose you as a customer.

That’s why you’ll also find yourself being offered rewards for your loyalty. Like the proverbial gift horse, don’t look these in the mouth. Take what’s on offer and make the most of it. That’s because your participation may well lead to even better offers along the line and you might even find yourself achieving Very Important Player status along the way – and then the rewards could really start to roll in.

A word about wagering requirements

While online casinos are undoubtedly generous, there are always going to be terms and conditions that need to be followed when you’re playing for online casino real money deals. When it comes to bonuses these are usually in the form of wagering requirements.

These stipulate a multiple of your bonus that must be wagered before you can start to receive any winnings. To achieve this the canny player usually plays lower-risk games like blackjack to fulfil the requirements or concentrates on the more simple bets in roulette which offer a 50/50 chance of winning.

So, hopefully, you’ll be able to use all this information to really make the most of the bonuses casinos offer. They’re all out there for the taking, and now’s the perfect time to grab them.