The Different Types of Bonuses Available
There are many different types of bonuses offered by virtual casinos. They each have their benefits and most casinos have more than one bonus type available at a time. In fact, it is quite common to have a majority of all these different bonus types available to players from a single online casino. So, let’s explore these different types of bonuses:
Sign Up / New Player Bonus
This type of bonus is offered by every online casino. It varies only in the value of what is offered. There is usually a deposit match bonus and occasionally a free spins bonus.
The deposit match bonus is exactly what the name implies. When a player signs up for a casino for the first time, they receive a bonus that matches the amount of their first deposit into their player account. Now, there are limits to the match amount. Usually, these limits are in the range of $200-$500. This means that if the limit was $400 for example, then a player who deposited up to that amount would have double their deposit amount ($800) available to play within their new casino account. But if they were to deposit say $1000 then they would only have the $400 matched and have a total of $1400 available to a player to game within their new player account.
These matching of first deposit bonuses are often set at %100 but can be any percentage from %10 at the lowest up to the very rare and lucrative %500 deposit matching bonus. Whenever we find one of these amazing top-end sign-up matching deposit bonuses we will be sure to let you know just as soon as possible so that you too can take full advantage of the massive amount of bonus playing money. The one fine print item you need to pay attention to is the wagering requirement set for this bonus money.
Wagering requirements are typically a set multiplier number that reflects the number of times that the bonus money needs to be used as a wager on a bet before you can withdraw the funds from your casino account. So if you got a $100 bonus with a 25x wagering requirement, you would have to place $2,500 in bets on the virtual casino’s games before it clears for withdrawing into cash. There are also stipulations on different games and how much they account for to meet a wagering requirement. For example, slots could be set at a 0.25x wagering amount which means you would have to bet 4 times the amount you would have to bet on a table game that was a 1.0x wagering amount. These weighted wagering stipulations just vary in the different types of games and how they each contribute to fulfilling your overall wagering requirement for
clearing your bonus money to make it available for withdrawing.
No Deposit Bonus
This is many gamers’ favorite type of bonus that virtual casinos offer. Its popularity has even gained some traction in recent years because of the number of players who seek out these bonuses when choosing a virtual casino to do their gaming with. This bonus is offered to a new player as a set amount of money to game with but without the need to make any deposit of their own money to receive this bonus money into their new player’s account.
These bonuses without needing a deposit make it possible for a player to test out a new casino without any of the risk inherent in using their own money to deposit cash to place bets with on the casino’s various games. This is what makes them so attractive to new players. It allows for one to test out a casino’s platform and see how much a player likes their layout, game choices, speed, and every other aspect that might set that casino apart from others and entice the new gamer to later place a deposit of their own to continue gaming on that casino’s site or mobile app.
The one major stipulation to watch for in the fine print is the wagering requirements set for these bonus funds. They will tend to be much higher than those set for matching deposit bonuses. They can often be upwards of 75-100x the bonus amount. This means that you will have to win enough playing with this free money to place 100 times the bonus amount in bets and wagers on the casino’s games before you can withdraw the money as cold hard cash.
They also often add a stipulation that you must place a deposit of a minimal amount before you can make a withdraw as well, but these minimum deposits are fairly low, sometimes only $10. So if you do manage to win it big while playing with some no deposit bonus money than you may well get a chance to cash out and make some free money in the process, the chance does exist. But these casinos would simply go broke if they made it easy for you to do so. It would be the equivalent of them just handing out $50 bills to every new player. This is why it is always important to read all of the terms and conditions that go along with these, and with any bonuses, an online casino may offer you. Especially ones that sound too good to be true.
Multiple Deposit Bonuses
These deposits are offered as an enticement to keep players gaming with a casino for a long-lasting amount of time. They offer a percentage of each deposit placed with the casino for up to a certain number of deposits or a percentage of a specific deposit placed. This means that for your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. deposit, you can receive a percentage of that deposit matched. Or, in the case of a specific deposit, they will match that deposit for a certain percentage. Say for example the bonus offer was for 75% of 5th deposit, this means that when you continue to deposit money and keep playing with a casino, then once you reach the 5th time that you add money to your player account the casino will match that particular deposits amount with 75% of the total deposit in free money that will be added to your player account at the same time. But again, make sure you read the fine print and see what the wagering requirements are for these funds to be withdrawn from your account later on.
Loyalty Bonuses
The loyalty bonus is often a generous one that depends on the amount of gaming you have done on a specific casino’s platform. As you play games on one of these casinos, you build up points for the amount of money you have wagered over time. All these points will add up and usually put you in one of several different levels or tiers that each has a specific bonus associated with it. Every so often, sometimes scheduled like monthly or quarterly, the casino will give out their loyalty bonuses and offer you with many different types of freebies. These can come in the form of a given amount of gaming currency to play with, some spins you can do for free on slots—sometimes on one specific slot game that they want to promote or is a new release—and then you keep the winnings or even some entries into a lottery or raffle type giveaway they are hosting. These raffles and lotteries give away everything from a bundle of cash to electronics and there have even been giveaways that included a car or boat as the major prize for the top winner of the drawing.
Just always remember that there are stipulations and you need to read the fine print on every bonus offer you come across. The free number of spins that you get to keep the winnings may have the caveat that you need to meet a wagering requirement based on the amount you won during the round of spinning for free on the slot game. Or with the simple amount to gamble with loyalty giveaway, that gives players who have wagered more over a period more money to play with from the loyalty bonus, will have a wagering requirement based on the amount the casino is giving you to gamble with before you can make a withdraw from the platform. Sometimes this can tie up money you had deposited yourself because you will be locked out of making a withdraw until you meet the wagering requirement on the free gaming money you were given and had added to your player account to gamble with. So be aware of the bottom line and all the fine print involved in every single bonus giveaway.
Referral Bonuses
These are fairly simple and straightforward bonuses. They are offered by casinos for those who get friends of theirs to join up on the same casino site and make a deposit to start gaming on their own. The friend will typically still be available for all the same sign-up bonuses and matching deposits as the original player had when they signed up. The only difference is when the new player tells the system that so-and-so referred them and talked them into joining, that second person gets a bonus reward for bringing new players to the casino. Usually, this will be a set amount of money to the game with, or some spins they can play for free. The more friends you invite, the more bonuses you will accumulate and be able to play with the rewards for doing so. As always, wagering requirements come along with all bonus offerings and referral bonuses are no exception to this rule.
Game Release Bonuses
These bonuses are offered when a new game comes available on the casino that the casino expects to be a real hit or that they want to promote for whatever reason. The bonus will come in the form of some spins for free for a new slot game like Book of Dead or some chips for playing table games like a new blackjack game, poker game, even new style of roulette tables will sometime receive game release bonuses. These types of bonuses will often have plenty of lead up promotions with a release date being announced and sometimes offering a limited number of bonuses to be given away, to create some buzz around the scarcity factor involved and get people to log on the day the game is released to get their bonus to try out the new game for free and see what they can win from playing it.
Any winnings will be subject to bet/wager requirements before withdrawing with the difference of a limit to the wager requirement amount sometimes. This makes it exciting and fun to get a shot a playing a new game with the chance to win a major jackpot that exceeds the maximum wager requirement amount because this would mean some guaranteed winnings because you would only have to meet the maximum wager requirement and anything left in your account you can withdraw in your preferred method.
