A casino is the ultimate playground for adults. A place where even the most sophisticated of us can let our hair down and have a little bit of fun. Over the past year or so, we’ve been more likely to do that in cyberspace than in the real world, and the latest casino technology in terms of live dealer games, VR and social gaming components all serve to make that a more realistic experience than ever.
There are other, more prosaic, advantages to playing online too. To put it frankly, the online casino space is so competitive that the different platforms are falling over one another to get your business, and offering all sorts of tasty-looking incentives. 100 free spins? Step this way. £20 deposited for free into your account? Just sign here. We all love free stuff, but sometimes it’s not so easy to cut through the marketing spiel and find the top casino bonuses. Here, we look at some common types, and the things you need to check about them.
No Deposit Bonus
This type of bonus sounds fabulous, as it basically allows for risk-free gambling. When you sign up, the casino gives you some bonus money with which to go gambling. There’s no need to transfer any funds of your own into the gambling account. What could go wrong?
There are a couple of things to keep in mind about this type of bonus. The first is that there is usually a quite large wagering requirement attached to it – 50x is not uncommon. This means that your bonus money is essentially ringfenced until you have reinvested it 50 times. So for a £20 no deposit bonus, you’ll need to place £1,000 in wagers before you can actually withdraw any winnings. Also keep in mind that this bonus money might only be usable on certain games or types of games.
Free spins
It’s becoming increasingly common for casinos to offer free spins to new members instead of “free money” in the form of a no deposit bonus. But the thing you need to understand here is that they are almost identical bonuses. Your free or bonus spins will also have a wagering requirement, and again it is likely to be 40x or more, based on the amount you win with your spins. So essentially, you take your 50 free spins, or however many there are, convert them to bonus money by playing them and then play through the wagering requirement.
In essence, the only difference is that free spins are usually more restrictive, as the casino will generally stipulate one or two games on which they can be used.
Loyalty bonus
This type of bonus is not usually so well publicized, but it’s something that most casinos offer once you are a member. It takes the form of a reward every time you deposit money into your account. Sometimes they will give it a 50 percent boost, or it might take the form of loyalty points that can be redeemed in some other way.
Just be aware that if it is a percentage bonus on your deposit, there will again be a wagering requirement – but this will typically be much lower than the ones imposed on those no deposit welcome bonuses.