How Online Casino Bonuses Work
Why offer a bonus to customers? Easy. To entice them to join! Since online gaming is a relatively new world (a site around for ten years is considered old and firmly established), a cash bonus is the perfect way to attract new customers. This is something a savvy online gambler can take advantage of. When it comes to online bonuses, there are three main types: the sign-up, the reload and the referral bonus.
Sign-Up Bonus
The sign-up bonus is only offered to a site's new customers, and the amount of the bonus varies. Some sites offer a straight cash bonus, also known as a no-deposit bonus , but these casinos are quite rare. Most sites, however, offer a percentage of a new client's first deposit, say 50 percent of an initial deposit. If a new customer deposits $100, the site awards a $50 bonus. Other sites offer 100 percent, or even more, of an initial deposit. The most important thing to remember with bonuses is that it's crucial to read the fine print of the bonus schedule to understand how a particular site awards their new players. Some casinos give you a casino bonus code that you will have to fill in when claiming your bonus.
Almost all casinos do not award sign-up bonuses in cold hard cash, but instead offer bonus points, which can only be converted into real money based on how much a player plays at the site. Most sites are consistent in the fact that they do not allow withdrawals to be made on bonuses until a player rolls over the bonus at the site. Information about how much a player has to wager before the bonus money can be withdrawn is found on the particular casino's home page. Look for "wagering requirements", which is the industry's term for this. If the casino bonus is $100, and the bonus must be rolled over 10 times, a player has to wager $1,000 before the bonus can be converted into cash.
Again, it is of the utmost importance to read the fine print when it comes to bonuses to understand how a casino works. Not all sites are the same.
Reload Bonus
Some sites offer their customers reload bonuses. A reload bonus is awarded every time a player deposits more money into an already activated account. Some reload bonuses are available immediately; others are converted into bonus points. In general, a player can not withdraw on a reload bonus until they have rolled over the bonus at the site a fixed number of times.
Referral Bonus
Or the "refer a friend bonus". This bonus is the most straightforward of all bonuses, and it is issued when a player refers another player to the site. Usually the referred player has to wager a fixed amount of money before the bonus money is released.
