Online casino bonuses—such as a welcome bonus or a weekly reload promotion—can be quite valuable in many cases. However, in many cases, they are downright predatory and only serve the singular objective of hooking you and reeling you in toward a shady casino platform. It all boils down to which bonus on which casino we are talking about. But as an amateur, of course, you will not have the know-how of how to tell apart a good deal from a bad one. And that is precisely the point of this guide.
Consider this a beginner’s guide to casino bonuses. Are they actually worth it? If yes, in what cases? If not, under what circumstances? Most importantly, how do you protect yourself from getting conned into a bad deal, and stick to value-for-money bonuses only? Let us find out!
Top 5 Practical Considerations
There are five key considerations here. These determine whether a bonus is valuable or not. On one end of the spectrum, you have value-for-money bonuses and promotions designed to retain users and maintain the platform’s reputation. On the other end, you have predatory terms that either scam you out of all your deposited money or make it overly complex to cash out any winnings.
The majority of online casinos fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Let us take a look at the key considerations:
1. Wagering Requirement
The wagering requirement or the playthrough requirement is the total number of times the amount must be wagered. When you get a bonus, it is received in a separate wallet from your cash balance. So, if you deposit £100 on a casino offering a 50% welcome bonus, you get £50 as bonus balance (and the deposited £100 as cash balance). The cash balance is used first. Once you have used it up, the bonus balance will kick in. The winnings you get from this £50 will need to be wagered a particular number of times before your total winnings (from cash balance and bonus balance) can be transferred to your cash balance (and thus, withdrawn).
Let us say the wagering is 40x.
- You deposit £100, receiving £100 in cash/real balance and £50 in bonus balance.
- The total amount (£100 + £50 = £150) must be wagered 40 times before you can convert your winnings into withdrawable cash, otherwise, it stays as the bonus balance until expiry and then expires.
- £150 x 40 = £6000. A total wagering of £6000 must be carried out on the casino (from consecutive deposits or winnings) to claim any winnings.
Typically, the wagering requirement is in the range of 30x to 60x. Anything above that is predatory. For free spins, the wagering is often 60x. And for those rare casinos that offer a welcome bonus free spins on a progressive jackpot game, the wagering is typically 200x.
Keep in mind:
- Some casinos tell you that the wagering only applies to the bonus amount (not the total of your deposited amount + bonus received) but increase the wagering to 50-60x.
- Only slot games count towards the wagering requirement on casino welcome bonuses. Table games, if you choose to play them while the bonus is in play, often contribute 5-10%.
- Some casinos bump up the max win or lower the wagering only to slap a 7-day expiry period on the welcome bonus. So, if they succeed in having you deposit more, even a 25x wagering will be quite a big sum, and there is no way you can wager enough in 7 days.
- Bonus is voided if you withdraw before meeting the wagering requirements or if you run out of time. 30 days is the standard expiry time for the welcome bonus.
For example, Spin Genie’s exclusive welcome bonus with Gambling Zone is a new player offer of 100% matched deposit of up to £100 and 65 free spins on Book of Dead. This is simply unparalleled across online UK casinos. The bonus funds carry a wagering requirement of 30x and the winnings from the free spins carry a 60x wagering requirement. The expiry is 30 days.
Casino Bonuses Online
2. Eligible Games & Limits
Not all games contribute equally toward meeting the wagering requirement. Some games cannot be played with the bonus funds at all. Here are the important considerations:
- If it is a casino bonus, slot games will most likely all count 100% towards the wagering requirement. Some slot games might be exempted. Check how many are. The fewer, the better.
- Table games and live games often contribute significantly less, like 5-10%, so there is no point in playing those games with your welcome bonus funds.
- For any free spins, the casino will specify the maximum amount you can stake per spin. Though we are already limited thanks to the UKGC, offshore casinos do not honour those limits, and often have a max £5 per spin clause. Keep this in mind to avoid getting your bonus voided.
For example, Genting Casino’s exclusive offer for Gambling Zone readers is a 100% bonus of up to £150 + 50 Spins. The bonus funds can be used on any slot game but the 50 free spins are tied to Pragmatic Play’s massively popular game Big Bass Bonanza with a 96.71% RTP. This is an example of a good deal. Bad deals will often bundle 50 or even more free spins with less-known or lower-RTP games, meaning you will not win much at all.
3. Time Limits
Bonuses are time-limited. A welcome bonus often expires in 30 days and weekly bonuses expire in 5 or 7 days. If a casino is giving you a multi-tiered welcome package, then the validity kicks in the moment you make the eligible deposit.
So, let us say there are five matched bonuses on your first five deposits. They will often carry a 7-day expiry. This means you must use the first deposit bonus within 7 days, then make your second deposit to receive the second bonus.
Keep in mind that 7 days do not mean 7 x 24 = 168 hours. 11:59 PM is when the day ends. So, if you deposit at 11 PM, you only have an hour before the first day of your bonus expiry duration is gone. Are online casino bonuses worth it if they carry a high percentage/amount but only 5-10 days to wager through? No!
4. Maximum Win Limit
Bonuses have a maximum limit on how much you can win. This is often lower than the average max win of high-RTP slot games. Whereas Starburst has a max win of 250x your bet, if you use free spins, you can only win up to a certain amount.
The matched deposit bonus is already advertised on the bonus details page, so a 100% bonus of up to £150 means you can only get up to £150. To maximise this, you can deposit £150 and receive another £150, to get a total of £300.
5. Payment Method
Not all payment methods are eligible for getting a bonus! This is particularly true for welcome bonuses where Skrill, Neteller, and cryptocurrencies are often excluded from eligible payment methods. If you make your first deposit using Skrill on a casino that disallows Skrill in its terms (but supports it as a payment method), you will not get the welcome bonus.
The worst part? As you have already made your first deposit, you will forfeit the first deposit bonus deal on your account forever. Always read the terms and conditions before making your first deposit.
Are Casino Bonuses Worth It?
The five key considerations above more or less allow you to determine if a casino deal is really valuable or not. For example, if the wagering is reasonable and you are getting up to 30 days to do your wagering, it is a good bonus. On the other hand, if the wagering is 60x and you are only getting 7 days, this is a bad bonus.
So, the question is not “are online casino bonuses worth it or not.” The question is whether a particular bonus is worthwhile or not.
For the most part, if you stick to reputed online casinos, you will get a good welcome experience and plenty of promotional rewards and perks throughout your gaming. Shady casinos will often have bad deals.
- Always validate the casino’s reputation. Shady casinos might have offers that are too good to be true, like a 500% welcome bonus of up to 1 BTC. In truth, they might confiscate all your winnings and refuse to pay a penny.
- Learn about the different bonus types. Mostly, a casino will have a welcome bonus/package, at least one promotion for existing players (reload, rakeback, prize drops, etc.), and a VIP program that gives you increasing cashback the more you wager to reward your loyalty with the casino.
