Given the extremely competitive nature of the online casino industry, sites, like ojo casino, will naturally use all the tools they have at their disposal to attract new players and retain the ones they have already. Casinos big and small all assign sizeable budgets to marketing and the concept of the casino bonus underpins most strategies. Players are offered an array of sweeteners to encourage them to sign up and play. But how can you distinguish between the relative worth of different bonus opportunities? Let me help you decide.
Deposit vs No Deposit Bonuses
We can start by identifying two distinct types of online casino bonus: deposit bonuses and no deposit bonuses. The latter is much coveted because, as the name suggests, players don’t need to hand over any of their own cash in the form of a deposit to receive the associated treats. No deposit bonuses will usually come in the form of free spins but can be cash bonuses too. Casinos tend to offer them to new players to encourage registrations.
Deposit bonuses, on the other hand, are credited to players who make a deposit at the online casino. They are effectively rewards for custom and activity. Again, they can be free spins or cash bonuses. A typical deposit bonus might promise a 100% cash bonus alongside 100 free spins, which would see you receive the 100% value of your deposit back in bonus cash as well as 100 free rounds on a slot game.
Free Spins
Free Spins are arguably the most popular form of casino bonus. They offer players the opportunity to play online slot games without using their own cash. If you have 100 free spins, then you ultimately have 100 free bets to play. Although the spins are ‘free’, a player can still win real cash using them.
Cash Bonuses
Cash bonuses are typically offered as deposit bonuses, although you will occasionally find no deposit cash bonus opportunities too. The 100% bonus I described earlier in the article is a typical example of a cash bonus. 100% bonuses double your deposit, giving you twice the funds to play with. 200% bonuses are rarer, but you can find them. If you deposit £20 under these terms, you’ll receive 200% of the amount (so £40) back in bonus cash, leaving you a total of £60 in cash to use, ultimately tripling your money.
How to Choose the Online Casino Bonus
Individual taste will dictate a preference for free spins or cash bonuses. A lot of the welcome bonus packages that you receive when you register with a new site will mix both free spins and cash bonuses anyway, so you get a bit of both. Ad hoc and recurring bonuses offered to established players will follow similar principles.
If you are to choose the perfect bonus for you, however, then there are some factors that you should consider. Too many players operate a ‘size is everything’ approach to their bonus hunting and will just look for the biggest percentage cash bonus or largest bundle of free spins. It would be churlish to dismiss other considerations, however, because each bonus is different. Perhaps most importantly, different bonuses come with different terms and conditions.
Wagering Requirements
An understanding of wagering requirements will help you better distinguish between the respective merits, or otherwise, of different online casino bonuses. They are restrictions imposed upon any money you generate when using an online casino bonus that effectively make it more difficult for you to win. Wagering requirements are a powerful tool that the casinos can use to protect themselves while limiting your chances of winning when using your rewards. Here’s how they do it.
If a casino offers a cash bonus of £10, but impose x50 wagering requirements upon it, then you will be required to play through your £10 bet 50 times before you can withdraw any winnings you made from it. Now, you are unlikely to win a significant amount from that £10, especially when other terms and conditions apply, but let’s say you double it and win another £10. Having done so, you will need to make a whopping £500 worth of bets before you can access the winnings. The chances are that you’ll crash out before you manage to do so unless you get on an awesome run.
Online Casino Bonus Terms and Conditions
Wagering requirements are the perfect example of the sort of terms and conditions that online casinos impose on bonuses. Other means they use to limit exposure include maximum win caps – which, as the name suggests, fix the amount you can win using a bonus, and maximum stake levels so you can only bet the lowest amount on a slot. These terms and conditions aren’t always prominently shared by the sites, so naïve players often aren’t aware of their obligations.
New Considerations for Players Choosing a Bonus
It’s important that players understand the potential impact of wagering requirements and other restrictions. Regulatory recommendations made by the Gambling Commission in the UK are helping spread awareness, which will help. Some online casinos are offering different approaches too. The hugely successful Guts Casino removed wagering requirements from all its free spins offers a long time ago, and BGO followed suit in 2017. New online casino PlayOjo has gone even further. Its built its marketing around its pledge for cashback on all bets and no wagering on any bonuses at all.
The Best Casino Bonuses
Hopefully, the combined forces of regulatory change and competition between casinos will change how bonuses are structured for good. The best online casino bonus would include a generous number of free spins alongside a cash bonus and be free of wagering requirements and maximum win ceilings. It would also allow you to bet more than the minimum stake level when playing a specific game. It remains to be seen whether the whole industry will move towards that goal on the whole, but it’s clear that some of the individual sites are prepared to try to get there off their own back. It’s worth seeking those casinos out.
