Types of Bonuses and How to Evaluate Them

What Do Online Casino Bonuses Involve?

A casino bonus is an incentive given to new players in return for either making a deposit or creating an account. 

However, it needs to be known that casinos aren’t just giving away free money. 

There are terms that regulate how you can and can’t use your bonus.

Usually, they involve:

• Wagering Requirements – All bonuses (unless specified) have wagering requirements. This is a multiplier that determines how many times you have to wager your bonus. For example, if your bonus is worth $10 in bonus credits and the wagering requirements are 50x, you have to wager (10 x 50) $500 before you can withdraw your bonus winnings. 

• Game Weighting Percentages – Some high odds games only contribute a portion of your stake to the wagering requirements. 

• Win Caps – These determine the maximum you can withdraw as real cash using your casino bonus. Most deposit bonuses do not have win caps.

No Deposit Bonuses

A no deposit bonus is a free type of bonus you get for registering with a casino.

This bonus will reward you with bonus credits. Most are between the value of $5 and $20, but they sometimes go higher. 

The amount you receive in bonus credits is obviously one way to compare similar bonuses. However, you also need to be aware of the wagering requirements and the win cap.

No Deposit Bonus Wagering Requirements

So, what should you expect from no deposit bonus wagering requirements? 

Most of the time, it’s hard to meet the wagering requirements of no deposit bonuses. In the majority of cases you will be expected to wager the value of your bonus between 30 and 60 times. 

Moreover, you only get a short time to use your bonus before it expires. 

We recommend you go for the no deposit bonus with the lowest wagering requirements.

Comparing them is straightforward:

Bonus	Bonus Value	Wagering Requirements	Sum-Total To Wager
Bonus A	$20	10x	$200
Bonus B	$40	50x	$2,000

As you can see, Bonus A is way more valuable because the wagering requirements give you a fair chance of winnings. 

With Bonus A you only have to wager $200 using your bonus. With Bonus B you have to wager $2,000 using your bonus.

Win Caps

Casinos do not want to incur too heavy a loss by offering a free bonus, which is why they implement win caps. 

With no deposit bonuses, you may only be able to convert a portion of your winnings into real money. 

The amount you can convert into real money can vary a lot, with most being between the values of $5 and $200.

Thus even if you win $1,000’s using your no deposit bonus, you will only be able to withdraw a small portion of it up to the maximum win cap. 

Obviously, the more you can win in real cash, the better the bonus.

Match Deposit Bonuses

With this bonus the casino will match your deposit by a percentage up to a particular value. 

For example, let’s say you claim a match bonus worth 100% up to $100.

This essentially means the casino will double your bankroll, so:

• If you made a $50 deposit, you’d get $50 in bonus credits.
• If you made a $100 deposit, you’d get $100 in bonus credits. 

It’s vital you know that you can only use your match deposit bonus once you have exhausted your real money balance. 

Therefore to start fulfilling the wagering requirements, your real money account must have $0 in it. 

Here’s a table that we hope illustrates how match bonuses work:

Bonus	Initial Deposit	Match Percentage	Maximum Bonus	Bonus + Deposit Balance
Bonus A	$200	50%	$100	$300
Bonus B	$200	100%	$200	$400
Bonus C	$200	200%	$400	$600

Match Bonus Wagering Requirements

The key to understanding the wagering requirements for match bonuses is that it can apply either to: 

• The bonus value, or
• The bonus value + the deposit value. 

We’ll provide you with examples that illustrate how it affects your chances below:

Wagering Requirements That Apply To Bonus Value

Initial Deposit	Bonus Value	Wagering Requirements	Sum-Total You Have To Wager
$100	$100	10x	($100 x 10) $1,000

We can break down the information contained in this table as follows: 

• You make a deposit worth $100. 
• The casino matches your deposit by 100% so you get $100 in bonus credits.
• The wagering requirement is 10x and only applies to the bonus value.
• Consequently, you only have to wager $1,000 using your bonus. 

This is fairly straightforward. In fact, it works similarly to no deposit bonuses. Yet it is important you’re aware of this because of the alternative situation, which we’ll go over below.

Wagering Requirements That Apply To The Bonus Value AND The Deposit Value

Initial Deposit	Bonus Value	Wagering Requirements	Sum-Total You Have To Wager
$100	$100	10x	($100 + $100) x 10 = $2,000

This table can be broken down as follows: 

• You make a deposit worth $100. 
• The casino matches your deposit by 100%, so you get $100 in bonus credits. 
• The wagering requirement is 10x, yet this time it applies to both the value of your deposit and the value of your bonus. 
• Consequently, you have to wager $2,000 using your bonus before you can withdraw your winnings. 

As you can see, because you also have to factor in the value of your deposit, the amount you have to wager (in this case) is double what you otherwise would have to.

Other Types Of Match Deposit Bonus

• Match Bonus Over Multiple Deposits – This type of bonus works similarly to regular match deposit bonuses, except you’ll get rewards over your first second, third and sometimes fourth deposit rather than just your first. 
• High Roller Match Bonuses – These are identical to regular match bonuses except they are reserved for especially large deposits, usually in the $1,000’s. 
• Reload Bonuses – These are offered to loyal players rather than new players. They are otherwise identical to regular match deposit bonuses.

Casino Bonus Terms & Conditions

While we have gone over a number of the T&Cs already in our article, the usual rules, such as minimum deposits, eligible games, and maximum bet sizes also apply. 

The following rules are also very important: 

Win Caps

A win cap basically limits the amount you can win in real money. 

It is a common sense rule that is implemented to protect a casino’s profits. Usually, though, they only apply to no deposit bonuses. 

Therefore, if you claimed a no deposit bonus and won a lot of cash, say $2,000, you wouldn’t be able to withdraw $2,000 as real money. 

Typically, you’ll get to withdraw somewhere between $10 and $200.

Game Contribution

Some casinos let you play high odds games, such as blackjack or roulette. 

But in order to rebalance the odds in favor of the casino, they will lower the percentage of your stake that goes towards the wagering requirements when you play these games. 

It’s likely that blackjack and roulette will only contribute between 0 and 20% of your stake when you play them with a bonus. Slots, on the other hand, will contribute 100%. 

The difference this makes is highlighted by the following table:

Game	Amount Wagered	Game Contribution	Amount Contributed To Wagering Requirements
Blackjack	$100	4%	$4
Slots	$100	100%	$100

As you can see, the difference this makes is huge.