Online casinos come in all shapes and sizes. While some are certainly better than others, trying to distinguish the great ones from the mediocre ones can be a difficult task for the inexperienced player.
With so many online casinos and new ones popping up all the time, these sites often struggle to differentiate themselves from the competition.
What bonuses do online casinos offer?
While the concept of bonuses is fairly uniform across the industry, not all bonuses are exactly the same. Some promotions, for example, are one-time offers. For others, you can take advantage of them more than once.
Deposit bonus
You’ll find deposit bonus offers at almost every online casino you’ll encounter these days. The concept is quite simple.
Many sites will even go to or north of 100 percent, which can add up to quite a bit of online casino free money.
While it’s not literally free money that you can immediately claim as your own, you get to keep all the winnings you earn with the deposit funds you use to play at the online casino.
If you’re lucky, you can still go well beyond the bonus amount, making this one of the best online casino bonus offers you’ll find.
Welcome bonus
The welcome bonus is similar to the deposit bonus. While existing users can still enjoy deposit bonuses, welcome bonus offers are obviously designed to attract new users.
In many cases, this means entering the required bonus code on your first few deposits.
Here is an example of a welcome bonus offer covering the first three deposits at a new online casino:
- 100% match bonus worth up to $500.
- 75% match bonus worth up to $300.
- 50% match bonus worth up to $200.
As with a deposit bonus, a welcome bonus offer is almost always subject to certain terms and conditions and wagering rules, depending on the site.
Reload bonus
A reload bonus is essentially a deposit bonus that is not used on your first deposit at an online casino. So, if you’ve already taken advantage of the welcome bonus and first deposit bonus offers, the reload bonus is another way to get free money at the online casino with each new deposit.
Reload bonuses are one of the ways sites keep current customers happy and coming back for more. If you’re on the verge of running out of betting funds, a reload bonus can be helpful in boosting your lagging bankroll. This puts reload among the best bonus offers at online casinos.
No deposit bonus
As you probably already know by the name, a no deposit bonus is a bonus offer that doesn’t require you to make a deposit. Instead, you can simply register for an account and claim your bonus right away.
Here’s an example:
- The casino offers a $20 no deposit bonus.
- You create your account.
- You collect the $20 bonus from your account.
- Unlike a deposit bonus, you don’t take the full value of the offer (in this case, $20). Instead, you use the funds to try to build a win that you can withdraw later.
Here’s how it might look:
- You start with a $20 bonus.
- Playthrough is 40x
- 40 x 20 = $800 must be wagered
- After meeting the wagering requirements, you are left with $17.50.
- You can withdraw $17.50 as long as that amount meets the casino’s minimum withdrawal requirements.
Most no-deposit bonus offers have a limit on winnings. A no deposit bonus may not be the best online casino bonus offer in terms of profit potential, but you don’t have to make a deposit before trying your luck.
Free Spins
Free spins are essentially a way to test a site you may have never played on before.
Free spins can work as follows:
- The casino offers you 30 free spins as part of your welcome bonus.
- You use these spins to accumulate $15 in winnings.
- Now you can withdraw $15 after meeting the playthrough and other conditions.
As with the no deposit bonus, there is probably also a limit to the amount of money you can win with free spins. It may sound tempting, but sites don’t want to pay out huge jackpots to players who risk nothing to play.
VIP rewards
Land-based casinos offer VIP programs for loyal customers. So why should online gambling sites be any different?
You earn points by playing real money games, and then you can cash them out in exchange for free spins, extra bonuses or merchandise if you like that sort of thing.
Cryptocurrency bonuses
Cryptocurrency is currently in vogue. You can no longer watch a football game without seeing an ad for a cryptocurrency exchange service.
Many sites offer welcome bonuses, reload bonuses, deposit bonuses and other types of bonuses if you also transact with cryptocurrencies.
Request
While free money at an online casino may not be exactly what it sounds like, there are still countless reasons to take advantage of the site’s various bonuses and promotions.
Be sure to take the time to visit several different online casinos before deciding on the one that best fits what you’re looking for in online gambling.
