Most casinos offer attractive casino bonuses to attract new customers. It is worth learning how these bonuses work, and how they impact you.
WHY DOES A CASINO OFFER A BOON?
This is the part that’s easiest to understand. Casinos offer bonuses in the form free chips or money to help them attract and keep players. The bonus is a form of competition to win your patronage. It is like a retailer offering a free item when you make a regular purchase.
TYPES OF CASINO BOONUSES
Two types of bonus are offered by casinos: the first deposit and the loyalty bonus.
The casino will give you money as a thank you for signing up. This bonus is typically paid once you have signed up and transferred your first real money balance. The casino will often match your deposit up to a maximum amount. This could be $100. Your bonus could be a percentage of what you deposit, like a 50 percent bonus on the first $250 deposit. These numbers may vary at different casinos and casinos may alter their bonus offers from time to time.
To keep current customers happy, casinos offer a loyalty bonus. This is a way for the casino to show appreciation for your patronage. The casino might offer an additional 20 percent on the first deposit in a given month or a 10 percent bonus for every other deposit that month.
WHAT CAN YOU GUARANTEE FROM THE PLAYER
The casino expects that you are honest with yourself, refrain from cheating, follow the rules of the casino and accept the conditions for cashing in winnings.
Accepting a bonus offer from a casino means that you can continue to play and visit the site for some time. A “wager through requirement” will apply. This means that you must wager a minimum amount before you are eligible to receive your bonus. The minimum stake is typically equal to a multiple of your initial deposit or equal to any straight bonus you have received. It may also be equal to the sum of both of these amounts. This “wager through”, as it is called, can be found in the published terms of the casino. The minimum amount you place on total bets must be at least 3 to 20 times your initial deposit. A larger bonus will generally mean a higher wagering requirement. However, there are exceptions.
WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM THE CASINO
You as a player will expect fair game play and prompt payment of your winnings. This should be obvious. However, you should be aware that the payouts and nature of the games may change over time and that you will be required to follow any changes to the terms and conditions.
If the casino updates its software to improve certain features or makes it necessary to change its payout percentages, the nature of the games could change. This is because the casino has to maintain fair control over the “casino hold”, the amount of profit that the casino can earn from the money players pay in. Most likely, payouts will change in Video Poker and Slots.
Terms and conditions for a casino act as a contract between you, the player, and the casino. These terms and conditions are the way the casino promises to provide service to you the player. The casino may need to adjust or tune its bonus and wager-through conditions at different times.
The golden rule is: PLEADING IGNORANCE OF THE TERMS and CONDITIONS IS NOT A SUSPECT!