Casino and roulette bonuses.
Many online casinos, if not all, offer some type of incentive to sign up and more to keep playing. The main thing to be concerned about is the casino wagering requirement.
Wagering Requirements
In order to protect themselves, the casino usually puts something called wagering requirements on bonuses. Casinos aren't charities and so won't just give you free money without any strings. Wagering requirements are stated as a number, for example 20x. This means the bonus has to be wagered 20 times before it can be withdrawn. For example, you deposit £10, get a £10 bonus. At 20x wagering, you have to place £200 worth of bets before you can withdraw the bonus.
Some casinos, say you have to wager the deposit and bonus amounts through before you can withdraw. This is fairly standard but in some circumstances make the bonus considerably worse. For example, if you got a 50% bonus on a £10 deposit, your wagering requirement would be only £100 at 20x bonus but at 20x bonus and deposit, it's £300.
Wagering 20x might seem like a lot but it's not at all. In a night, you'll probably be able to turn over your bank 20 times without any problem. This is problematic for the casinos though as roulette is a low margin game and they still lose a lot of money on bonuses to roulette players. To counter this, they have a wager contribution level. This ranges from 0% to 100% but usually is around the 10-20% mark.
| Example with a Single Bet | ||
| Game Category | Stake Contribution | A bet of 100.00 currency units will count towards wagering as a bet of: |
| Slots (excluding Alternative slots **), Scratchcards | 100% | 100 |
| Bingo & Keno | 50% | 50 |
| Video Poker and Card & Table Games & Roulette – Low Coverage Bets *** – (excluding all variations of Blackjack) | 25% | 25 |
| Blackjack (Excluding Blackjack Surrender/Switch)Baccarat, Craps and Roulette – Medium Coverage Bets ***. | 10% | 10 |
| ** Alternative Slots (Goblins Cave, Triple Profits, Tropic Reels & UggaBugga) & Arcade Games | 5% | 5 |
| Excluded Games: Blackjack Surrender/Switch, Pontoon and Spin a Win and double up rounds & Roulette – High Coverage Bets*** | 0% | 0 |
Example wagering requirement weighting
This rule makes clearing the bonus requirements so much harder. Instead of having to wager £200 to get a £10 bonus, you now have to wager, at 20% contribution, £1000. So whereas you could clear a bonus in a night, with the 20% contribution, it'd take you 5 nights. Not only that, playing for 5 nights increases your chances of bankruptcy.
There are 5 main types of casino bonuses.
No deposit bonuses
These are bonuses you get for just signing up. You don't need to deposit any money but some casinos will require you to input your card details for verification. There are usually really high wagering requirements for these bonuses as the casino if effectively giving you free money. read more
Cash Back Bonuses
Cashback bonuses are when the casino gives you a proportion of your losses back. Usually, this is between 50 and 100% of your losses say in the first month. read more
Deposit Bonuses
These are the most common type of bonus. You deposit an amount and the casino will match it up to 100%. Some offer up to 400% match. Just be careful with the terms though. Roulette often only counts part toward the wagering requirements. read more
Monthly/Reload bonuses
Reload bonuses are like deposit bonuses but you get them every month or every time you deposit. These are rarer but there are still a good number of casinos that will give you bonuses every month. read more
Loyalty VIP bonuses
Most casinos have a points and/or a VIP scheme. These are to encourage people to play more and is effectively free money. Every player should check their points once in a while as often these can be converted into cash and either wagered or withdrawn. If you are lucky enough to make it to the VIP levels, you can expect more than a few free point. For the best casino customers, the sky is the limit. They will wine and dine you, take you around the world, and given the finest corporate hospitality. read more
*If you know any better casino for roulette bonuses, please get in touch.