LANGUAGE & LOCATION
Online casinos are numerous. It has never been easier to set up an online casino thanks to white label casino software. Combined with a growing number of players, online casinos have a bright future. However, with such fierce competition, many operators are looking for ways to attract players. Over the years, one of the most useful methods to draw in a crowd has been a casino bonus.
Promotions are nothing new. Websites have always rewarded players for signing on and actively playing. However, with so many online casinos, operators have made their bonuses increasingly eye-catching. These promotions will often have sneaky terms and conditions that exist to prevent players from fully taking advantage of the offer. Join us as we teach you how to recognize good online casino bonuses!
If the internet has taught us one thing, it is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If a bonus seems too good to be true, that is because it usually is! One of the most obvious ways for online casinos to limit their players is to set a steep wagering requirement. That way, the odds of punters completing the bonus and still making a profit can drastically decrease.
The standard wagering requirement seems to float around 40x your initial deposit. Even that can feel a bit too steep in our eyes! However, some online casinos will set wagering requirements at 50x or even 60x!
Another trick some websites try to pull is to make the initial wagering requirement seem smaller. For example, they will say 30x deposit + bonus amount. Assuming you deposited €100 for a 100% match, you will have to wager through €6000 instead of €3000. With a doubled play-through requirement, players are far more likely to lose.
Try to find an online casino that gives you the option of a 40x wagering requirement. Those are the most common, and usually do not have any extra strings attached. If you can find bonuses with an even lower play-through, then you should definitely take advantage of them!
Many of us experienced the mind-fog that big blocks of text cause. The best online casinos do their best to make their rules as clear to read as possible. You should not need a lawyer to be able to understand exactly what the casino meant. When you find a website that seems interesting, check out their terms and conditions.
Ideally, they will be split into multiple categories. Plainly written text is also important. Too many complicated words should raise some concerns. Operators will sometimes leave things written in a confusing manner, or skip over them at all. For example, some websites will not have a clause in their T&C for progressive jackpots. In the unlikely case you win one, the casino may choose to pay it in instalments.
Still on the topic of terms and conditions, players should look through the document for unfair rules. If you are not paying attention, online casino bonuses can catch you by surprise. For example, you may find the promotion you chose to play needs to have its wagering requirement met in 7 days instead of 30.
You can find quite a few notable things in a casino’s terms and conditions that can cause eyebrows to raise. One of the most annoying things you can encounter are things like win limits or conversion caps. These can absolutely ruin a bonus for you if you do not notice them in time. Both options do the same thing using different methods: limiting how much you can win with a technicality.
As with so many things, you will become more adept at spotting these traps over time. Our best advice is to read every bonus T&C carefully before accepting one. If you cannot find one or all promotions fall under a single bonus T&C, you might want to feel wary.
Some operators will restrict e-wallets like Skrill from accessing their welcome bonuses. This is done to prevent same players from signing up to a website multiple times and using the welcome promotion. All the same, it can pose an issue for you if you use one of these services. The number of casinos that are worth changing your online payment processor for is incredibly small.
Other things to be on the lookout for are fees for depositing and withdrawing. The best online casinos will usually waive these costs in favour of bringing you in. Online casinos that need to pinch pennies and make you pay more for depositing and withdrawing are not worth it. It all comes down to competition, in the end. Why waste your withdrawal with fees when so many other operators will let you withdraw without any hassle?
Certain websites will also have an annoyingly long pending period after requesting a withdrawal. They make you wait for two or three days. Only when that time passes is the payment actually processed and sent to the punter. Of course, if you would like to cancel your withdrawal at any time, the casino will immediately make that money available again. No matter how good a bonus may be, it is not worth suffering through scummy tactics like these.
We live in the era of the internet, where it is impossible to hide anything. Even the most tightly wrapped secret can be busted with enough dedication. Players who are cheated out of their bonus by an online casino on a technicality are usually quite dedicated. They will leave posts warning other punters not to sign up and play there. There are resources that aggregate this player feedback.
Now, it is worth noting that not all player complaints are valid. While some online casinos do try to swindle, others will be baselessly accused. A good indicator of whether the operator will honour your bonuses is the volume of complaints. If you see just one or two, you are most likely in the clear. Meanwhile, if a large group of players have complained about a casino, it may be best to avoid it.
Another good resource are online casino reviews. These serve a useful role in condensing the most important information in one place. Websites trying to outsmart their players will receive a bad grade or will be skipped over completely. We do our best to highlight the very best operators currently on the market. A bonus by one of those online casinos will be good 99% of the time!
Much of what we covered in this article can be applied to no deposit promotions, too. That said, these bonuses are usually offered by already established casinos. If they can afford to just give you the money to fool around with, they are probably not a cause for concern. None the less, there are some things to keep an eye out for.
No Deposit Bonuses and free spins are far more likely to run into the already mentioned win limits and conversion caps. A win limit will prevent you from getting anything beyond a maximum the operator thought you should have. Conversion caps are even sneakier. You can win as much as you want, but only a certain sum of those bonus earnings will be converted into real money. The rest is forfeited to the casino.
Articles
The team behind CasinoBloke consists of casino experts united in their desire to spread knowledge to a wider audience. The aim is, and always has been, to help even the most inexperienced players gain their footing in this exciting industry. The enthusiastic members dedicate time and energy to the creation of potent and insightful content. With years of experience in various fields of this industry, our expert authors know precisely what to look for while searching for casino quality.
November 22, 2024
November 18, 2024
October 27, 2024
