Understanding the Fine Print of Casino Bonus Offers
If you’re looking to make the most out of your online casino deposit, then you want to take advantage of a site’s welcome bonus or their first deposit bonus. These casino bonus offers vary depending on the site, but the most common bonuses include both free spins and a match bonus.
However, casino bonus offers come with terms that can make it very difficult to clear a bonus. Often, players don’t understand the terms of their bonus and accidentally end up forfeiting them. Today, we are going to give you the skinny behind welcome and deposit bonuses so you can make an informed decision when signing up at a casino.
Casino Bonus Offers: “Playthrough” Requirement
The most important term of any deposit bonus offer is the playthrough requirement. This is the number of times that you must wager your money before you’re allowed to cash out your bonus. For example, if you sign up at a site requiring a 20x playthrough of your bonus, you must wager your bonus cash at least 20 times.
Let’s say you deposit $100 and get a 100% match. This gives you $100 in bonus cash. To cash out your $100 bonus, you must wager $2,000 to meet your playthrough requirement. Sometimes, you will run into an online casino that requires that you wager both your deposit and your bonus. In the case of our example, you would have to wager $4,000, the equivalent of 20x your deposit and bonus.
There are some of you that are thinking that a 20x playthrough isn’t that tough as long as you’re having decent luck at the casino. In theory that’s correct, but there’s another catch – the wagering requirement.
Casino Bonus Offers: Wagering Requirement
In a perfect world, every dollar wagered at the casino would count 100% toward you playthrough, but that’s not how things work at online casinos. Instead, games contribute differently towards the playthrough. This wagering requirement can vary wildly depending on the game played.
On average, most pokies count 100% towards a wagering requirement. However, the remaining games at the casino typically will contribute no better than 50%. For example, Blackjack may only contribute 10%. This means that for every $1 wagered on Blackjack, only ten cents goes towards the wagering requirement.
Additionally, some casinos will restrict specific games from counting towards a wagering requirement. For example, SuperGirl Video Slots may be a restricted game, meaning it contributes 0% towards the wagering requirement.
You can find the terms of a casino’s wagering requirement buried in the Terms and Conditions (ToS) of the bonus offer. Take time to read it thoroughly, so you don’t overlook any restricted games.
Free Spins Are Often Limited and Capped
Free spins are an excellent tool for drawing players to a casino, but they are often not as impressive as they seem. Often, these spins will carry significant restrictions. The most common limitation is that the spins are only for a specific game, such as Starburst.
Next, your spin is usually capped in multiple ways. The first is the amount that the spin is worth. You aren’t going to be able to spin at max credits. Instead, it will be worth no more than a couple of bucks a spin. Also, you are usually restricted to the maximum amount you can win on these free spins. The most common cap on winnings is $50, but it can go up to $500.
Then comes the biggest catch of all for these spins. You cannot cash them out until you clear your playthrough requirement. In our earlier example, you have to wager $2,000 to get that $50 in winnings, and that’s assuming you make it that long.
While less common, there are a few casinos that will slap a playthrough requirement on your free spin offer. It may be more or less than the deposit playthrough. If the spins have a playthrough, double check on the terms. Casinos forcing you to playthough free slot winnings may force you to playthrough that amount on the same game.
Time Limits and Cashout Forfeiture
Be aware that bonus offers are on a clock, meaning you must clear any casino bonus offers in the time limit provided or forfeit the bonus. Some casinos give you 30 days to clear your bonus while others force you to try and cram a massive playthrough into just three days time. The terms of the offer lists the time limit for the bonus.
Finally, when you accept a bonus offer, you are prohibited from cashing out from your account before clearing your bonus. Some casinos will lock down your account to prevent early cashouts while others will simply forfeit your bonus. For most casinos, you must completely clear your bonus before attempting to cash out, or you will forfeit your bonus.
Read the Terms Carefully
The good news about casino bonuses is that all information surrounding terms and restrictions are readily available on the website. Online casinos are required to give you the terms of the offer. However, they don’t always make it simple to find.
Most casinos readily list the playthrough requirement on the promotional offer page. Nevertheless, it is the Terms and Conditions page that list the wagering requirement information and other restrictions. Take the time to read the terms of any offer you’re considering carefully. This way you know what you’re signing up for and will avoid accidentally forfeiting your bonus.