Online Casino Bonuses

Every online casino offers a sign up bonus to entice customers to deposit for the first time. One would think that you could compare bonuses by their total size and percentage match, but that is actually far from the case.

There is much more to an online casino bonus than just size and percentage; you need to analyze the play through requirements, determine if the bonus is withdraw-able or not, and notice if the casino has any reload bonus offers.

By analyzing all of these different criteria, you can pick the best online casino bonus for you.

We will now discuss each of the criteria mentioned above in depth so you know exactly how to analyze each casino's bonus offer.

Types of Casino Bonuses

There are basically two major types of casino bonuses: bonuses that you can wager and withdraw, and bonuses that you can only wager.

Wager and Withdraw

The best bonuses are the bonuses that you can wager and withdraw. This means that when you deposit the bonus money will be available in your account for wagering. Then, when you meet the play through requirements you can withdraw your deposit money, your bonus money, and any winnings.

Wager Only

Wager only bonuses are a lesser form of bonus. For these, you deposit and can wager the bonus money as well as your deposit money. However, once you meet the play through requirements you can only withdraw your deposit money as well as any winnings - the actual bonus money cannot be withdrawn.

Clearly, wager and withdraw bonuses are the best option between the two.

Play Through Requirements

The next factor you should analyze is the play through requirement for the bonus. Play through requirements are restrictions that the casino place on the bonus to prevent bonus fraud. Typical requirements force the player to wager a certain amount of money before they can withdraw the bonus and any winnings from the bonus money. You can expect the requirements to be between 10-50x the deposit and bonus amount.

Obviously you should choose a bonus with a low play through requirement - we recommend finding one with a maximum requirement of 25x your deposit and bonus.

Another aspect of the play through requirement is which games actually count towards clearing the bonus. Some casinos choose to exclude even money games like craps and blackjack, so make sure to investigate that before signing up. If you are a slots player you won't have to worry about this, because slots are always good.

Reload Bonuses

Many online casinos take their bonus package to the next level and offer reload bonuses. Reload bonuses are usually structured exactly the same as the casino's sign up bonus, but the difference is you can take advantage of reload bonuses at any time - not just on your first deposit at the site. These bonuses are very valuable for players who like to choose a casino and play there for a long time.

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