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(How to spot a good bonus offer)
For those players that are relatively new to online casinos, or for those that never really looked at the terms and conditions in detail when presented with a casino Introductory bonus offers, it might be worth taking a few moments to read up on the matter.
Casino Bonus Offers - The Headlines
If you look at any casino or almost any advert fro a casino, there is most likely a reference to free money upon sign-up and more free money given to players to reward loyalty. This can range from a few dollars for a Free No Deposit Bonus, right up to a $1000 first-deposit bonus
Casino Bonus Offers - The Small-print
When a casino gives you the headline '$100 Free sign-up bonus', they very rarely inform you of the terms and conditions attached to that offer
What is surprising, is the incredible difference in terms and conditions, with some being extremely difficult to satisfy, whilst others are fair
Of course, no casino is actually going to give you cold hard cash upon your first deposit and let you then run off with it straight away - that would be business suicide for them. Can you imagine? People would just sign-up, take the money and leave the casino bankrupt.
So, in giving their bonus, casinos stipulate that the money must be played with a certain number of times before it can be cashed-out this is most often referred to as the 'Play-through' or the 'Wagering Requirements'
Explaining the 'Play-through' / 'Wager Requirements'
A fairly standard Terms and conditions of an internet casino will stipulate that they have a 30x or 40x 'play-through' in order to cash-out your bonus.
If we take the more generous 30x play-through, then this means that should you deposit $100, you would have to play through 30x$100 worth of spins (or bets) until you can cash-out. So, if you were playing $1 per spin, you would need to press the spin button 3000 times (30 x $100) in order to cash the money out.
Casinos differ in their bonus play-through requirements
Scanning through some of the professional casino forums, we have seen some casinos requiring as high as 100x play-through, which is obviously very poor, but others will offer 15-20x, which should be easily attainable, especially if you pick 'loose' slots to play (see below). In general anything at 25x or lower is considered very good. Anything over 30x is not very good.
Note: we have selected two casinos that currently (last time we checked) have excellent play-through requirements - see the offers at the top of the page for details
Make money last longer - choose 'loose' slots
One final point to mention is that slots also very in the percentage they pay back to players over the long-term. This is often referred to as the pay-back percentage. For most slots, this would be 95% or higher. A payback percentage of 95%, would mean that in general, for every dollar you put through, you would get back $95.
Therefore, it makes sense to play slots with a higher percentage pay-back. When you find a slot you like, take a look at the pay-outs and see what they are - if it is low, then try to limit your play on that slot as otherwise, it is likely to eat your money very quickly.
What else to be aware of when claiming a casinos bonus
Many casinos only give you a bonus when you go through to the the cashier to claim it before you deposit you fund. It is very important, therefore that you check in the cashier section first and then deposit after that.
If you are unsure about ANYTHING, why not contact their customer support - it will be good test of the people running the casinos.
Summary
There is no doubt, that if played correctly, casino bonuses are something you should be taking advantage of in order to increase your edge and get more fun out of the slots.
Make the most of your bonus and enjoy it when you get it