Online Casino Bonus Guide - US and Canadian Bonus Listings

About Casino Bonuses

Background: - Land-Based Casino Comps

Anyone that has played the slots in a land-based casino, will know that you get your perks through the 'comps' scheme. With a comps scheme, you sign up for a player card at the casino and you then put into the slot machine when you play

As you play at a land-based casino, you clock up points which can be converted to prizes or cash later. So, the more you play, the more benefits you get. The prizes can range from baseball hats or beer mugs, free meals, show tickets, free rooms, right through to all-expenses paid vacations

At a land-based casino, you may also get drinks given to you whilst you play

So, it is well worth getting hold of a Comp Card when you first enter the casino and use it every time you play

So, what promotions do online casinos offer?

Online casinos reward their players in different ways from land-based casinos. Obviously, they do not have rooms, restaurants, or drinks services, so can't offer any of these as their comps to show their appreciation whilst you are at their casino

So, instead, the online casinos offer cash incentives to their players

Firstly, and not strictly a reward as such, you get more wins when you play an online casinos. Online casino slots are set to pay back much higher proportions of the amount played, so whereas a slot in Vegas may only pay back 85% or so, the same slot in an online casino may pay back 95% or more.

This is especially true for penny games. In Vegas, the penny games are notorious for having a very low pay-back (meaning you win less), wheres online, you get the same high payback whether you play for pennies or if you are a high roller

Online Matched Deposit Casino Bonuses

The other way you get promotions when you play an online casino is the matched deposit bonus. With this type of offer, the casino usually matches whatever you deposit, so you end up starting on twice as much money as you would do without the bonus. So, if you deposit $100, the casino matches it $100 free and you have $200 in slot credits to start with. This is called a 100% matched deposit bonus

Other casinos online give much higher than 100%, right up to 500%. So, with a 500% bonus, you might deposit $100 and get $500 to play with. The amount of money up for grabs can also vary between casinos, so whereas some casinos will put a maximum limit of $100, others will allow players to claim up to $5000 in matched deposit bonuses

Of course, if you take a bonus, the casino will expect you to play and not to simply cash out the free money and go home. It makes sense, because if they allowed that they would go bust very quickly - there is no such thing as a free lunch, as they say

So, the casinos set a minimum amount you have to play on the slots before you can cash out. A typical example would be something like (20 x deposit) + (20 x bonus). In this case, if you had deposited $100 and the casino matched it with $100, then you would have to play $4000 in spins. That's means that to cash out your winnings, you must play the equivalent of (for example) 4000 $1 spins, or 800 $5 spins.

In general, the greater the amount the casino offers you in free money, the more they expect you to play with it before you can cash out.

It can be quite difficult to achieve these play-though requirements, so you may have to prepare for a little frustration if you take up the bonus and have a win. In general, I have always thought that if you get a big win when playing on a bonus, you will need a second big win to be able to cash it out. Again, this seems fair if the casino has doubled your money in the beginning then you have to double your wins to cash out.

Many players choose never to take a casino bonus, simply because they do not like the play-through requirement in order to cash out. these tend to be the really serious players. For players like myself, I like them as it gives me the chance to play higher stakes on less money and still have the chance to win. In fact, I like trying to out-wit the machine when I am trying to get my play-through in order to cash out - it's all good fun for me.

No Deposit Bonuses

The final Bonus to look out for is the no deposit bonus. This type of offer is also sometimes referred to as the free chip offer. These are commonly spotted in Rival Gaming casinos, and can range from $5 free right up to $25 with no need to deposit to claim the money

The great thing about this bonus is it lets you try out the games for free before you deposit, yet they are more exciting, because you could actually win some money from this free, no risk online casino money whether you are deciding to play for online slot jackpots or even if you prefer to play slot tournaments

As with any online casino bonus, you need to play through any winnings before you can cash out. Plus, there may even be a limit as to how much you can cash out. For example, the max cash out could be set at 4x the bonus, in which case the most you could get from a $20 bonus would be $80. Not bad for free, but it could be disappointing if you hit the $200,000 jackpot and then are unable to take it.

So, before you take a bonus, it is worth looking at the terms and conditions and making sure it is the sort of offer you really want to accept to get your maximum enjoyment. It's your money and you can choose how to get the most entertainment - that includes deciding which and whether to take out online casino bonuses when you play slots online

Casino Bonus Guide: Online Slots Casinos that Offer Bonuses

Here, we list the welcome bonuses at a number of reputable online casinos

We include each of the major slots software producers, but limit the choices to only those casinos that have proven themselves to be regarded as safe places to play, with good ranges of slot games and reliable 24/7 customer service