Casino Bonus – Fact
or Fiction?
by: Hein Hayman
Casino bonuses – what is up with this?
Is somebody actually nice enough to give
you money for free? Sure, and pigs fly!
You see, the people running online casinos
are actually quite clever (no, don’t laugh).
They know that giving away an online casino
bonus will not only attract more people
to their casinos, but they will make money
from it as well.
And don't think that this is a new idea.
Land based casinos all over the world
have been using "freebies" to
attract people to play at their casinos.
Think about the free drinks, rooms, etc
that casinos offer.
How can online casinos make money from
giving away money ? Casino bonus deals
are structured in such a way that you
can only withdraw it from the casino after
you played a number of hands/rolls/spins.
The casinos know that few people will
have any of the bonus amount left by the
end of these hands/rolls/spins, never
mind the full amount. Plus, they probably
lost their own deposit in the process!
Most people that play at online casinos
are either fun players or they don’t have
a strategy, or both! These people are
the lifeblood of a casino, as they have
no idea how to overcome the advantage
the casino has over them.
Every casino game has a house edge (the
average % of profit that a casino makes
from a game). The only way to overcome
the house edge is to enter the casino
with a working strategy.
But let’s get back to our discussion
about casino bonuses.
Actually, for all the bad press, casino
bonuses are quite useful. You won’t get
rich using them (unless you win the jackpot!),
but armed with a bit of knowledge, it
is an easy way to make some extra money.
Before you sign up with an online casino
based on their newest casino bonus, you
*must* read the terms and conditions regarding
their promotions. Obviously all the terms
and conditions are important, but you
really want to check out the following
3 elements:
*Wagering requirements*
Simply put, this is the amount of money
you have to wager before you can withdraw
the bonus. This is normally expressed
as a multiple of your deposit plus your
bonus.
Example: The wagering requirement is
20x, you deposit $100 and get $100 bonus.
Therefore, you have to wager a total of
$4,000 before you can withdraw the $100
bonus. You can withdraw your deposit at
any time.
*Excluded games*
Very important! Some games are excluded
from fulfilling the wagering requirements.
These are usually the games that have
the lowest house edge, including Roulette,
Craps and Blackjack and all their variants.
However, if you spend a little time and
search around, you will find casinos that
will include one or more of these games
in the wagering requirements.
*Withdrawal conditions*
A few casinos have withdrawal conditions
to withdraw the bonus. Even if you have
fulfilled the wagering requirements, you
still have to meet certain conditions.
These might range from depositing a minimum
amount of money to being able to withdraw
your winnings only after you reached a
certain amount.
These extra conditions mostly relate
to free casino bonuses (where you do not
have to deposit any money to get a casino
bonus). But beware, there are some casinos
where these conditions apply to the normal
deposit match bonuses.
**Strategy**
In order to make a bit of money from
online casino bonuses, you *have* to follow
a proven strategy. Your goal is to get
through the wagering requirements without
losing too much of the bonus. That way
you have your initial deposit plus a bonus
amount which you can withdraw to make
a nice profit.
Who knows, you might even have a very
good system and make some profit on top
of the casino bonus!
Good luck and start playing!
Hein
