Online Casino Bonuses Explained: Types & Definition

If you are new to the world of online casino gambling, you definitely should get your head around bonuses before doing anything else. Once we’ve explained online casino bonuses in detail, you’ll understand why these are a great opportunity for new players to make the most out of signing up for an online site.

So what are online casino bonuses and why are they so important? What kinds of bonuses are out there, how does one access them, and where can you find vital information about them? What about tricky terms & conditions? All of these questions and more will be answered in today’s blog.

Before you go any further, we recommend looking at the navigation links below. This way you can speed through the article directly to the information you need right now. You can always come back and read other sections later. If you’d like to start playing now, don’t forget to check out our guide to the best bonuses for online casinos.

• What Are Online Casino Bonuses?
• Types of Casino Bonuses Explained
• What to Look For as a New Player
• Land-Based Casino Bonuses

What Are Online Casino Bonuses?

If you haven’t encountered them already, online casino bonuses might seem confusing but they really are not too complicated. There are many types of bonuses, which we’ll look at in more detail in the next section, and each one offers different advantages. Looking for the right type of bonus is down to your playing style and the types of games you enjoy most. Different platforms offer different bonuses, so you’ll want to understand each of them before you sign up for any gambling platform.

If you’re familiar with brick-and-mortar casino gambling, you’ll know that many casinos offer special perks to their customers, especially to their most loyal patrons. These include special memberships, tier levels and rewards corresponding to how much someone bets (usually on a yearly basis). Having a higher reward level corresponds to great, more valuable perks. These are usually things you can redeem within the casino (like vouchers) or they are gifts from partner companies. They can range from small to giant in value, and are well-worth checking out for those who frequent the same casino chain over and over.

Think of online casino bonuses explained in the same way. Online casinos gift their members (especially new users) bonuses as a reward for signing up or for continuing to play regularly. The form these rewards take varies. There are also important differences between online casino bonuses and what rewards you would get at a brick-and-mortar casino, which is something we’ll delve into more in the very last section. First, we’ve explained online casino bonuses below.

Types of Casino Bonuses Explained

There are many types of bonuses available from online gambling sites. Here we explain casino bonuses, how they work, how to redeem them, and what exactly you’ll get in exchange when you do!

Deposit Bonuses

You’ll find several types of deposit bonuses. In a deposit match bonus, you will receive a certain percentage of your deposit (usually just for your very first deposit) gifted back to you by the platform. For example, if the deposit match is 100% and you deposit $100, you’ll get your starting $100 plus $100 from the platform. If it is 200%, you’ll get your starting $100 plus $200 from the platform.

Conditions: You might only be able to get up to a certain amount matched, so look out for mention of a maximum or upward limit, for example, a deposit match of 100% “up to $500.” In all likelihood, there will be an upward limit to prevent platforms from losing out on too much money with this bonus.

Further terms: Be aware that these types of deposits usually have a rule about how the matched amount is used or withdrawn. For example, you most likely will not be able to simply withdraw the money right away to use. This would be a loophole that would also lose the platform unimaginable amounts of money! Therefore, they make a rule which means you have to bet a certain amount before you can make any withdrawals of money. The rule might be that in order to withdraw, you first have to bet $200, or 100% of your deposit, or that you might have to make a certain amount of spins if playing online slots.

There is also a type of deposit bonus that involves not spending rather than getting cash or credits for free. This is known as a zero-deposit bonus. Most online platforms require a deposit before you can play, so this can allow an interested player to sign up and start playing for cash without having to invest anything upfront.

This is an understandably tempting offer but it, too, comes with a catch! Note that most of these also have T&Cs which state you must first bet a certain amount before you can withdraw any earnings. You may be asking, “What if I bet and win more than the amount I started out with? Can I withdraw my earnings then?” Yes, but only if you first bet the required amount according to the platform. What this looks like practically is that you might have to bet more than you earn to finally pass the threshold, meaning that you still end up paying something into the system (essentially like making a deposit). So know that these may sound like a no-deposit bonus but in the end, you probably will have to still deposit something to withdraw anything or keep playing!

Bonus Credits

Similar to a deposit match, some casino platforms offer a certain amount of bonus credits to play with. This is basically the same as getting extra cash to play with at the start when signing up, but they are called credits instead of currency, depending on the system the platform uses.

What is the major difference between bonus credits and a deposit match? Well, you probably can earn more with a deposit match because you have control over how much you deposit initially, whereas a credits-based bonus is a fixed amount.

The same goes for sites that offer a sign up bonus in the form of a flat amount added to your bankroll when you deposit. All of these can be beneficial to you as a starting player, but again, looking for a deposit match might be more fruitful in the end if a) the upper limits are high, b) the withdrawal conditions are not too extreme or unattainable and c) you have enough money to fund a substantial starting deposit!

Bonus Spins

If you are playing a spin-based game like slots, the bonus offered might come in the form of spins rather than cash or credits. This offer will look like this: “+100 free spins sign up offer,” or “25 free spins sign up offer” and so on. These can also vary wildly from platform to platform, though they will of course only be available on sites that deliver online slots and the like.

Free spins offers can be fun to take advantage of, especially if you are an avid online slot machine player! However, they often will also come with their own T&Cs. For example, if you win $200 on your second free spin, don’t think you’ll just be able to withdraw that amount and then quit the platform forever! You will most likely be required to use all of your free spins and some paid spins as well before you reach the betting threshold required to withdraw for the first time.

This may seem like a mean trick on the part of online casino sites, but again, it is quite normal and fairly reasonable of sites, since players would otherwise take advantage by taking the money and running! You can definitely find online casinos that have offers that are good, with T&Cs that are fairly reasonable.

Welcome Bonuses

You’ll find the term welcome bonus in discussions about new online casino bonuses. That is because many of these bonuses are only available to first-time players on a specific casino site. This is important to note because it means you need to take advantage of the best bonuses you can when you first sign up. If you sign up and then want to get a bonus later, it will be too late, so make sure you do your research before you make an account and know that this is the bonus you really want to take advantage of.

What to Look For as a New Player

We’ve touched on what bonuses are most worthwhile in the above sections and what to look for as a new player. However, there are some finer points worth discussing when it comes to explaining casino bonuses.

We’ve already discussed terms & conditions that specify a minimum that a player must bet before they can redeem a sign up offer or withdraw their earnings from one. While these stipulations are fairly standard and hard to avoid, you can make the most of them by choosing an online site that you definitely want to keep playing on, long after your sign up bonus has expired.

Beyond this, the most important thing you can check for when signing up for a new online gaming site is whether that site has the adequate licenses for operating in your state and if it seems trustworthy based on expert and customer reviews. There are many review sites out there, including ours, and we encourage you to research well before you make a design about who to trust your cash with! We also have various pages you can read that explain laws in various states, for example.

Land-Based Casino Bonuses

Though this article has been more focused on the concept of the online casino new player bonus, we also wanted to touch on land-based bonuses and the difference between the two. As stated at the top, you’ll likely get different types of perks when playing at a land-based casino versus online. That is because technology makes different tools available to online casinos, and land-based casinos have other resources at hand.

A land-based casino, for example, can offer comps – complimentary food, drinks, hotel rooms and tickets to concerts that take place on their premises. These can be given in the moment on the casino floor or for use at a later date, depending on the membership offers available.

Another difference is that a land-based casino cannot track someone’s first visit as easily as an online-based casino can. That is why you must register separately to get into casinos’ membership programs and become a cardholder, whereas everyone who plays online for cash will need to sign up for the platform, even if they are not looking to be part of a rewards scheme. If you want to take part in loyalty bonuses at a physical casino location, you need to take the extra step of going to the information booth or customer care concierge to find out how to do so.

With both types of casinos and bonuses, bonus offers routinely change. So we recommend regularly checking the places you want to gamble with and see what kind of cool perks are on offer. It might be worth waiting for better bonuses in some cases.

Finally, when it comes to loyalty rewards, online based casinos are a bit lacking in comparison to brick-and-mortar ones. Online casinos tend to advertise their welcome bonuses up front. These are bonuses designed to attract new customers. They do not necessarily share much information about what you can expect if you gamble with the same platform for a longer period of time.

There are exceptions and some online sites will offer perks just for high rollers or other customers that bet with them regularly. However, it seems that many platforms are more interested in initial sign up than in promoting player retention. We hope that this changes as the industry evolves, since online casinos are missing a trick when it comes to promoting brand loyalty!