Understand how an online casino bonus works

Every online casino these days will offer you a bonus to register and make a deposit but don’t be sucked in by the headline amount shown in their advertisements. An online casino bonus comes in various forms and you will need to read the small print (otherwise known as the terms and conditions) before you really understand what you are getting. The most popular casino bonus is the matching deposit which means that the online casino will match whatever your first deposit is to a certain percentage and it is often 100%. This will only be applicable to your first ever deposit to that online casino so don’t deposit €10 and then later €100; if you think you are going to play with €100 then make that your first deposit. Some online casinos will also offer a percentage match on your second or even third deposits but the value will never be as high as on your first deposit. You should also read the terms and conditions associated with that bonus as there will always be something in place to prevent you from simply cashing it out. This restriction will take the form of a “play through” requirement which will be a multiple of the bonus amount. What this in effect means is that you will need to have staked a multiple (often 20 or 30 times) of the bonus before you can withdraw any cash. Beware any offer that says the multiple is only 15 as it probably refers to 15 times the bonus plus your stake which is the same as 30 times your bonus if you had a 100% match. The other major point to watch for in the terms and conditions is that certain games which the online casino considers low risk such as roulette will either not count at all towards the stake requirement or will only count at a low percentage. It may sound like we are advocating avoiding casino bonuses; we are not, but it is important to look behind the headline to know what is being offered to avoid disappointment at a later stage.