Can You Win Free Money with Online Casino Bonuses?
The online casino industry is one that has been growing exponentially over the past decade. More and more people are taking their money from in-person casinos and to the online versions. With that said, many people are still unsure of how to navigate the new online landscape. Online casinos can be just as profitable if not more as their land-based brethren, but you need to implement different strategies – including making use of bonuses.
While the online casino industry is still relatively new, there are hundreds of vendors out there, but consumers need to separate the good from the bad. One of the best ways to figure out which sites stand out from the rest is to find the options with great bonuses. Almost all online casinos will have welcome bonuses for new players, but not all of them will be high quality. So, you need to do what you can to find the ones with high-quality welcome bonuses with low wagering requirements.
Can You Make Money at Online Casinos with Bonuses?
That is a question that many people ask themselves before they start to play with money online. It is certainly possible to win money with bonuses at online casinos, but some will give you better chances than others. Inexperienced players will look at a bonus and see how much money it gives them or how many spins they are provided with and judge it purely based on that, but there is more to bonuses than their base value. Bonuses have wagering requirements, withdrawal caps, and game restrictions that you need to worry about. Which conditions a bonus has attached to it will significantly affect how likely it is that you will make a profit.
So, can you make money at online casinos with bonuses? Yes, it is certainly possible, but it is not a good idea to start playing with the idea that you are going to make money. Instead, you should be playing for fun and any money you make will just be a bonus. Only play with money you will be prepared to lose and there will be no pressure to win.
Types of Free Bonuses
When you start to look around for a new online casino to play at, you will realize that there are a few major types of bonuses that are given out to players. Some are better than others, but they all have their pros.
Standard No Deposit Bonuses – Standard no deposit bonuses are, as you would expect, the most common type of bonus. With one of these bonuses, you will be given a set amount of money when you open your account. These bonuses are also sometimes referred to as welcome bonuses, and they are intended to encourage new players to join an online casino. These bonuses are used by top online casinos from all over the world to bring in new players. Unfortunately, these bonuses will usually come with wagering requirements that will prevent you from immediately withdrawing your winnings, but that’s to be expected.
Free Spins – Free spins are also very popular in the online community, especially among players that exclusively play the slots. Players are provided with a set number of spins that they can use for free. Each spin is usually worth around $0.10. So, when looking at the wagering requirements, you can figure out how much you will need to wager from that.
Cashable Bonuses – Cashable bonuses are always popular among players because they let you win real money. However, like with the other bonuses, you can expect there to be wagering requirements attached to them. Additionally, it is common for these types of bonuses to have a cap on winnings. So, even if you reach the cap you will not be able to make use of the rest of your bonus.
Non-Cashable Bonuses – Finally, non-cashable bonuses are the least popular bonuses among players. That is because they do not allow players to take home real money. However, that does not mean that they do not have any value. Non-cashable bonuses let players play games for free, and as a result, players are able to get experience and get comfortable with these games. So, when they are using their own money on these games they will have a better chance of having success.
How to Play and Deal with Wagering Requirements
We have mentioned wagering requirements a few times now, but if you are a new player you might not be familiar with them, and you need to understand them if you want to win big. Wagering requirements are restrictions put in place by online casinos to prevent players from withdrawing their winnings without depositing any money. They force players to make a certain number of bets before they are eligible to make withdrawals. For example, you might receive a bonus with a $10 value, but it has 30 times wagering requirements attached to it. This would mean that you would need to deposit an additional $300 before you would be eligible to withdraw any winnings you received from your bonus. On the other hand, there are many casinos that offer “no wagering requirement bonuses”. But, such bonuses are low in demand from the players.
As you can see, wagering requirements make it much more difficult for players to make a profit. However, they do not make it impossible. Instead, they force players to alter their strategies to give themselves the best chance of being profitable. To implement the best strategy, you will need to know what RTP is. RTP stands for “return to player percentage,” and it refers to the percentage of the time that players make back their money or better on a bet. There are games with RTPs of 97 percent and higher. You can reliably break even in those games, but they do not have large payouts because of the high winning percentages. As a result, you need to play more volatile games if you want to make a big profit.
Generally, you should stick to high RTP games when you are playing with your personal funds. However, when you are using a bonus you can get a little risky by playing low RTP games. You will not have a great chance of winning, but there is no risk to losing, so it is a great time to give it a try. Despite there being a low chance of winning, you still need to know what to do if you win. Many players will be tempted to try to double their winnings after hitting the jackpot, but this is a losing strategy. Instead, you should immediately switch back to high RTP games. You can meet the wagering requirements while playing these games, and you will not risk losing the money you already won.
What Are Game Contributions?
Another thing you need to look out for are game contributions. Game contributions refer to the amount of your bet that are used towards completing your wagering requirements. Most new players would expect their entire bet to contribute to the wagering requirements, but this is not always the case. There are games that only contribute 50 percent, and some that contribute even less. As a result, you need to see how much a game contributes before you start to play. Otherwise, you might be forced to bet even more money before you can make withdrawals.
Keep in mind that if you are playing games that only contribute 50 percent of your bet towards the wagering requirements you will need to wager twice as much as you expected. So, always check game contributions before you start playing.
Keep an Eye Out for Withdrawal Caps
The final thing you need to look out for in bonuses is a withdrawal cap. Withdrawal caps put a ceiling on the amount of money you can win with a bonus. So, if there is a withdrawal cap of $150, you will need to cash out once you hit that number. Once you have won that amount of money, you will not be able to withdraw any more money. So, the rest of your bonus will be void. This is obviously not ideal, so you should look for bonuses without withdrawal caps if you can. Also try to avoid any slots with huge jackpots as the chances are that you won’t be able to receive your winnings which really wouldn’t be fun.
The online casino industry is one that is growing at a tremendous rate. There are hundreds of online casinos to choose from, and almost all of them have bonuses to try to entice players to join them. Since there are so many casinos and bonuses, you need to know what things to look out for. Look for bonuses with low wagering requirements and without withdrawal caps. Then when you are playing be smart about which games you play. By doing these things, you will be giving yourself the best chance to win some free money.