With the ever-expanding online casino and sports betting industry, players are spoilt for choice when it comes to what providers they want to play with. While most gambling websites offer similar features, some offer ones that others don’t.
Amongst these features are great promotions and rewards in the form of loyalty programs that can get everyone talking. These can result in many benefits and even cash back that will help you play longer for the same or even less amount of money.
But even among promotions and rewards, there are some vast differences. While some will genuinely lead to you getting more than you could hope to bargain for, others fall short and don’t give you as much back as you may expect.
That being the case, knowing what to look for when searching for promos or enrolling in a rewards program will help you hunt down the best deals and programs you can leverage to your advantage.
Low Wagering Requirements
One of the most significant disadvantages of welcome bonuses and general promotions offered by online casinos is the pesky wagering requirement that usually comes with them. This requirement can easily make a promo much less lucrative for you as a player.
A wagering requirement is the amount of money you must spend to claim your bonus or promotion fully. For example, you may find a spectacular promotion offering up to £50 in free casino credit. A deal like this is something that no sane punter would pass up.
Unfortunately, it may come with a wagering requirement of 15 times the bonus amount. In a scenario like this, you’ll need to wager (or spend) 15 times £50—which adds up to £750—before you can withdraw any winning you may gain from playing with the £50 that the casino gave you.
Looking for a promo with a very low (or ideally no) wagering requirement is the best thing you can do. These requirements can be found in the terms and conditions of any promotion you accept.
This simple check will allow you to score the best promos without spending a fortune to reap the benefit they promise correctly.
Validity Periods
Another condition often applied to promotions is validity periods, which generally dictate two things. The first is the timeframe over which promotions are available to punters. Verified promo codes usually run for a few days up to a few weeks. After that, the site no longer accepts them.
The second thing they dictate is the time you have once you’ve claimed the promotion to satisfy or fulfill the requirements attached. These include the wagering requirement mentioned above.
Failing to meet all stipulated requirements within the specified validity period will nullify the promotion and effectively leave you with no rewards. Therefore, selecting a promotion with a validity period within which you are confident you can complete all requirements is essential.
Cash Back Rewards
Another excellent bonus offered by many online casino reward or loyalty programs is cash back. These rewards give you a specific percentage of the total loss you encounter while playing during a given period.
An example is if you’re eligible through a VIP program to receive 10% cash back within 30 days. If you deposit (and lose) £100 during those 30 days, you will receive £10 back from the casino to help compensate for your loss.
While the higher tiers of reward programs usually offer cash back, getting them can be simple. All you need to do is find a casino with a VIP program that doesn’t make cash-back rewards unattainable unless you gamble more than you’d like. You can start reaping the rewards as soon as you reach the required level.
Game Specific Bonuses
While many bonuses can be applied to whatever casino game you choose to indulge in, for instance the famous gates of Olympus, some cannot. Specifically, free spin bonuses and (in some cases) casino credit bonuses can only be used on games specified in the promotion’s terms and conditions.
This doesn’t make a big difference if you don’t mind what you play and are simply looking for entertainment and a chance to win. But if you have preferred games, ensuring the promo applies to them is crucial and makes playing slots a lot more interesting.
To see if a promotion you want to claim specifies the games you are restricted to playing, just look at the terms and conditions of the bonus. Here, you will usually find a list of games that the promotion can be used on—or sometimes a list of games that it can’t be applied to.
Reload Bonuses
Reload bonuses are usually offered to players that are part of a casino’s reward program. They work the same way as deposit bonuses offered to new players and are often given depending on the schedule provided by your chosen casino.
How they work is that they will give you a percentage of your deposit back in casino credit. For example, if you deposit £500 and apply a reload bonus of 10% to it, your account will be credited with £550. This you can then use to play (and hopefully) win big.
These bonuses can be a great way to boost your deposits regularly and are something you should look out for before registering a player account. However, there is one downside to these great incentives.
Like any other promotion, reload bonuses also come with terms and conditions attached. The usual culprits for these types of bonuses are wagering requirements, validity periods, minimum deposit limits, or even which deposit method you should use (like crypto).
Conclusion
With the multitude of fantastic casino bonuses available out there, there are a few things you should always consider before accepting them. Checking the fine print, particularly regarding wagering requirements, is a significant step toward ensuring you make the most of the promotions you find on online casinos and casino review sites.
Doing so will make your eventual win even sweeter while ensuring you enjoy the best bonuses available.