Spotting Unfair Bonus Terms

With so many online casinos and even more bonuses to choose from on the sites, it feels impossible to choose the good bonuses from the bad. Unfortunately, many bonuses offered today aren't worth using. You must learn to understand bonus terms and conditions so you can avoid the offers that aren't a good value, in favor of the bonuses that are worth using.

Know the Minimum Deposit Amount

Some casino bonuses have unreasonably high minimum deposit requirements, though these are rare. To avoid one of these trap bonuses, you should become familiar with the minimum deposit requirement of a bonus offer. Once you know what that requirement is, you can avoid bonuses that you cannot afford to use.

Consider the Wagering Requirements

Wagering requirements are a common regulation placed on deposit match and reload bonuses. This rule demands that you wager a certain amount of money based on how much bonus money you're collecting from the offer. Some bonuses have 10x wagering requirements, which means you must bet 10 times the amount you received in bonus money before the money is yours to keep. On average, a casino bonus demands between 20x and 40x wagering requirements. If you see a bonus with wagering requirements higher than 40x you should be wary of it because it will be difficult to claim without losing all your bonus funds first.

Betting Limits are Important Too

Many casino bonuses are given a specific betting limit. This limit decides how much money you can wager at once. Often, the betting limit is 5% of the total bonus money. That means, if you receive $100 in bonus funds you cannot wager more than $5.00 at one time. Higher betting limits are more favorable because they enable you to risk your bonus funds more heavily, having a chance to get a few huge wins, rather than trying for many smaller wins. Know your betting limits for any bonus, or you could accidentally break the terms of a bonus and forfeit your funds.

Look For Restricted Game Options

Many casino bonuses restrict what games you can use the bonus money on. If a bonus restricts you from playing any games you enjoy, you may want to rethink the offer for something more flexible. Read through the list of restricted games, or game types carefully, and avoid bonuses that don't enable you to play the games you're interested in.

Even if a game type that you're interested in isn't fully restricted, some games will only count toward your wagering requirements partially. For example, games such as slots or keno may count 100% toward your wagering requirements, while blackjack and video poker games might only count 20% toward your wagering requirements. Know these percentages before you start playing specific games, and avoid the games that don't count toward your bonus, or only count for a tiny portion of your overall wagering requirements.

Watch Out For Sticky Bonuses

Sticky or non-cashable bonuses are very common at online casinos. These special offers can never be withdrawn directly. That means you must wager all the bonus money you were given from the program. That doesn't mean you cannot win real prizes that you can enjoy using the bonus offer. Instead, you must wager all the bonus money and turn it into winnings. When you wager your bonus cash fully you are free to withdraw any of your winnings. Unless you're planning to stay at a specific casino for very long, you should watch for sticky bonuses and avoid them in favor of cashable bonus offers when possible.

Finding fair casino bonuses is a challenging task to complete. Learn to look closely at the terms of any bonuses that you're considering and you can start to decide which offers are worth using and which should be avoided.