Ways to Tell If A Casino Bonus Is Worth It

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Casino bonuses are a great way for casinos to offer players some cashback on their continuous deposits. And, receiving a bonus is exciting, and it gives you more reason to support the casino. But, have you ever stopped a wondered if all casino bonuses are worth it?

Most casino bonuses are worth a shot, but there are a few that come with unreasonable wagering requirements and impossible terms and conditions. Those are the ones that we suggest you stay clear of. We are here to help you identify bonuses that are worth it, and bonuses that aren’t.

Finding the Right Bonus for You

It’s worth mentioning that casinos don’t offer bonuses on all games, and if they do, it’s very few and far between. You’ll notice that slot bonuses come in the dozens, while bonuses on table games are very rare, if offered at all.

The best kind of bonus for you is one you can use on your favorite casino games. So, decide, are you a slots fanatic? Do you prefer table games or perhaps video poker? Maybe you enjoy specialty games like keno and lottery more. Once you’ve identified your favorite, you then ask yourself if the bonus offered applies to that game or not. Free spins bonuses for example is useful to slot lovers, but not so much for table game players.

Are casino bonuses worth it

Types of Casino Bonuses

Above we mention free spins, but there are many other types of bonuses at casinos. There may be different names for these bonuses, but each one should fall within one of these bonus categories:

  • Welcome Bonuses (This is a bonus offered to first time players at the casino. It’s usually presented as a package that’s made up of match bonuses and free spins)
  • No Deposit Bonuses (This is probably the best kind of bonus, but also the rarest. It’s the only bonus where you don’t need to make a deposit, yet you still get to win real money)
  • Deposit Bonuses (This bonus is offered to existing players whenever they make cash deposits. The casinos usually match your deposit amount as a bonus or at least a percentage of it)
  • Loyalty Rewards (This kind of bonus is only offered later in your gambling career. Most casinos have a loyalty rewards program where you gradually collect points which at some point can be redeemed for cash or other prizes)
  • Free Spins (This one is pretty self-explanatory. It’s basically free spins to use on your favourite slot game.)

Limits Imposed on Casino Bonuses

Most casinos have limitations on their bonuses. We don’t refer to wagering requirements here, we’ll get to that later. One common limit has to do with payment methods. Some casinos only offer bonuses for payments made using a specific banking method and refuse bonuses for payments made using alternative methods. Bonuses for payments made using cryptocurrency is common, while e-wallet payment bonuses are seldomly offered.

Casinos also limit how much they payout should you win. Consider this example: 100% match bonus of up to $200. This means that if you deposit $50, the casino will 100% match that with another $50 because this falls within the $200 limit. But, if you deposit $300, the casino will only give you an additional $200.

How to tell if a bonus is worth it

Limitations placed on casino withdrawals are quite common among casinos.  Most casinos will not let you withdraw your winnings until you’ve completed all the necessary wagering requirements. The withdrawal method you use may also have a daily cashout limit.

Casino Bonuses to Avoid

Okay, so now you know how to find the right bonuses for you, you know the different types of bonuses that exist and you have an idea about the limitations that come with each. Now it’s decision-making time where you ultimately decide if a bonus is worth it or not.

It comes down to considering all the factors we mention above and then doing the math. Bonuses come with wagering requirements. This is a term you’ll hear frequently at casinos. Wagering requirement info is crucial when doing the math. Here’s how you calculate wagering requirements on any given bonus.

A $1,000 bonus with a 35x wagering requirement means that you must play through at least $35,000 if you want to cashout. Similarly, a 100% match bonus of up to $100 with a wagering requirement of 25x means that you’ll have to play through at least $5000 if you want to cashout out because ($100 + $100) x 25 = $5,000.

Now that you know how much you’ll need to wager, or play through, you must determine the contribution rate for the games you like to play. Casino games are designed to contribute towards the wagering requirements. And, some games contribute more than others.

Slot machines generally have a 100% contribution rate, so you’ll never have to do this step when you are playing slots. Roulette on the other hand has a 10% contribution rate while video poker has a 25% contribution rate. So, after determining the wagering requirement amount you must take that amount as is, multiply it by 100 and then divide that total by the contribution rate.

Still using the examples above, here’s how you calculate the new playthrough amount with contribution rates factored in:

Casino GaminesBonusWagering RequirementContribution ratePlay Through Amount
Online Slots$100035x100%$35,000
Online Roulette$100025x10%$250,000
Video Poker$100020x25%$80,000

The final play through amounts may seem big, but remember you aren’t necessarily losing that amount of money, you’re simply playing it through. Also, keep in mind that you’ll be winning some money along the way. But, how much you win will be determined by the house edge and your luck in the game. This brings us to our final step. Once you have the final play through requirement, which we’ve calculated above, you must multiply that number by the house edge of that particular game. This final answer will give you an idea as to how much you can expect to lose in the process of trying to meet the wagering requirements. And, once you know how much you stand to lose, you can decide if the bonus is evidently worth it or not.

So, if we take the information that we have on slots above, you stand to lose a total of $927.50 playing Big Bad Wolf, which has a house edge of 0.0265. Is this bonus worth it to you?

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