To completely muddy and mess up the words of George Orwell in Animal Farm: while all bonuses are created equally, some bonuses are more equal than others. So how do you differentiate?
In this article we’ll strip bonuses down to their bones and let you know how and where to get the best bang for your buck when it comes to these casino website treats.
Types of Bonuses
There’s little point to discussing bonuses at casinos if you don’t really know what they are. Casino bonuses come in many forms and are rewards granted to you by a casino.
These are some of the bonuses you’ll encounter at a top casino.
Reload Bonuses
This type of bonus is given to you in the form of bonus money as a reward for making a deposit. It’s expressed as a percentage relating to how big the bonus is in comparison to your deposit.
A 100% Reload Bonus is sometimes referred to as a Match Bonus. There’s usually a maximum limit placed on what you can receive as a bonus.
For example, let’s say you claim a 150% Reload Bonus up to $300.
Deposit $100 and you’ll get a $150 bonus, giving you $250 to play with.
The maximum bonus you can receive is $300, so any deposit you make over $200 will stay capped at $300.
Free Spins
The clue is in the name. This reward gives you spins to use on one or several slot games without having to pay for your spins.
Getting casino free spins is a great way to try out a slot you have never tried before or have an extra chance at one of your old favourites.
Free Bets
Although more popular in sports betting, you can sometimes get a free bet to use in the casino, most likely on table games such as roulette or blackjack, and if you are really lucky you might even find them on live dealer games.
Alternatively, some casinos are part of a bigger online gambling site that includes a sports betting section, so they might even offer you a free bet to place a bet on a sports event and give you a feel for the other side of the site.
When You’ll Get A Bonus
There are several ways to trigger a bonus. You can get one from completing an action, as a gift on your birthday, or perhaps to celebrate a special holiday.
Here are the main ways to trigger your bonus:
No Deposit Casino Bonuses
With this sort of bonus, you won’t need to make a deposit to activate your bonus. Often casinos will offer you free spins just for the action of signing up. This is a great way to try out a new casino and see if you like it.
Other bonuses can also be offered without requiring a bonus first, but free spins are the most common.
Deposit Bonuses
This is the most common bonus you’ll find in a casino. A reload bonus is an example of a deposit bonus, but you can also get other rewards for making a deposit including claiming Free Spins or Free Bets.
One thing to keep in mind with a deposit bonus is that it ties the bonus to your deposit. So, while using the bonus, you won’t be able to withdraw any funds.
Welcome Bonuses
Almost every casino site out there will offer something to their newest players. It’s usually triggered by your first deposit, but sometimes you can get a casino no deposit bonus in Canada just from signing up.
It might consist of a number of Reload Bonuses with varying percentages, usually with the first being the most favourable.
Understanding Bonuses
Bonuses may just seem like gifts from casinos, but they are actually a clever way to keep you tied into the casino.
So, to get the best out of bonuses, you need to understand how casinos tie you in, and the best way to benefit from a bonus.
Wagering requirements
This is one of the most important things you need to look out for before accepting a bonus.
This is how your deposit gets tied to your bonus. The wagering requirement is the number of times you need to play a bonus through the casino before you can withdraw it, or transfer it to other products on the gambling site.
Say you get a $50 bonus with a wagering requirement of 20.
This means you’ll have to wager $1,000 in the casino before you make a withdrawal. If you make a withdrawal before, any winnings you’ve made associated with the bonus will be forfeited.
A great wagering requirement for a Reload Bonus is 30 and below, but sadly this isn’t too common.
Avoid anything with a wagering requirement over 40, as this will make it near-on impossible to withdraw your bonus.
Game Weighting
Even looking out for the wagering requirements, game weighting is another spot you might get tripped up on if you don’t take them into account. Basically, not all casino games count equally to the wagering requirements.
Some games have only a small house edge, such as blackjack, and because players have a better chance of winning in these games, casinos take them out of the running for players to use to meet the wagering requirement.
These games either won’t count at all, or only a small percentage. Typically, game weighting will look something like this:
Card games – 5%
Video poker – 20%
Roulette – 25%
Slots – 100%
The Best Casino Bonuses Available
So, let’s get down to it, what are the best available bonuses? We’ve seen sign up bonuses of up to $6,000 on your first deposit and even a 350% Welcome Bonus. Here’s a round-up of some of the best bonuses available right now.
Hell Spin
Hell Spin Casino has one of the best casino Welcome Bonuses for Canadian players. For a new casino, it doesn’t get much better.
Get up to $5,200 and a very impressive 150 free spins to use on slot games. Make a minimum deposit of $10 to qualify.
The wagering requirement for this bonus is 40x.
Making it one of the best payout casinos.
Jet Casino
It’s become quite a trend for casinos to offer a special bonus to encourage players to deposit using Cryptocurrencies.
Jet Casino accepts payments from six different Cryptocurrencies, so you if that’s your chosen payment method, you’re good to go.
The welcome bonus is a very respectable 150% Match Bonus up to $ 3,000 and 50 Casino Free Spins. The minimum deposit is $20 and it comes with a wagering requirement of 40x.
North Casino
Created with the online gambler in mind when you sign up and make your first deposit you can benefit from a $5,000 welcome bonus over your first five deposits.
That’s 100% up to $1,000 on your first deposit and 50% up to $1,000 on the next four deposits.
Deposit at least $25 to activate this reward; the bonus is tied to a 60x wagering requirement.
