Online casino bonuses have been around for quite a while now (pretty much from the very beginnings of the online gambling industry), having grown into an all-important tool in the online gambler’s arsenal: the one capable of putting the biggest dent into the almighty house edge. Unlike online poker bonuses –which do indeed give players a more than welcome edge, but are not mathematically indispensable for generating a profit, online casino bonuses have always been used as the main weapon against the house edge and the house drop.
It is therefore extremely important for every potential online casino gambler to learn to assess his/her bonus properly before committing and making that deposit and Judi online is there to help you with that. Bear in mind that a good bonus will not turn the house edge around, but it will give you a bigger bang for your buck, allowing you to play longer and thus giving variance additional chances to make you rich.
Online casino bonuses are fraught with several potential pitfalls. First of all, there’s a bonus type. While most online poker bonuses tend to be of the percentage match type, online casino bonuses are of several different breeds. There are no-deposit bonuses, which do indeed sound generous, but they’re not exactly the free money players hope for and online casinos make them out to be. As the name suggests, these bonuses do not actually require players to make a real money deposit, and as such, they’re mostly risk-free deals for players.
All one needs to do to secure such a bonus is to open an account at the online casino which features the deal and cash in. Unlike online poker bonuses, which are transferred into players’ bonus accounts (from where they can’t be taken to the table until redemption) no-deposit online casino bonuses land directly in players’ real money accounts, ready to be shoved into the middle of the action. The catch is that players aren’t allowed to cash out before they have the (really steep) redemption requirements fulfilled.
The casino’s goal with the no-deposit bonus is to get players hooked after which they’re much more likely to make a deposit of their own when their bonus is gone. Percentage match bonuses are based on the amount of money players deposit, so the maximum – which is usually the advertised amount – isn’t quite what the players are guaranteed to receive. These match bonuses have to be redeemed as well.
Other bonus types are re-deposit bonuses (given to those who burn through their initial deposit fast and want another go), high roller bonuses (offered only to large-volume players), loyalty bonuses (designed to keep players happy and playing) and preferred deposit method bonuses (given to players who use the preferred payment method of the casino). The real value of all these bonuses is in their redemption requirements though. The actual redemption rate is important of course, but what’s much more important is the game selection on which bonus redemption is allowed.
There are games out there that do not count towards the bonus at all, while others count in a much-reduced proportion. The games which count 100% towards the turnover requirements are naturally the ones on which the house edge and the house drop are the highest. Online poker players shouldn’t disregard rake rebate deals like the Everleaf Rakeback or the Lock Poker Rakeback. Such seemingly small sites often carry great value for those skilled enough to take advantage of it.
