When making the transition from land-based to online casinos, bright flashing promotional messages screaming ‘free spins’ and ‘cash back’ can seem somewhat overwhelming. However, if you play at secure online casinos these promotions are genuine and while they do come with some attached terms and conditions, the offers at our suggested sites are very clear in what the requirements are for each bonus.
We take a look at what casino bonuses are and why it is so important to play at secure sites which are clear about the terms and conditions of their promotions.
Fair and verified online casino bonuses
We have a select list of reliable online casinos each offering fair casino bonuses which we’ve even taken advantage of – and quite regularly at that.
Each have clear terms and conditions you can read yourself to ensure you find them fair and all have a great track record of offering players their winnings from their promotions, as per player reviews online and the logos indicating accreditation from respectable third party organisations.
- G’day
- Slots Million
- Royal Vegas
- Thrills
- Jackpot City
- 32 Red
- Leo Vegas
- Roxy palace
- Guts
- 7 Sultans
- Casino-Mate
What are online casino bonuses?
Many land-based casinos do offer promotions, but you need to be a member, which means you have to physically sign up at a help desk in the venue. They often aren’t very generous as online casinos due to the overhead costs incurred, meaning they also can’t offer huge giveaways.
Online casinos are a different story. Players can participate as soon as they sign up – simply by entering your details without even getting off the lounge – and these bonuses are generally larger as operators don’t have to pay employees or other overhead costs land-based venues do. We detail the most common online casino bonuses and their general terms and conditions below.
No-deposit bonuses
Some online casinos will offer players either free cash or free spins just for registering an account with them, and without even making a deposit.
For example, Leo Vegas grants new players 20 free spins just for opening an account. The winnings have a 35x wagering requirement (number of times you need to wager the bonus before it is cleared as real cash) attached however.
Some don’t have wagering requirements attached however, such as 32 Red online casino which offers $10 to their players just for opening an account, no deposit required, and there are no wagering requirements. There is a limit of $100 on withdrawing the winnings however.
New player bonuses
New players at online casinos can opt in for the welcome bonuses on offer which generally involve matched deposits, and sometimes free spins.
Some welcome bonuses involve tiered matched deposits. For example, Royal Vegas sees up to $1200 matched over three deposits, while others can involve just one deposit matched, such as Slots Million where just one deposit of up to $100 is matched by 100%.
The matched deposits are bonus cash, which isn’t real cash until it can be cleared. To clear this you must complete the wagering requirements as set out in the terms and conditions (if they aren’t you are playing at a rogue online casino and should therefore stick to our recommendations).
Royal Vegas has a 40x wagering requirement, while Slots Million has a 35x wagering requirement for their welcome bonuses. If you clear these, you then receive the bonus as real cash which you can play with or withdraw.
Each casino category has a percentage of how much they contribute to the wagering requirements – also detailed in the terms and conditions – and pokies generally always contribute 100%, with table games usually contributing from 0 to 20%.
Free spins
Free spins can either come with welcome bonuses or as separate promotions where you can win a certain amount of free spins on specified pokies.
For example, you can receive 100 free spins on Starburst when you opt in for Guts online casino welcome bonus, or you can opt in for the 60 free spins for their Thursday weekly special instead.
These free spins don’t have wagering requirements attached (Guts rarely do for their free spins) but many online casinos do so remember to read the conditions attached.
Loyalty points
Online casinos offer a membership for players to their online casino but the best part is you’re instantly signed up once you register an account.
Most online casinos feature a tiered membership where you are placed in the lowest tier when you make your first deposit and work your way up by playing your favourite casino games and earning points. The more the wager the higher you will go up the tiers and reap the rewards. Royal Vegas offers a tiered loyalty program with one credit on the pokies earning one point, while five to 100 credits are required for table games for one point.
However, more and more online casinos are mixing things up and changing the way we get loyalty points. For example, Thrills offers a Bonus-O-Metre where you play a specified game of the week and move your way up the metre every time you trigger the bonus feature in the game to earn a huge prize.
Online casino tournaments
Many online casinos offer promotions to keep players entertained too such as online tournaments featuring pokies and other casino games.
For example, 32 Red often hosts Battle of the Slots type promotions where players can pick a certain team and play the specified pokies for the chance to win a large percentage of a prize pool, while the losing team will still win a share too.
Other tournaments can see players logging into the one pokie and activating the bonus features to accrue points and be placed on a leaderboard – Royal Vegas Casino often hosts these types of pokies tournaments.
You may find other tournaments too, including poker tournaments at Guts, roulette or blackjack tournaments at Leo Vegas, and more.
Avoid rogue online casinos
Even if you aren’t opting in for casino bonuses, loyalty programs or tournaments, it is important to play at online casinos regulated by third parties to keep your information and money safe.
If you are playing for the promotions, these authoritative bodies ensure all promotions and bonuses have clear and fair terms and conditions attached to their promotions.
It can be quite difficult to distinguish between a rogue or unregulated online casino and a reputable one if they do have logos or terms and conditions, but if you read the fine print you will notice these types of casinos have unreasonable terms attached. For example, many rogue sites have unfair terms and lock players out of their accounts if they clear, for example, the welcome bonus.
This is why it is incredibly important to play at secure online casinos only. We have a list of reliable sites all passing our high standards of secure gaming with fair promotional terms.