08 Jul 2022Online casinos have several advantages over land-based gambling establishments, and one of the biggest are the frequent and generous bonuses and promotional offers. These bonuses can add a lot of value if you know what to do with them.
However, the offers always have strings attached. Gambling sites have to include several conditions so that they don’t lose too much money. The conditions are also there to prevent illegal activity.
If you understand how promotional offers work, you can get the maximum value from them. This applies to all bonuses, but most especially for the biggest of them all – welcome bonuses. With a bonus clearing strategy, you can get the most out of a bonus with the minimum effort. Here are our tips.
Most casino sites have a standard offer for new players, which is the default option. At many sites this is the only welcome bonus available, but some have alternatives that may be more suitable for you.
For example, you may find a special bonus for high rollers. So, if you want to make a very large initial deposit, look to see if there are different bonuses based on how much you can spend.
Other sites may have different bonuses for specific games. Examples include table game bonuses (as opposed to slots), live casino bonuses, or sports betting promotions.
Every single bonus offer comes with its own terms and conditions, and as a player it is your responsibility to read, understand and adhere to them. In the early days of online casinos there were far fewer conditions, and that led to people taking advantage and casinos losing money. These days, gambling sites have become wise to bonus abuse, and applied terms that prevent it.
Here are the main terms and conditions that you will find attached to casino bonuses.
When claiming a deposit match bonus, look at the percentage match and the maximum total bonus value.
Let’s look at an example: 100% match up to $/€400
In this case, you would need to deposit $/€400 to get the maximum value of $/€400 in bonus credit. There is no point in making a larger deposit than $/€400, as this would not add any value.
If you prefer to make a smaller deposit, then look for bonuses that offer a match greater than 100%. There are sites nowadays that offer 150%, 200%, 300% and even more. When looking at high percentage match bonuses, make sure that the conditions are still fair. And, of course, never deposit more than you can afford to lose.
The return to player (RTP) percentage is just the inverse of the house edge, so games with a high RTP are the same as having a low house edge. Playing high RTP games while clearing a bonus will give you the best possible advantage.
For slot games, it is usually possible to find the RTP published on the casino site itself or elsewhere. Many slots have an RTP of 97% or more, and these games could be a great choice. Avoid jackpot slots when clearing a bonus, unless you are a fan of the high risk to reward ratio. Progressive jackpot games can have an RTP as low as 85%.
Other games with a low house edge include blackjack and video poker. With basic strategy the house advantage can be brought down to less than a percentage point. However, most casinos heavily weight these games or even exclude them from bonus wagering altogether.
Games to be avoided at all costs include scratch cards and keno, where the house has a massive advantage.
Sticky bonuses, also known as non-cashable bonuses, look like a bad deal initially. When you have cleared the conditions you cannot withdraw any bonus money, but you can still turn a profit with these offers. When a bonus is sticky, the wagering applies to both the bonus and your deposit together.
When clearing a sticky bonus, many players favour a bolder wagering approach. Aim for larger targets, such as adding $100 to your bankroll, after which you can make more moderate bets until the conditions are met.
The low stakes wagering strategy is based on mathematical probabilities. Choose a slot with low or medium volatility – that is, one that pays out more frequently but for smaller amounts. By keeping each wager small, you will be able to stretch your bonus bankroll for more spins. The more spins you are able to make, the more likely it is that you will at least break even over time.
This approach may not be for everyone, as it takes quite a lot of time and the overall rewards may end up being very low.
Another approach that may save time is to choose high volatility slots and up the stakes somewhat. High volatility – also known as variance – means that the payouts happen less often but are higher when they do. Calculate how many spins you can make at a certain value per spin, and set that as your baseline. Then keep going with the aim of hitting a bonus round or free spins bonus. The wins on these rounds can be big enough to offset the smaller losses.
Casinos are notoriously inflexible when it comes to enforcing the rules surrounding bonuses. If you break one of the terms and conditions when clearing the bonus, the site will almost certainly void the bonus and not pay out. If you go over the time limit, or make wagers that are more than the specified maximum, then all your efforts will have been for nothing.
If you have chosen a bonus to be redeemed on live or virtual table games, then there are some strategies that may also cause you to lose the bonus. An example would be minimum risk betting on roulette, which could be betting on both red/black or odd/even simultaneously until the bonus is cleared. Most casinos will not allow this wagering strategy, and in any case it would take far too long and there would be minimal profit.
Casino gambling is first and foremost a form of entertainment. Unless you are a professional poker player, playing casino games is very unlikely to make you rich. When using an online casino, the goal should never be to win big, and the same goes for bonuses.
Bankroll management is what every casino player should be aiming for, which means budgeting and setting limits for yourself. Good online casinos provide tools to help with this, for example forcing you to end a session when you have won or lost a certain amount.
One great thing about bonuses is that you can go a little wild with them. Because it is bonus credit, you can take risks that you couldn’t if it were your own money. Play games that you would otherwise avoid, try out that strategy that you heard about – in other words, cut loose a little.
Bonuses can be cleared with a profit at the end of it, but there are no guarantees even if you do everything right. When it comes down to it, clearing a bonus is not the best way to have fun with that extra money. In the end, the choice is yours – follow our tips to try and clear the bonus, or simply enjoy it for the windfall that it is.
With over twelve years of experience, Beth brings a lot of knowledge in the field of gambling and always deals intensively with casinos reviews. She is responsible for most of the content that is written on MrCasinova.com and she also manages all MrCasinova.com contributors. Beth is native English and graduated with an MBA from Anglia Ruskin University.
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