Bonuses & Rewards in Online Gambling

If you’ve read our

article on the pros and cons of online gambling, then you’ll
know that one of the biggest advantages of betting and gaming
online are the bonuses and rewards that are available. Every
single gambling site that we’ve ever used offers these in one
format or another, although it’s fair to say that some sites are
much more generous than others.

One of our top gambling tips would be to try to take maximum
advantage of bonuses and rewards, as they represent an easy way
to get better value for your money. Serious gamblers who are
committed to making a profit should always be looking for any
extra value they can get, and even recreational gamblers who are
just having fun shouldn’t ignore the chance to get what’s
effectively free money.

On this page, we’ll help you make the most out of the bonuses
and rewards that are available online. We start by explaining
what they are and how they work, and we then look at why
gambling sites offer them. We also cover all the different types
of bonuses and rewards, and finally, we provide some important
advice regarding the associated terms and conditions.

Before we get into all that, though, there’s something we
should make very clear. As we’ve already mentioned, not every
site is as generous when it comes to the extra value they
provide their customers with. In order to get the best possible
value out of gambling bonuses, you really need to be selective
in terms of which sites you use. Luckily, we’ve put together a
list of recommended sites which are particularly generous in
terms of what they offer.

Bonuses & Rewards: The Basics

If you have never gambled online before, and know absolutely
nothing about the bonuses and rewards available, then here are
four main points that are important to understand.

1. What they are
2. Why sites offer them
3. How to claim them
4. The terms and conditions

We’ll deal with points three and four later in this article,
and focus on points one and two for now. Here’s a brief
explanation of what bonuses and rewards are, and how you can
claim them.

What are gambling bonuses and rewards?

Bonuses and rewards come in various types, but each type has
the same basic principle. They are all extra money that’s added
into your online gambling account for the purposes of betting
and/or gaming. They usually come with certain terms and
conditions attached, which we’ll cover in detail later; so they
aren’t technically “free” money. However, most types are still
valuable and well worth taking advantage of.

How to claim gambling bonuses and rewards

The methods for claiming bonuses and rewards vary from site
to site, and it may also depend on the specific type being
claimed. This is generally a very simple process, and the funds
may even be added to your account automatically without you
having to do anything. Some types will require you to make a
deposit before claiming, while others will not.

The Purpose of Bonuses & Rewards

You may be wondering exactly why gambling sites are happy to
give away money to their customers in this way. The answer is
that they have two very good reasons for doing so.

1. To gain new customers
2. To retain existing customers

It’s really as simple as that. They want you to sign up as a
customer, and they want you to stick around and keep gambling
with them.

The online gambling industry is an exceptionally competitive
one as there are a plethora of sites for gamblers to choose
from. Many of these sites offer very similar products and
services, so bonuses and rewards can be effective marketing
tools to help them stand out and attract new customers. They are
also a great way to keep existing customers happy, and to make
sure that they aren’t tempted to leave and move to other sites.

Their motives are very much commercial based, but don’t let
that diminish the fact that bonuses and rewards are a clear
benefit of gambling online.

Different Types of Bonuses & Rewards

All gambling sites have their own individual methods for
incentivizing and rewarding their customers, but most bonuses
and rewards can be labelled as a specific type. There are
several different types, and they all fall into one of two broad
categories. There are those that are for new customers, and
those that are for existing customers.

New Customer Bonuses

These are often referred to as sign up bonuses or welcome
bonuses, and they are only available to customers who are
joining a site for the first time. A site will typically offer
one, or possibly both, of the following options.

• Deposit Match
• No Deposit Bonus

A deposit match is where the site gives you a certain
percentage of your first deposit as a bonus. For example, an
online casino might offer a 100% deposit match of up to $500.

This means that you would receive a bonus of $100 if you
deposited $100, a bonus of $200 if you deposited $200, and so
on. The maximum amount of money available to claim in this
example is $500. Most sites usually require a minimum deposit
too. The percentage offered, and the minimum and maximum size of
the bonus, can vary significantly between different sites.

A no deposit bonus, as the name suggests, is one where you
don’t have to make a deposit. Sites that offer these will simply
add a few bucks to your account when you first sign up, so that
you can try them out without risking any of your money. These
aren’t as common as deposit matches, and they are usually much
smaller amounts.

Existing Customer Bonuses & Rewards

Bonuses and rewards for existing customers come in a variety of forms, but the following are particularly common.

• Reload Bonuses
• Loyalty Schemes
• VIP Programs

A reload bonus is basically a deposit match for an existing
customer. At some sites you will be entitled to a weekly or
monthly reload, while at others you will be offered them on a
pre-arranged basis. Some sites don’t offer them at all. An
example would be a poker site that offers a 50% reload of up to
$250 on the first deposit of every month.

Loyalty schemes and VIP programs are both based on a
customer’s betting and gaming activity. A typical loyalty scheme
will involve some kind of point system, where customers earn
points every time they place a sports wager, play for real money
in the casino or poker room, or buy bingo tickets. These points
can then be exchanged for rewards, and can often be transferred
straight into your account.

A VIP program is really just a glorified loyalty scheme, but
for particularly valuable players. The rewards are usually
better, and there may be additional perks.

More On Specific Bonus Types

The bonuses and rewards that can be earned online usually depend
to some extent on which forms of gambling you partake in. For example,
a sports bettor might receive their extra value in a very different
way as compared to a poker player. For more information on how the
bonuses and rewards work for the different forms of gambling, please
read the following pages.

Terms & Conditions

If we could provide only one piece of advice regarding online
gambling bonuses and rewards, it would be to always read the
associated terms and conditions. It really is essential that you
fully understand all the rules and regulations. They generally
relate to the following.

• What you need to do to be eligible for a bonus.
• How you go about claiming it.
• What it can and can’t be used for.
• Whether it can be withdrawn or not.
• If it can be withdrawn, what requirements have to be met
  first.
• How long you have to meet those requirements.

These are just a few of the most common points covered in the
terms and conditions. There are generally many more, and they
are usually very lengthy. This is no excuse for not reading them
though. If you don’t fully understand them, then you might find
yourself missing out on some extra value, which is never a good
thing.