Used to be that a bonus was a bonus and that was pretty much that. Unfortunately those days are long gone and what we've got now is a lot of fine print. They're called "Terms and Conditions" and if you're thinking about bonuses you'd best be reading the T&Cs.
The T&Cs are the bonus player's road map. They tell you what you can play, how much you have to play, and so on. If you haven't read them they you're playing blind and that is not good. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to bonus play.
Ok, let's take a random pick Sands of the Caribbean:
Software provider: Cryptologic
New Player Bonus: 25%, max bonus $100
Match Bonus: 10%, $40 bonus max
To qualify: automatic
Play-through: 20x (deposit + bonus)
Games exempted: Roulette, Baccarat, Craps
That "to qualify" item is pretty important. For the Sands the player is automatically awarded the bonus instead of having to email them requesting it. Convenient, but it also means that the player is automatically bound to the terms of their T&C. If you're the kind of player who enjoys playing at a casino but don't want to go through the hassle of bonuses and bonus requirements, you can email the casino manager to have the automatic bonus disabled. This is true with all CryptoLogic casinos.
If you do decide to receive the bonus automatically, you are automatically responsible for following the T&Cs for that bonus. If you don't your winnings will be in limbo until the requirements are met.
"Play-through" is the amount that you have to wager in total in order to withdraw your winnings. It's the casino's way of saying "give us a chance to win back that free money we gave you". It also gives you a chance to stick around long enough to try out the software. So if you deposit $100 at the Sands you'll get $25 bonus and your play-through is 20 X ($100 + 25), or $2500. This is equivalent to 500 hands of $5 blackjack (if you don't double down or split). Note that it is common to state the play-through in terms of a multiple of the deposit + the bonus, as we've done here, but it's certainly not universal. Read your T&C carefully to see how the play-through is being calculated.
The "Games exempted" thing means that any wagers you make at those games do not count as part of your play-through requirement. In some cases you are not even allowed to play those games until the play-through is complete.
Let's do a quick survey of a few other casinos.
InterCasino:
Software provider: Cryptologic
New Player Bonus: none
Match Bonus: 100%, $80 max bonus, monthly
To qualify: automatic
Play-through: 12.5x
Games exempted: Roulette, Baccarat, Craps
As you can see, terms for casinos using the same software are not necessarily the same.
Gold Club Casino:
Software provider: Boss Media
New Player Bonus: $20 sign-up bonus on min $20 deposit
Match Bonus: 100% match bonus (min $50, max $100)
To qualify: automatic, email to decline
Play-through: 12.5x on match bonus, 5x on sign-up
Games exempted: Roulette, Pai Gow, Craps and Baccarat
Casino.net:
Software provider: Boss Media
New Player Bonus: 25%, max bonus $200
Match Bonus: 10% weekly, $25 max bonus per week
To qualify: automatic
Play-through: 10x
Games exempted: none given
Cinema Casino:
Software provider: Microgaming
New Player Bonus: 250%, max bonus $50
Match Bonus: 15%/10%/5% depending on which financial institution is used to deposit
To qualify: automatic
Play-through: 15x on initial deposit bonus, 10x on subsequent deposits.
Games exempted: Roulette, Craps, and Baccarat
Arthurian Casino:
Software provider: Microgaming
New Player Bonus: 150%, max bonus $75
Match Bonus: 15% on $1500 max
To qualify: automatic
Play-through: 7x*
Games exempted: VP, BJ, and Craps count 1/3
Obviously there are a few key things to look at with all of these and I'd say they are: what are your play-through requirements? which games are exempt? If you know those two things and you like the bonus then you're good to go.
Speaking of good I gotta mention--
Casino-on-net:
Software provider: Random Logic
New Player Bonus: 20%, max bonus $200
Match Bonus: none
To qualify: automatic
Play-through: 2x on the bonus received
Games exempted: Roulette and Craps
Notice that that's 1x play-through on the combined bonus and deposit folks! Hard to beat that.
There are a few other things that you should watch out for in the T&Cs. The first is that it's become standard for casinos to exclude players that come from "high risk" countries. To me this seems pretty arbitrary but typical exclusions I've seen include Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Ukraine and China. Read your T&Cs to know.
For some casinos you are required to keep a balance in your account. Or there are restrictions when you try to cash out your bonus, such as *"In order to cash-in with bonuses, players must cash-in at least their deposits plus double the bonuses given." Or some don't even tell you what the requirements are. In the latter case at least you'd be well advised to ask for the T&Cs if they are not readily available on the site. Once the casino has your money the ball is in their court so you be best knowing what their rules are going to be.
The last thing I want to mention is that it's not uncommon for a group that owns a number of casinos to restrict a player to one bonus for the entire group of casinos. Personally I think this is highly questionable --I mean, you don't want to attract players to your other casinos?-- but I'm not the guy making the rules. If your casino is part of a group that enforces this rule it should be right where you expect it, in the Terms and Conditions.
Finally, if you do follow the T&Cs and you're getting the run-around when you try to make a withdrawal, pay a visit to our message board. Most casino operators visit the WINNERonline message board on a regular basis. Reputable operators should be able to explain or rectify your problem to your satisfaction and the satisfaction of our regular readers/players. Remember, a casino's reputation and customer service is the lifeline of it's business. However, if you're trying to abuse bonuses you won't get a warm reception on the boards. Bonus abuse is bad for everyone and the readers won't hesitate to slam you for that kind of thing.
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