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Online casino bonus offers are not always as good as they look

By admin on 2017-02-08 12:00:20

As we go further into February we would normally assume that the annual January sales are now over, but the retail sector is now so competitive in almost all areas that sales events on our high streets no longer happen just once a year, they seem to be ever present. In fact some retailers seem to be advertising sales prices all year round to attract customers. We all love a bargain of course and there is plenty of evidence that discounted prices do tempt us to spend. The problem is that as more and more retailers compete with each other on price all year round, how can their potential customers determine what the normal price should be and whether they are actually getting a bargain or not. Whether a product is advertised at 50% off or just 20%, unless we know what the original price was the quoted percentage discount is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is whether the price we are being asked to pay perceived as good value. These competing price comparisons are not just a feature of our high streets, they are also very common among internet retailers. A similar situation can also be found in the online gambling sector, in this case usually taking the form of different types of bonuses being offered to new customers. Clearly the online gambling site operators can’t really compete with their rivals on price, so they tend to offer what appear to be free bets in various forms. These offers are reasonably straightforward when it comes to the sports gambling websites, because they are usually that simple and do offer new customers free bets with few strings attached. It is the online casino bonus offers which can be misunderstood and lead to unexpected problems. Here at onlinecasino.ie we are not against these online casino bonus offers in any way, and appreciate that for some people they are indeed a very generous way to reward a new customer. We do however want to ensure that potential new online casino games players fully understand the terms and conditions commonly associated with most of these online casino bonus deals.

There are exceptions which we will come to later in this article, but most online casinos including many which feature on our recommended list offer some sort of welcome bonus targeted at new customers. These online casino bonus offers are usually very similar at all the online casinos which use them, and generally take the form of a promise to match a new customer’s first deposit with a 100% bonus. On the face of it who wouldn’t jump at the chance to double the money you can use to play casino games free of charge when you register with an online casino. The problems arise when you study the terms and conditions which apply to these bonus offers, in particular what are known as the play-through requirements. All the welcome bonuses which offer a matching bonus based on the customer’s first deposit come with a condition defining the play-through requirement to qualify for the bonus. This defines how much money a new customer needs to stake on playing casino games before any winnings can be withdrawn from their account, and is generally at least twenty times the total of the initial deposit plus the bonus. If we put that into plain language an initial deposit of say 50 euros, matched by a bonus of a further 50 euros making 100 euros in total would require the new customer to stake at least 2000 euros on playing casino games before being allowed to withdraw any money from their account. For many people that sort of sum is way beyond what they can afford to stake on playing casino games, particularly when it is also quite common for a time limit to be applied to this play-through requirement as part of the terms and conditions. There may also be restrictions on which casino games qualify for the play-through requirements, with roulette for instance sometimes excluded or with a reduced contribution because it is considered to have the lowest house edge. There is nothing wrong with the principle of online casinos competing for new customers through a range of welcome bonus offers, and we accept that they in fact have very few alternatives, but it is important that anyone who decides to accept one of these online casino bonus deals understands all the terms and conditions associated with the offer.

As we have already mentioned earlier in this article, there are exceptions to what has become a normal type of welcome bonus one of which is found at the relatively new No Bonus casino. As the name suggests, the operators of the No Bonus casino have decided not to offer any welcome bonuses to new casino games players. They still clearly want to attract new customers to their online casino, so they have instead come up with an interesting cash-back deal which applies to both new and existing customers alike. This cash-back promise is designed to compensate any of their casino games players who suffer a run of bad luck, which unfortunately can happen to any of us. If a customer makes a deposit today and then has a run of bad luck which results in the loss of the whole of that deposit, they will receive a 10% cash-back paid into their account the following morning. There are no strings attached and the money can either be used to play more casino games or it can simply be withdrawn from the account. There are no penalties or hidden conditions it is down to the customer what he does with the money. Another relatively new online casino is the Free Spins casino, which again has an interesting and different approach to the problem of attracting new customers. The approach chosen by the Free Spins casino is again made obvious by the name, and slots enthusiast will find a variety of new games which are available to play free of charge. Perhaps all our online casinos should concentrate on the quality and variety of their casino games rather than offering bonuses.