Make sure you understand the online casino bonuses

This is the time of year when online and high street retailers pull out all the stops to encourage us to spend money, with special offers and pre-Christmas sales promotions to the fore. The objective is of course to get us inside the doors or to register online and it has to be said that it often works because most of us like the idea of a bargain. Most online casinos nowadays are increasingly using a similar tactic all year round to encourage us to play their casino games, with free bets and welcome casino bonuses in abundance. Some of these online casino bonuses can be classified as a bargain, particularly the small free bets one finds on the sports gambling sites or the selected slots games on an online casino, but others need to be approached with a deal more caution. Many of the welcome casino bonuses offered to new customers by the online casinos can appear very generous indeed, but they all come with a list of terms and conditions which need to be understood before accepting the bonus. Generally the online casino welcome bonuses consist of a promise to match the customer’s first deposit with a 100% bonus, with some online casinos also rewarding the second and third deposits on a sliding scale. The sting in the tail is the ‘play through’ requirement specified in the terms and conditions, which stipulates the total monies which have to be staked on their casino games before any money can be withdrawn from your account. This is often as much a thirty times the total of the initial deposit plus the bonus, and may also have a time limit imposed for this to be achieved. For some new casino games players these casino bonuses may well be a bargain if they have thought through the implications of the deal and it suits their online gambling plans, but for others the play through requirements can become a burden. Remember they are voluntary and only sign up if you can both afford the stakes and can play within the time limit.