When you sign up to an online casino today you will instantly qualify for some kind of guaranteed new player welcome bonus and this is usually a matching deposit bonus which can be claimed when you make your first ever deposit(s). The most common online casino bonus is the matching deposit bonus, plus you can also find lots of other great bonuses such as no deposit bonuses, free play bonuses, free spins bonuses, cash back bonuses, refer-a-friend bonuses and several other great bonus offers.
Online casino bonuses have a tendency to expire, so the best thing to do would be to read through the bonus terms and conditions prior to accepting a bonus and claim these offers as quickly as possible. T’s & C’s contain important information such as the wagering requirements (aka playthrough requirements). This is the amount that you need to wager before you can withdraw your free bonus cash and it is usually anywhere from 20x to no more than 60x times the bonus amount.
An online casino might be offering all new players a 100% matching deposit bonus worth up to $500. This basically means that you can double up on your first ever deposit up to the value of $500. Therefore if you maximise your bonus and deposit the full $500, you would end up with a total of $1,000 to play with ($500 deposit + $500 bonus). The bonus funds usually arrive in your account as soon as you have made the deposit.
Some online casino bonuses also come with unique bonus codes that you must enter into the required field when making your deposit, so just make sure that you enter the correct code otherwise you could miss out on your bonus. If your 100% match bonus worth up to $500 comes with a 25x wagering requirement and if you deposited just $40, it means that you would need to wager a total of $1,000 before you could start the withdrawal process (25 x $40).
However, to avoid having to complete your wagering requirements you could simply forfeit bonus so that you are just left with your initial deposit. The T’s & C’s will also reveal whether you have to wager the initial deposit amount + the bonus amount, or just the bonus amount. Using the same example above means that you would need to wager $1,040 and not $1,000 before you could withdraw. Some online casino bonuses have even been known to come with ZERO WAGERING REQUIREMENTS attached to them.
The other thing that you must be aware of when trying to complete your wagering requirements is that certain games such as the Slots, Scratchcards, Keno and other Instant Win Games usually contribute 100% towards completing your wagering requirements (per dollar wagered) whereas games like Video Poker, Table & Card Games and most other games may only contribute anywhere from 1.00% to a maximum of 20.00% towards completing your wagering requirements (per dollar wagered). In other words, to complete the wagering requirements in as little time as possible, stick to playing on the Slots, Keno, Bingo and other Instant Win Games.