Registration and reward bonuses: Are they worth it?
Most online casinos use registration and reward bonuses to entice players to choose their site over the many other hundreds available on the internet.
Whilst the lure of playing with the casino's money is enticing, there are usually so many conditions and fine print involved, that redeeming bonuses can be more trouble than it's actually worth. However, from the casinos perspective, conditions of bonus play are carefully established to protect themselves from abuse from players who redeem bonuses for cash, as opposed to actually playing them.
There appears to be standard terms and conditions with regard to bonuses at most online casinos. For instance, only one member of each household is permitted to register at a casino site. The predominant reason for this, is that some bonuses like the sign-up bonus, can only be availed once per player. The casino stops gamblers from using the identities of other families to redeem additional bonuses by ensuring that the e-mail addresses, credit card information and residential addresses are not the same for players already registered. Any duplicate information that may be discovered, could result in a player being evicted from the casino site.
In most cases, online gaming sites ask the player to submit a bonus code that is e-mailed to them in order to redeem any bonuses. Without this code, bonus redemption is not possible. If a player forgets to submit his/her code, he/she should contact the support centre to inform them before attempting to redeem the bonus. Failing to do this could result in the bonus being nullified.
One of the most important conditions put in place by the casino is the "wagering requirement". This basically refers to the number of wagers that a player needs to make before any withdrawals can be made. Attempts to withdraw funds from a casino account before the wagering requirement has been met can be construed as abuse of the casino facilities, and may lead to a bonus reversal, as well as a reversal of winnings accrued whilst playing with the bonus. In extreme cases, the player might be evicted from the casino site. It is therefore essential that players contact customer support to ensure their wagering requirement has been met before attempting to make withdrawals.
So, whilst it seems that cashing in of bonuses might be more trouble than they are worth, there are some obvious advantages. Firstly, bonus play with casino money allows the player to navigate casino sites and experience what they have on offer without having to deposit any money. In some cases however, casinos require a deposit before a bonus can be redeemed and a player should contact their customer support to check if this is a criteria before downloading any software. Secondly, there is always the chance that bonus deposits, after having met all wagering requirements, could provide a win.
Most disputes between casinos and online gamblers arise from bonus redemptions. It would therefore, be prudent for any gambler to verify the bonus terms and conditions before deciding to make use of them.