Every year around 50 new casinos are launched on the internet, each trying to earn a piece of the cake. In order to earn a decent amount of money, a casino needs many new players. In order to attract new players; they need to offer something unique and amazing which will encourage these players to choose their casino. However are all these amazing and big promotional offers real and not too good to be true? We have some secrets you need to know about casino promotions.
Too good to be true?
Can a promotion be 'too good to be true'? Yes! It's possible, however it rarely happens. Most casinos offer reliable and attractive promotions and with all the competition online they need to offer something good. However, in some cases, you need to read the terms and condition very carefully as you may get caught out.
Below are a few examples:
Welcome bonus of €1000 or more
You will often see these kind of welcome bonuses, however 90% of the time they are built of different levels and to get the complete €1000 bonus you will need to make further deposits. Mostly these are levels of 3-4 deposits up to €250 each which makes a total of €1000.
Free spins without making a deposit
For around 2 years now, more and more casinos are offering free spins on a slot by just opening a casino account. These free spins vary from 10 - 100 free spins and most of the time you need to play them on a certain game. Netent slot Starburst is a very popular game to receive free spins.
Casinos don't like to give things away for free but sometimes they need to for the simple reason to get players to their casino and in the hope that the player will start playing for real money. For this reason the terms and conditions for free spins are very strict and it's wise to study them before you will them. Of course you have nothing to lose, however it's useful to know some things before.
Examples of terms and conditions for free spins
- 90% of the time there is a maximum amount you can withdraw with money you win from free spins. Mostly this is an amount between 100 and 500 euro. For example, if you win 700 euro with free spins and the maximum amount to withdraw is 200 euro then 500 euro will be deleted with your pay-out request. Not a big problem because it was free anyway.
- When you win money with free spins you need to make a deposit first. Some casinos require you to make a deposit first so that they have your details and it means you have to make some effort to get the money.
- Maximum bet with bonus money: Some casinos have a maximum bet with bonus money. When winnings from free spins are converted to bonus money then you need to look out what the maximum bet is with bonus money. This is one of the terms you need to study before you start playing because if you win money with a 10 euro bet and the maximum bet is 7 euro the casino will not pay you, which is a shame.
No deposit bonus
A no-deposit bonus if free money which you receive on your account or have to get by contacting the live chat without having to make a deposit. This can vary from 5 euro to 25 euro. As with the free spins this promotion offer has also strict terms. There is a maximum amount you can withdraw and the wagering terms are very high.
Can you check the results?
To win a prize in a casino tournament or prize draw you need to participate in that promotion. There are several ways to join in a promotion:
- Receive a lottery ticket for every deposit or certain amount you wager
- Get the highest score in a tournament or have the best pay-out percentage on a certain game
- Fill in your username in a box on a special page and you will automatically be entered in the promotion
These are the most common ways to join in the promotion to be in with a chance of winning the prize. But you need to check how the draw takes place and how the winners are decided. If a casino just announces the winner based on an internal draw then you need to ask yourself the question: "Can I trust this casino?" There is no way to check how randomly the draw takes place and how the casino decides the winner.
A fair way of deciding the winner of a promotion is a ranking somewhere which is updated every minute or hour so you can really follow the promotion and know what is going on.
Another way I saw is to have the draw in the live casino of the online casino. On a certain date and time the dealer will take a number from a box and shows the username of the ticket. Also, there are different ways of possible cheating by inserting only tickets of players the casino wants to win but at least you can see that there is actually a draw taking place and the winner is shown.
Sometimes a casino uses an external site like Random Picker or random which uses a system with a true number generator and you can see if you have won and how many times you have been entered into the draw. If a casino uses a system like this you can be 99% sure that the draw is fair.
Country specific terms
Always check the terms and conditions of the promotion which is announced on the casino site, to ensure that it applies to the country where you reside. For some countries there are different terms but of course they don't always make this very clear. It's in the terms and conditions so you need to search for this.
The reason a casino has different terms for some countries is based on their experience with players from a certain country which are abusing the bonus offers and on the reputation of some countries in the casino industry. Players coming from Poland, Romania and Russia mostly have different terms and have to wager more to be able to make a payout or some promotions don't count these players.
Request to delete the welcome bonus
Should you choose not to receive the welcome bonus you can ask the casino to delete this from your account. If this is the case you are not connected to the bonus terms and conditions and you can always payout your winnings without checking if you fulfilled the wagering requirements.
With some casinos you need to choose if you want to use the welcome bonus so you don't have to contact the casino.
You could argue that you'd be stupid not to use a bonus, however some casinos have strange bonus terms and sometimes you can't even get your deposit back before you've fulfilled some wagering requirements. I have to say that this is en exception and with most casinos you can always pay-out your deposit or money you win with your paid balance.
Back to school - Study a casino
I always advice to study a casino before you start playing with real money. It might take you 15-30 minutes to read the terms and conditions and be aware of some important terms which you need to know before you start playing. After all, you wouldn't take medicine without an explanation from your doctor or read the information on the leaflet.
If you study the casino and know the important terms you are always stronger in discussions with the support or management in case of a problem.
