Learn About Online Casino Bonuses and How They Work

This page provides general information about the online casino bonuses. Australian players who are new to online casinos and gambling online should read this section to gain a better understanding of what bonuses are and how they work. We also suggest that new players from Australia read though our beginner guide as well as our FAQ section.

Bonuses are free money offered by online casinos, exclusively for wagering. The objective is to induce new players to sign up and existing players to stay on. Benefits will accrue to you if you are able to fulfill the terms and conditions of the bonus offer. There are different kinds of bonuses, the more important of which are described in this section.

Promotions are special events or contests hosted by the online casino in which the winners get prizes. Common types of promotions include prize draws, online tournaments and wagering contests. Promotion prizes include free spins, bonuses, cash, luxury goods and exotic holidays.

Online casino bonuses come with a packet of terms and conditions. You have to carefully weigh the benefits against the requirements before claiming the bonus. After you successfully meet the wagering requirements you will get cash benefits. You will be allowed to keep the winnings from wagering the bonus, or at least a part of them. In some cases you will be allowed to keep the bonus as well. In other cases the bonus will be removed from your account. You can use these cash benefits for wagering at the online casino or withdraw them from your casino account. You get these benefits from the free money provided by the casino. This is the pro side of casino bonuses.

The con side is that the bonus terms are not easy to fulfill. It requires a lot of hard work. In case you are unable to meet the wagering requirements you will not get the benefits. Even before you are given the bonuses there are conditions that you may have to meet. The most common is that you may have to make a minimum deposit. In casino promotions you may have to wager a certain amount to claim a bonus. You may be tempted to overextend your bankroll in meeting these conditions for getting the bonus. This is not a good thing to do.

In the net, bonuses can be useful provided you understand the basics. Do not deposit or wager more than you normally would, simply to claim a bonus. If you are able to meet the wagering requirements then you get the benefits. But if you are unable to do so, you have not really lost anything.

With no deposit bonuses you are not required to make a deposit in order to claim the bonus. No deposit bonuses also come with wagering requirements. These are usually specified as a multiple of the bonus amount. No deposit bonuses are usually sticky bonuses. This means that after you complete the wagering requirements you will only be able to withdraw the winnings and not in the bonus itself.
Because there is no deposit involved, the terms and conditions for no deposit bonuses are usually more stringent.

There are different types of no deposit bonuses given by online casinos. Some Australian online casinos give a small no deposit bonus as a part of the welcome bonus package. You are first given a small bonus to try out the online casino games. Then, if you make a commitment to wagering at the online casino you would be allowed to withdraw the winnings from the no deposit bonus. No deposit bonuses are also given as prizes in promotions. You may have to wager a minimum amount or be on the top of a leader board in order to claim the bonus. No deposit bonuses also accrue by way of free spins. Sometimes online casinos offer free spins on a new slot game to enable you to try it out for free. Free spins may also be given as part of online casino promotions. The winnings from the free spins will be treated as no deposit bonuses. They will be subject to the usual wagering requirements.

In order to avail deposit bonuses you have to first make a deposit. Most deposit bonuses will be specified as a percent of the deposit made. The other important conditions for deposit bonuses include the minimum deposit required and the maximum bonus that can be availed. Sometimes deposit bonuses will be specified as a flat amount for a minimum deposit. The wagering requirements for deposit bonuses are specified as a multiple of the deposit and bonus amount added together.

There are different types of deposit bonuses as well. The biggest and the most common are welcome deposit bonuses given to new players when they first sign up at the online casino. Even the smallest of the deposit welcome bonuses would be 100% of the deposit with a cap of AU$100. Usually they would be much more than that. Some of the best Australian online casinos offer a welcome bonus covering the first few deposits that run into a few thousand Australian dollars. Deposit bonuses given to existing online casino players are often referred to as reload bonuses. These are smaller than welcome bonuses both in terms of the percent of the deposit and the maximum amount of the bonus. Some Australian online casinos offer reload bonuses on specific days of the week or month. You will need to keep track of these days so that you do not miss out. VIP online casino players may be offered high roller deposit bonuses. The bonus amounts are massive, but require a very large single deposit.

First you have to calculate the wagering requirement for the bonus that you have claimed. Suppose yours is a 100% bonus on a deposit of AU$100 with a wagering requirement of 20 times the deposit and bonus. The bonus amount is AU$100; the deposit and bonus put together is AU$200 and the wagering requirement will be 20 times that, which equals AU$4,000.

AU$100 will be credited to your bonus account. When you wager from this account and win, the winnings will get credited to this account as well. If you loser the wager then the bonus account will get depleted. If you are able to wager an amount of AU$4,000 without the account becoming zero, you will have met the wagering requirements and will be entitled to the benefits offered. Since online casino wagering depends on luck, there is no guarantee that you will always be able to meet the wagering requirement.