By Samantha Williams

Most top online casinos today take the players point of view into account, they offer winning strategies and systems as well as ‘practice for free’ options. There are no download, no deposit games that can be played in demo mode, and some casinos are even starting to offer a whole suite of real play games in no-download formats.

Top casinos online offer a fair, secure, reliable service, they are chosen for their good reputation, and players trust them to provide a high standard of customer service. But what about bonuses – are they just a gimmick to attract new sign-ups?

There are many types of bonus on offer when we play at top online casinos, so, it pays to know more than just a little something about them. For example some sites offer one hour of free play, while others may offer a few pounds or dollars of ‘no-deposit’ funds.  Many of the top sites don’t even offer either of these no-deposit bonuses and will attract players quite easily with, 100% 200% or even more as a cash-match, sign-up bonus money account, and this is when it starts costing ‘Real Money”.

We are talking about wagering requirements, and this is where the top sites take the players point of view into account. Sites without much of a reputation can really take their players for a rough ride. On the other hand, casino websites with big reputations tend to be much kinder with wagering requirements. Take for example William Hill casino, they offer bigger jackpots, better bonuses and even better wagering requirements. This site clearly defines what they want from the player, and there is a 20 x wagering requirement on the first deposit bonus.

On the other hand, casino websites we have seen that are less well known, want anything from 30, 40, 50, and we have even seen 100 x wagering requirements before bonuses are released or withdrawals of winnings can be made.   

Bonus terms and conditions often don’t only include wagering requirements, and there are other elements to be considered also. The top online casinos make these known, but at less than reliable sites, these elements are hard to find. The player needs to calculate the cost of the bonus by taking into account:

• Wagering requirements
• Game contributing percentage and whether a game qualifies
• The house edge of the game.

We will go into these factors in a little more detail in a later article. But for now suffice it to say that knowledge of these factors is important before choosing an online casino. The top online casinos take these factors very much into consideration by operating with transparency, while the websites lower down the scale, appear to be a little more ‘tricksy’ about it.