Casino Bonus Beginners Guide
Welcome to the Casino Bonus Pages!
This Casino Bonus Beginner’s Guide will provide all the necessary information you need to start “earning” money from online casinos. Beginners should also check out our Casino Bonus FAQ section for answers to common beginner questions.
To begin, first understand that there are over 2000 casinos operating online today, all looking to get a piece of an estimated 10 billion dollar a year online gambling industry. Understandably, this creates massive competition between online casinos, all vying to attract and retain customers.
As a promotional tool, casinos offer players sign-up bonuses, for example offering to match a player’s first deposit of $100, giving the player a total of $200. Before the player can withdraw the $100 deposit and the $100 bonus, the casino will require them to place a certain amount of wagers. In most cases, this amount is between 10 and 30 times the amount of the deposit plus the bonus. This is known as the Wager Requirement or Playthrough Requirement, often denoted as WR. Please note that all bets, both winners and losers, count towards this wager requirement. See our Casino Bonus Dictionary for further clarification on wager requirements.
Most people don’t realize that playing Blackjack (BJ) using optimal strategy has a return of around 99.5%. Meaning for every $100 wagered the average expected return will be $99.50, and thus a loss of only 50 cents. Optimal strategy is achieved by following the Blackjack Strategy Card, which tells players what the best action is in every Blackjack situation. Check out our Blackjack 101 section for information on how to play blackjack and how to use a Blackjack Strategy Card.
At this point, you should understand what a Sign up Bonus is, what a Wager Requirement (WR) is, and know how to play blackjack using a Blackjack strategy card to ensure optimal play. Now for a real life example:
Casino On Net offers a 100% sign up bonus on deposits up to $200. The Wager Requirement (WR) is 20 times the bonus amount only, denoted as 20xB. Meaning players must wager $4,000 total, before they can withdraw their deposit and the added bonus. Playing optimal Blackjack strategy, your expected return after wagering $4,000 is $3,980 ($4,000*.99.5%), and thus an $20 loss. Given that the casino gave you a $200 bonus, your average expected profit is $180!.
Most beginners start out playing $2-$5 hands of Blackjack. At 4$ per hand, the above example would require 1000 hands of Blackjack. On average, a novice Blackjack player on a high speed internet connection can play about 400 hands of Blackjack per hour at Casino On Net (many other casinos are much faster, offering the ability to play upwards of 1,000 hands of Blackjack per hour. For the Casino On Net example, it would therefore take a beginning Blackjack player about 2 1/2 hours to complete the Wager Requirement. With an expected profit of $180, this equates to over $70 per hour!
Take the above example and multiply it by the 100 or so best casino bonuses at Casino Bonus Pages, and you begin to understand how profitable this strategy can be.
We have over 350 casino bonuses listed in our Online Casino Directory. Begin by playing the Top 10 Casino Bonuses, then move on to the Top 100 Casino Bonuses. By the time you are done with our top 100 casino bonus list, you will have all the necessary skills to search the rest of our online casino bonus directory for profitable opportunities.
The following is a list of tips that will be helpful in maximizing your profits from casino bonuses.
Casino Bonus Tips
1. Open a Neteller Account
Neteller is the preferred payment method of most online casinos. You can avoid much of the identification verification that comes with depositing via credit card. Likewise, there is no waiting for a check to get your winnings. Once your withdrawals are processed, your money appears automatically in your Neteller account. It is also a good idea to get your account “verified”, which requires you to register your checking account with Neteller. The process is simple and takes less than 48 hours to be completed. Once verified, money can then be freely transferred to and from your checking account. Without this, you will be charged by Neteller to deposit funds from your credit card and/or withdraw via check. See our Casino Bonus FAQ section for more information on verifying your Neteller account.
Make sure that your email address and other personal information on file with Neteller matches exactly to the information you provide to open casino accounts. As an added incentive to use Neteller, many casinos offer an additional deposit bonus for using this method. Please note that Neteller is the largest online bank in the world, and strictly regulated by the Canadian government. Rest assured that your personal and financial information safe and secure with Neteller.
2. Always Read the Casino’s Promotional Terms & Conditions (T&C’s).
While we strive to maintain accurate information in our casino directory, some casino’s change their bonus terms & conditions often, making it hard to ensure 100% accuracy. Things to look for in the bonus terms include the wager requirement (WR), the percentage bonus offered, the maximum bonus, whether it is a Cashable Bonus or a Sticky Bonus, are there any excluded games, etc. What is stated in the casino’s bonus terms always supersedes what is listed on Casino Bonus Pages.
3. Always choose the game with the lowest house advantage (HA) available.
Almost all casinos ban the play of low risk bets on roulette, craps, and baccarat, while clearing the WR. Blackjack (BJ) and Video Poker (VP) are usually the best games allowed, although some casinos even restrict the play of these games. Blackjack is my personal choice when available, with a HA of usually .3%-.7%, depending on the Blackjack variation played. See each casino’s review page on Casino Bonus Pages for the proper Blackjack Strategy Card to use.
4. Choose casinos with the best bonuses.
The best casino bonuses are those with low wager requirements, allow Blackjack or other low House Advantage games to be played to clear the wager requirement, and offer high percentage bonuses. However, beware of casinos listed as either on probation, or blacklisted. If a casino is on probation or blacklisted, this will be stated in their casino’s review on Casino Bonus Pages.
5. Understand the difference between Cashable, Sticky Type I, and Sticky Type II bonuses.
Please see our Casino Bonus Dictionary for definitions and explanations of each.
6. Make small wagers until meeting the wager requirements.
Most beginners start with $2-$3 “flat bets” (all bets are the same amount) until the wager requirement has been completed. It is a good idea to wager a little over the minimum playthrough requirement to help avoid being labeled an advantage player or bonus abuser. Avoid chasing losses and increasing wagers without taking into consideration the increased risk involved. The strategy is to complete the wager requirements with the maximum amount of bonus credits still intact, accounting for your profit. Strive to make small profits and then move on to the next casino, all the while building your bankroll for the larger casino bonuses available down the road.
7. Make sure you have completed all the wagering requirements prior to requesting a withdrawal.
Most casinos will simply return withdrawals to your casino account if the wager requirements have not been completed. However, there are casinos out there that will remove the bonus and return the rest to your account, and even some that will remove both the bonus and any winnings and pay you only your deposit amount. The best defense against losing any of your money is to always verify that the WR has been completed. Many players use the pen and paper method, using hash marks to note each hand played. Please note that many casinos offer a comp point or frequent player point feature that will keep track of your wagering for you. Most give a comp point for every ten dollars wagered. Regardless of the method that you use to keep track of your wagers, I recommend always contacting customer support through email, live chat, or phone, prior to withdrawing to verify that the wager requirements have been completed. All casinos are happy to provide this information and you should not worry about this causing you to be labeled a “bonus abuser”.
8. Be prepared to send in documentation upon cashing out.
While the majority of online casinos do not require documentation prior to cashing out, there are a number of casinos that do. Be prepared with a copy of your driver’s license or passport and a copy of a utility bill or bank statement clearly showing your name and billing address. Have these items scanned and saved to your computer, and simply attach them to the email that the casino will send you requesting these documents. If you are using a credit card, have a copy of the front and back of this as well. You need to make sure that the address on both your driver’s license and utility bill matches exactly to the information you used at Neteller and upon registering at the casino.
9. Always use the casino links provided at Casino Bonus Pages.
Many of the offers advertised on our site are exclusive to Casino Bonus Pages’ customers. You risk losing out on potential bonuses by not properly following our links to the casinos. Likewise, should a problem arise with any casino you play, we will be in a much better position to help if you are a player that has signed up under our links. Finally, if you do not use our links, we do not get credit for your casino sign-ups. In order to help keep Casino Bonus Pages a free resource, we ask that you support us by clicking on our casino links when signing up for new casino bonuses.
10. Create and maintain an Excel spreadsheet of the casinos that you have played.
Doing so allows you keep track of the casinos you have already played, what you have profited and what you are owed, as well as each casinos terms and your username and password. This will also come in handy should any discrepancies arise. Contact Us requesting an Excel template that we have created that contains all the necessary fields you’ll need. Also, if you are a beginner with Excel, feel free to contact us with any of your Excel related questions.