Deposit Bonus or Free Bet – Which Offers More Value?
Which Offers More Value: Deposit Bonus or Free Bet?
Decisions, decisions…what to choose; a free bet or a deposit bonus? Since the inception of online casinos, there are now so many that it’s hard to keep count. The problem for many of them is that the customer base hasn’t grown to keep up with the sheer number of new casinos opening almost every week. This means that all these casino businesses are chasing the same pool of customers. This makes for fierce competition and is responsible for casinos coming up with endless ways of trying to attract customers to their platform.
In the same manner that real brick and mortar casinos will be constantly running promotional events to entice new blood through the door, so the online casinos are no different. The ones you’ll see most often are sign-up welcome deposit bonuses and free spins or bets. The idea here is to incentivize a would-be player and turn them into a paying customer a little further down the road. The welcome bonus speaks the language of real cash, and yet, in reality, there’s no real cash involved.
So the player feels he’s going to score free cash and is happy. Maybe he’ll win the jackpot online. The casino knows that it’s not going to be parting with any cash, so it’s a win-win for both parties. But back to the question of which type of bonus is best for a new gambler? The answer lies in examining the cost vs the benefits. Once we’ve analyzed that, we’ll have a much better idea. So let’s have a look at each method, in turn, starting with the deposit welcome bonus.
Deposit Bonus
The idea behind the deposit bonus is to incentivize a customer’s gambling and a way to help start his bankroll by playing jackpot games. With a deposit bonus, as the name implies, you’ll probably need to put some cash down by opening a deposit at that particular online casino. You’ll often find that there is a direct correlation between the amount deposited by a customer, and the amount they are entitles to receive as a welcome deposit bonus.
We’re sure that you’ve seen those casino offers that say, “150% sign-up bonus” and then ask yourself, what does that mean? When you deposit $100 into your online casino wallet, then you’ll receive 50% extra giving you a total of $150 to gamble with. If you’re surfing the web, you’ll come across casino affiliates who will be giving out promo codes with bonuses locked into them. Of course, that also acts as a form of self-publicity for the affiliates themselves.
But you’ll find deposit bonus codes all over the internet, and they’re all perfectly usable at the casinos mentioned on the coupon. A deposit bonus will usually come with some caveats about their use. For example, True Flip Casino offers a very generous 275% up to €1000!
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Free Bet
You should look at free bets as if they were phantom money. So it will still act as the money for betting. On the whole, you can use it as you deem fit, but if you win your wager, then this initial amount is not returned to you. The casino hangs on to it. For example, you bet a real $10 on a 3:1 odds wager. You win, and so have $30 in profits, plus the original bet of $10, making a total of $40. Now with a free bet, you might not get the original $10 back. Among many different wagering requirements, this is the most common method of keeping tabs on the casino’s money.
Sometimes free bets come with wagering requirements just like deposit bonuses. A common one is that you need to deposit the real cash amount of the free bet before you can use it. But in the vast majority of cases, you’ll get your free bet, to use as you will, the moment you sign-up with an online casino.
Deposit Bonus or Free Bet?: The Caveats
As they say, if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. And so with anything that comes from a casino and is labeled as “free.” The casino is a business and would not last very long if they were truly generous. No business in whatever field could survive by simply giving its monies away. The casinos impose various restrictions on how these free bets or spins are used. In the same manner, they do likewise for welcome deposit bonuses. These are essentially playing requirements otherwise known as “wagering requirements” or “play-throughs.”
One of the best jackpot winning tips and tricks is to look at the small print that comes with any deposit bonus. There you’ll find the wagering requirements. Often they will be expressed in the form of a multiplier. So a 3 x play-through requirement means that to secure a $100 bonus, you’ll first need to spend $300 in real money bets. You’ll find the same requirements with virtually all bonuses and free bets. Also, there’s probably going to be some form of time limit by which you must have played your deposit bonus. So you have to use the welcome bonus up within a couple of days or a couple of weeks. Often, the time-frame allowed is short.
Conclusion: Deposit Bonus or Free Bet?
No answer fits all types of promotion. A lot depends on the types of casino games that you’re pursuing. The amount of value is also dependant on your priorities. Though it’s quite possible there are some great offers out there, once you start to go through the wagering requirements, then many high-flying offers fall back down to earth with a bump. Many of the conditions which these bonuses came saddled with can take away any advantages they might have promised.
So you have to ask yourself, would you rather have $30 you can easily retrieve or $50 you have to jump through several hoops for? That’s why we recommend True Flip Casino. They are straight and clear about their generous welcome offer. As part of your jackpot winning strategies, as far as a net profit goes, then you’re probably going to gain more from free bets. These don’t come with a long list of caveats and on the whole, you can get on with using them from the get-go.
But, as we said, a lot depends on your taste. If you’re a veteran of casino table games, then maybe the welcome deposit bonus as a means of growing your bankroll fits the bill better. As we said, there’s no straight answer. But whatever you do, please do spend the time and effort reading through the terms and conditions of the bonus, no matter how it’s given. On the whole, a casino will not be giving away anything of real value for free. Nothing is quite as bad as that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you win a lot using a free deposit bonus, and then are unable to collect those winnings.
By informing yourself of all the small print before you start betting, you’ll save yourself some possible heartache later on.
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