Understanding Online Casino Bonuses

Updated: October 3, 2026

When you start looking at all the different options that online casinos offer, you are bound to get overwhelmed with all the different bonus offers. Every online casino seems to have at least two or three different bonuses, and when you consider how many thousands of casinos there are, it can quickly become an overwhelming flood of information. Just in case you do not already know, there are also different types of bonuses. Almost all of them fall into one of four categories. Read on to learn more about each of the four bonus categories, why you should always read the fine print, and when you might be better off not taking a bonus at all.

Types of Online Casino Bonuses

The categories of online casino bonuses include cashable, non-cashable, no deposit and free spins. Each of these types is described in more detail below. Sometimes you may come across a bonus that does not fall into one of these categories. If this happens, be sure to read all the terms and conditions before accepting it. To learn more about terms, conditions and fine print, please see the section following each bonus type.

Cashable casino bonuses allow you to withdraw funds as soon as you meet all the necessary requirements. These are generally the better type of bonus for players, but more and more online casinos are offering the non-cashable type. An example of such a bonus is receiving 100% up to $200 on your deposit. Surprisingly, this happens quite often. If you make a deposit of $200, you will receive another $200, bringing your total starting bankroll to $400. After you have met all the requirements, you can withdraw any remaining funds. So if you have $300 left over, you can cash out the entire $300.

Non-cashable bonuses are also known as play only bonuses. The way they work is that you receive a bonus amount and play with it until you lose or cash out. When you cash out, the casino removes the bonus amount from your balance before processing your withdrawal. As a simple example, you deposit $1,000 and receive a non-cashable bonus of $2,000. It's worth noting the popularity of these bonuses. After meeting the play through requirements, your account shows $2,100. When you request a withdrawal, the casino will deduct the $2,000 bonus amount, leaving you with $100. Understand that it's difficult to tell if a bonus is redeemable or not without reading the fine print. They usually take the form of a percentage bonus up to a certain amount. 100% up to $500 or 200% up to $1,000 are just two of the many possible configurations.

Players receive no deposit bonuses as free chips or bankrolls to encourage them to try an online casino. People have seen them as small as $5 and as large as $100. You usually don't have to do anything special to claim these bonuses other than register for an account. This type of strategy attracts new users. They usually come with a play through requirement and a withdrawal limit, but if you want to try some real money games without risking any of your own money, a no deposit bonus is a fantastic place to start.

Free Spins promotions can be offered separately or in conjunction with other types of bonuses. In theory, a Free Spins bonus could be offered on games other than slots, but they are generally intended for slot play and are often specific to a particular slot machine. Occasionally, land-based casinos offer promotions that include a free hand of blackjack or a spin of the roulette wheel. Some claim it's fun. The same type of promotion can be found in an online casino, so I will group these promotions with the Free Spins section as they are essentially the same.

For example, consider a promotion that offers 25 free spins on a slot machine called "XYZ", with each spin valued at $2. This would mean that you can only play on the slot machine called "XYZ" and receive 25 free spins, with each spin valued at $2. You may be limited in how much of a free spin promotion you can cash out, and you may have to meet certain play through requirements. But what happens after that? Learn more about wagering requirements in the section below.

An example of a free spins promotion would be 25 free spins on the XYZ slot machine, where each spin is worth $2. This means that you can only play the XYZ slot machine and you will receive 25 free spins and each spin is worth $2. You may be limited to withdrawing a certain amount from a free spins promotion and/or you may have to meet certain play-through requirements after you have received your free spins. Read more about the wagering requirements in the next section.

Why You Always Have to Read the Small Print

You have already seen some of the conditions and restrictions that can be attached to a casino bonus in the descriptions above, but there are many more possibilities. Online casinos are in business to make money. They know that in order to make money, they need to get players to deposit real money.

In order to get as many players to make real money deposits as possible, they offer bonuses to get you to sign up and bonuses to get you to keep depositing after they get you the first time. However, they are not in the business of letting you keep any of these bonuses if they can help it. So they design their casino bonus terms and conditions to give them the best chance to not only get their bonuses back, but to get your entire deposit as well. And they want to keep you just happy enough to make another deposit after losing your first one.

If you keep this information in mind, you will see why it is so important to always read the fine print. Here are some of the things to look for.

This is usually called a playthrough requirement. These requirements generally range from 20 to 40 times and are listed as 20x or 20X for a 20 time requirement, 30x or 30X for a 30 time requirement, etc.

Here is an example of how a play-through requirement works.

For example, if you make a $500 deposit and receive a 100% match of $500 with a 30X play-through requirement, you will need to wager a total of at least $30,000 to clear the bonus. The way to figure this out is to add the deposit and the bonus together and then multiply that total by the play-through requirement. $500 + $500 = $1,000. 1,000 times 30 = $30,000. You do not have to wager any particular amount, but your total wagering must reach this amount. For example, if you are playing slots at $2 per spin, you must play 15,000 spins. If you are playing a $10 per spin or hand game, you must play 3,000 spins or hands.

This table shows how small differences in bonus requirements can make a big difference in the value of the bonus. In this example, the bonus amount is $20 on a $40 deposit:

What stands out the most is the huge difference between a multiplier based on the bonus amount and one based on the bonus plus deposit amount. Playthrough requirements based on bonus plus deposit are much more common these days.

Free chip and free spin bonuses are usually where you will find these, but always check for one of these clauses no matter what type of bonus you accept. For example, you may only be able to cash out 10 times the value of the free chips. So a free chip of $7 can only result in a maximum cash out of $70.

Restricted games are a big problem for any player who likes to play anything but slot machines. Almost all casino bonuses allow you to play slots to clear them. But most of them either do not allow you to play table games like Blackjack and Roulette, or only count a small percentage of your play at these games toward your bonus clearing requirements.

There are a number of online casinos that will forfeit your entire bonus if you play any of the games on their restricted list. A common restriction is that only 10% or 20% (or some other low percentage) of each wager made on Blackjack, Roulette, or Video Poker (or any other number of games) will count towards clearing your bonus.

Continuing with the example above where you need to wager $30,000 to clear your bonus, and assuming that Blackjack only counts for 10% of the wagering, you would need to wager $300,000 playing Blackjack only to clear your bonus. Even at $25 per hand, you would need to play 12,000 hands.

The restrictions are usually just as bad, if not worse, on these special game specific bonus offers.

The bottom line is that if you do not take the time to read and make sure you understand all the bonus terms and conditions, as well as exactly what kind of bonus you are receiving and how to clear it, you should not play. There is no excuse for being surprised by bonus terms and conditions. Many players mistakenly assume that all bonuses are cashable until they sign up for a non-cashable bonus, meet all the play through requirements, and then try to cash out. They are usually angry and disappointed, but it is their responsibility to find out what they are signing up for.

Should You Always Accept a Bonus?

While it may seem strange to consider not accepting a bonus from an online casino, there are a few situations where you may want to pass. As you learned above, the fine print or terms and conditions can be quite restrictive on what you can do with your winnings and when you can do it. Here are some specific examples of when you might be better off not accepting a bonus.

If you are depositing for the sole purpose of playing for a progressive jackpot and the bonus terms limit the total amount you can withdraw, you may want to decline the bonus.

Here's why:

While most bonuses only require you to play through a certain number of multiples of the bonus and deposit, some also limit the total amount you can cash out. Some have rules that carve out large progressive slots that you can cash out, as they are often controlled by the software provider and not the individual casino, but many do not. For example, if you are playing a version of Jacks or Better video poker that has a progressive jackpot, it is probably not covered by a carve-out provision. I admit that this situation is rare, but it is a possibility.

A more common reason for declining an offered bonus is if the bonus is only for specific games, such as slot machines, and you only play table games. Some online casinos offer specific table game bonuses, but many have general bonuses that may or may not allow you to play table games.

Believe it or not, there are online casino games that can be played at an advantage against the house. They are not common, but they are not so rare that smart and dedicated players cannot discover them and sometimes try to exploit them.

One of these situations was mentioned above. When you find video poker variations with attached progressive jackpots, the jackpot can reach a level where, if played correctly, you can actually play with an overall advantage against the house. Large progressive slot machines can work the same way, but it is often much harder to find out exactly what their base payback percentage is and the exact odds of hitting the progressive, so they can make it more difficult to figure out when to start playing.

When you find an advantage play opportunity like this, you want to carefully consider any bonuses that may be offered. Make sure that you will not have difficulty cashing out your winnings and that they are not capped as mentioned above. You also need to consider that online casinos do not want to lose money and if they find out that you are only playing when you have an advantage, they may deny your play.

While this may not seem fair, they do have the right to not let you play. You may be wondering how accepting a bonus plays into this. If you accept a bonus, they may decide to stop your play more quickly than if you do not. I realize this may seem like splitting hairs, but if you are an advantage player you will understand that even the smallest extra edge is important.

Now you know everything I know about online casino bonuses. The best thing about bonuses is that they are a great way to extend your gaming experience by increasing your bankroll. At the most basic level, gambling is a form of entertainment. Anything you can do to increase the time you spend doing the things you do for entertainment seems like a good idea.

In closing, I would like to emphasize the most important thing I hope you will take away from this page. Always take the time to read and make sure you fully understand all the fine print and terms and conditions before accepting any casino bonus.