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Online Casino Free Play Bonus

Posted by: SharpGambler on Thu, 16 August 2007 15:44:27 (887 Reads)

In recent months it appears that a new kind of casino bonus is becoming more and more popular amongst online casino new player offers - The Free Play Bonus. What is a free play bonus? How the free play bonus compares with match bonuses and no deposit bonuses? What to expect from a casino free play bonus? These are some questions that I want to answer in this article.

The online casino industry has been one of the fastest growing industries on the past few years. The development of technology has lead to a growing number of people demanding for entertainment in the comfort of their houses. Now it is possible to play an online casino at our home because internet connections and computer technology in general allow for enriched content provided in real time to us. With this growing demand, the offer has adjusted to fulfill it, and the number of available online casinos has grown extensively on the last few years. The final result is a stiff competition amongst online casinos that need to be very enlightened in terms of marketing and aggressive in terms of offers to earn their own market share. Since long ago it's very common to get match and no deposit bonuses at online casinos at the time we open a new account. Some months ago online casinos have introduced a new bonus concept - the free play bonus. Since then the number of casinos offering a free play bonus has expanded to a large number and this type of offer is now popular.

What is a casino free play bonus?

A free play bonus is a simple concept. The casino put money into your account, give you some time to play, and after that you can keep winnings. Well it is not as simple as that, otherwise there would not be any advantage to the casino. They give you free money. If you win, you go away with it. If not, you don't lose anything. In the casino view, they could at most become evens with such a deal. That would not be a business for too long, so, the casino attach some rules into the equation.

Let's try to understand the rules and implications of the free play bonus. You open an account as a new player and the casino put in your account, let's say €1000. You will have some time to play with that money, for example 60 minutes or 24 hours. At this time the casino will impose at least 3 important restrictions / rules:

• minimum amount of bets - it can be, for example 100 bets or 5 times the free money. You are expected to place a certain amount of bets with the free play money.
• maximum win - the casino protects himself by stating that you can only win up to a certain amount, for example €200. Any winnings above that will be removed from your account.
• required minimum deposit before withdrawing winnings - This means that, in fact, you are required to put some money in place. You will not be able to win something without risking anything, otherwise it would not be a business for the casino itself. After expiring the free play you must deposit at least a certain amount, otherwise the casino does not allow you to withdraw your winnings. Let's say €50

How the free play bonus compares with match bonuses?

If you look carefully into the rules of the free play bonus, you will see that although it is presented differently than a match bonus, it is similar to it. In the above example, the casino gives you €1000 to play with. On the next 60 minutes you will try your best luck, and lets say you win €300. Automatically after the free play time, the casino removes any winnings above €200, so €100 will be removed from your winnings plus the free play money. You will have the possibility to win €200. For that to be possible, you will have to deposit €50, required by the promotion rules. After that you will have €50 from your deposit and €200 in casino bonus earned on the free play. This money will be transfered to your real account and subject to traditional play through requirements. Yes, "subject to traditional play through requirements". This is really important. You will have to face play through requirements with the €250 you have in your account. What is this? Can you see the similarity with something?

I think that right now you have seen that the €250 in your account is a simple deposit of €50 plus a 400% match bonus. Although the casino free play bonus is presented as a completely different product than the traditional match bonus, in the end they result in something that is almost the same. The big difference here is that you know the minimum and maximum match percentage the casino will give you, but the exact value will be decided by you in the free play time, instead of a fixed value. In the above case you can get between 0 and 400%. Please note that online casinos are not stupid and know that if you get 0% match bonus you won't deposit, so in most cases when you lose the money on the free play, the casino will offer you at least a 50-100% match bonus as compensation. So, a free play bonus is like a make-yourself-your-match-bonus and not really a no deposit bonus.

You may now think: "Is the casino free play bonus worse than the normal match bonus?" No, I think it is not the case. In most cases you have an opportunity to get higher match bonuses, and you will have some fun when placing bets with the casino free play money. If you check the relation between the minimum deposit required and the maximum free play win at several casinos, you will notice that most offer you an opportunity to get 300-500% match bonus. So, why not try it. If it is anything to lose, it is not in the match bonus makeover.

If you wnat to check some casinos offering free play, please visit our page specialized in free play bonuses. Good luck!

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